The Jørgensens: escape from Låman
The island of Lånan is on the far west on the coast of Helgeland. Today, no one lives on the island of wild flowers, green hills and eagles, but during the war there was a small community living there fishing the surrounding waters.
The island became an important site for transporting secret weapon between Britain and Sweden. After the Germans discovered that Træna was being used as a transit port for weapons, the resistance, looking for a new port to load weapons and other materials, selected Lånan. |
By summer 1944 the situation had become perilous and the inhabitants feared a German reprisal similar to the tragedy that had occurred at Televåg. An evacuation became necessary. As there was no radio transmitter on the island, two islanders, Birger Nilsen and Petter Johansen, made the journey to Sweden to alert allies in Britain of the situation. On a Saturday evening in August 1944, Edvard and Hjørdis Jørgensen were informed that a boat would be coming to take them, their children and the other islanders away to safety. The Jørgensens had six children Ella Bjørg was 12, Harald was 10, Kolbjørn 9, Petter 6, and Hjørdis 4. The family had to be ready for an immediate departure. However, Odd Jørgensen, the eldest son, was absent however. He had rowed to Forvik in order to get a radio. They could not afford to wait for his return. That's what I remember most... mother was crying because we could not wait for Odd. |
In total, twenty-eight people were to leave their homes on the island and be evacuating to Britain. The times immediately prior to the evacuation was tense. Clothes hanging out to dry were used as codes for the islander about the arrival of the boat.
The islanders were told that the boat "Hessa" was on its way but the harbour was a difficult one and the weather conditions were bad. And, of course, the Germans could come at any time. However, the islanders were evacuated successfully. |
I remember getting sea sick when we got out to sea. It's the first and last time I've been sea-sick. A German plane passed us. Fortunately, it was just an observation plane, so we were not attacked.
Petter Jørgensen
The first stop was Shetland where they remained for a week. They were then taken by ferry to Aberdeen and then on to London where all exiled Norwegians were vetted. The nights in London were often interrupted air raids; Ella Bjørg, was responsible for getting her younger siblings into the bomb shelter.
Bjørg and Hjørdis and I ran next door. One night the alarm went four times. I remember sitting in the basement and hearing the dreams from the V2 missiles outside. The building on the other side of the street was struck and and what had been a four or five-story house was a deep crater with brick and dust. Petter recalled.
Bjørg and Hjørdis and I ran next door. One night the alarm went four times. I remember sitting in the basement and hearing the dreams from the V2 missiles outside. The building on the other side of the street was struck and and what had been a four or five-story house was a deep crater with brick and dust. Petter recalled.
After three weeks in London, the Jørgensens returned to Scotland and were settled in Buckie. They remained in Little Norway on the Moray Firth from early autumn 1944 through until August 1945.
They lived with Nellie Smith and her family at 14 Craiganroan Place in Portessie (pictured below in 2018). Mrs Smith had previously given a home to a number of Norwegian exiles including the Lambrechts family. |
Margaret, Nellie Smith’s nine year old daughter remembers well their arrival and immediately became good friends with Ella who closed in age. Not long after their arrival, the three eldest children, Ella, Harald and Kolbjørn went off to the Norwegian School at Drumtochty Castle. Petter and Hjørdis remained at school at Portessie Primary.
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In 1985, the Jørgensen family – Ella, Harald, Kolbjørn, Petter and Hjørdis returned to Scotland and made for Portessie. The Smith family no longer lived in Craiganroan Place but they managed to get Margaret’s telephone number and subsequently met her at her home in Banff – forty years after they had arrived on her mother’s doorstep following their evacuation.
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Read their story in Helgelendingen 2005
Twenty years later, in 2005, three of the remaining siblings – Ella, Petter and Hjørdis – visited Låman and the report of their visit can be read below (click on the image to go to full article; text in Norwegian).