by Tania Michelet*
The sacrifices made by war sailors during the Second World War are considered to be Norway’s most important contribution to the Allied victory over the German military power. Under extremely difficult conditions, Norwegian merchant ships transported fuel, war supplies, and other goods, primarily across the Atlantic Ocean but also in the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean, and the western part of the Pacific Ocean – important supply lines that eventually became convoy routes in the Atlantic. These routes ran from New York and Halifax to Liverpool, from Sierra Leone to Port of Spain or Liverpool, from Gibraltar to New York or Liverpool, and from Liverpool to Murmansk (the Murmansk convoys).
Besides those who were on board ships outside Norway (the outer fleet), there were also many war sailors in Norwegian and Nordic waters (the home fleet). Ships in the outer fleet sailed to Allied ports when Norway was occupied in April 1940, and ships that were in Norwegian and Nordic-occupied waters, including passenger ships such as the Hurtigruten and those travelling the coastal routes, were put under German control. During the war years, seamen who sailed abroad were a particularly vulnerable group. They experienced considerable psychological stress and were under constant threat of violent death; helpless and defenseless in the face of superior forces and enemy air and submarine attacks. They also suffered because of the lack of connection with family and friends back home in Norway.
With no landmass connecting the three great war allies, as they were then, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and the United States; all of the weapons, fuel, food, and other equipment made necessary by war had to be transported by sea. Norway was the world’s fourth-largest shipping nation at the time, and when the country was occupied seven months after the outbreak of war in 1939, it became extremely important for the belligerents to secure control over Norwegian ships sailing in global waters. Thanks to the Norwegian captains who refused to be enticed by the Nazis to sail home to an occupied Norway, most of the Norwegian merchant fleet came under Allied control, and because the Norwegian government-in-exile in London had requisitioned all ships into one joint state shipping company (Nortraship), they could continue to sail under the Norwegian flag and earn money for the Norwegian state. This strengthened the London government politically and economically and also ensured an efficient and vital means of transport for the Allies. The importance of the sailors’ efforts can, in many ways, be measured by how much the German military invested to stop this transport. Most feared were the hundreds of submarines that were sent out into the seas either in groups or alone. Bombers were also deployed, mines were laid, and warships were sent out into the oceans to hijack or sink Allied shipping. This had fatal consequences for the sailors.
In the 4th volume of my father Jon Michelet’s six-volume work, “A Hero of the Sea, Bloody Beaches”, we meet the main character, Halvor Skramstad (nicknamed Skogsmatrosen or Forest Seaman because he comes from the forests of Hedmark), after he has been torpedoed in Florida Bay: ‘As long as the ship sails’ is sung by the crew:
“As long as the ship can sail, as long as the heart can beat, as long as the sun glitters blue on the waves, if only for a day or two, then be thankful anyway, because there are many who will never get a glimpse of light!”
Halvor travels and experiences the horrors of war, and we are with him. Out on the blue waves, always free, as long as the ship can go on!
Dad was struck down by illness, and on his deathbed he struggled to write his last book in the series, fittingly entitled “The Warrior’s Homecoming.” It was difficult for him to finish the book before he died, particularly as it deals with Nortraship’s treatment of the war sailors, a subject close to my father’s heart. Halvor returns home to Norway after the end of the war effort and encounters many disappointments, not least of which is the shameful treatment of the war sailors; specifically, how they were betrayed with regard to the money they were supposed to have received from the much-discussed Nortraship fondet (Nortraship’s Seamen’s Fund).
It is also important to mention the War Sailor Register, a register of all the Norwegian men and women who sailed for neutral countries, for Nortraship, the Norwegian Domestic Fleet, the Royal Norwegian Navy, Allied and neutral merchant ships, and in Allied navies. International seafarers who sailed for Nortraship and in the home fleet are also registered. To date, 69,181 seafarers have been registered, around 57,540 of whom sailed for Nortraship. Some 30,003 of the latter are Norwegians, and 27,537 are international seafarers. There are 5,202 ships registered.
The register gained momentum when the Samlerhuset (The Collectors’ House) came into the picture, coinciding with my father appearing on NRK Kveldsnytt (Norwegian television), and pointing to the Norwegian Peace and Human Rights Centre Archive as the proper institution to be given national responsibility for documenting the history of the war sailors. Samlerhuset (a Norwegian distributor of collectibles, mainly coins and medals) provided most of the funding at the start, and over the years volunteers at the Seamen’s Association have put in a significant amount of work digitising the information. In particular, I would like to mention the Lillesand Seamen’s Association. The ARKIVET Peace and Human Rights Centre has also invested a considerable portion of its own funds. Since the start of 2016, the state has contributed by funding two full-time positions in the Centre of the History of Seafarers at War.
Norwegian Shipping and Trade Mission (Nortraship) was the world’s largest shipping company and its importance during the war was crucial to the Allied effort. Nortraship’s operations also helped to secure income after the war by ensuring that there was a partially intact industry in 1945. The profits from these voyages were used to create a fund that was intended to benefit the sailors, however, the use of the money created a great deal of acrimony and strong debate. It was not until 1972, following the recommendation of the Nortraship committee, that this dispute was put to an end, and the war sailors were finally paid a lump sum for the war voyages they had participated in during the Second World War.
The war effort was costly. If we add the losses in the home fleet, 3,211 Norwegian sailors lost their lives in warships, and 764 Norwegian ships were lost. Furthermore, 953 foreign seamen perished in wartime shipwrecks in the outer fleet.
Half of the Norwegian sailors experienced being torpedoed during the war, some as many as four times, and facing the ongoing possibility of death was an enormous strain that had long-lasting consequences. When peace came there was no shortage of beautiful words for the war sailors, however, when the survivors finally returned home the thanksgiving had largely died down. Honour was replaced by oblivion and even contempt. Again and again, the sailors had to fight to provide concrete evidence of what their effort had meant and what it had cost. Some ended up as alcoholics or homeless people, with little help from society. Others struggled with both physical and psychological injuries from the war.
The Norwegian authorities’ treatment of Norway’s sailors after the war has been strongly criticised. Now, 80 years after the war – there is an almost complete list of tens of thousands of seamen who served in the Merchant Navy and who put their lives on the line, but did not receive the thanks they deserved until recent times. It is way too late, but it’s time.
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*Tania Michelet, is the daughter of Norwegian novelist Jon Michelet, who authored a six-volume series about Norwegian war sailors during WWII, and she has written the above moving explanatory piece.
