Down to the Boats
Ingeborg Bjomen returned home after visiting us in the afternoon and shortly thereafter met with her father and Johannes Ferstadvoll. They told her of the plan to take us to the rendezvous point at Bjomatrynet. It was decided that Johannes would accompany Ingeborg. The trek through the woods was a very perilous one, due to the rain and the darkness it was even more so than usual, notwithstanding the presence of the many Germans in the area. Shortly before seven o’clock Ingeborg and Johannes quietly left Bjørnen and started working their way through the woods in our direction.
Meanwhile the rain, which had been falling on and off all during the after noon, developed into a heavy drizzle as evening approached. Darkness quickly descended and we stayed closer together under the rock outcropping in order to stay as dry and as warm as possible. We were quite startled when Ingeborg and Johannes suddenly materialized out of the blackness. She, practically without hesitation, signaled that we were to hurry and follow them. We scrambled to our feet hastening to comply but full of curiosity as to what was happening. Hushed enquiries broke the stillness of the night and we had to remind each other that any untoward sound could betray our position. She and Johannes led the way, as we silently wended our way through the trees and underbrush behind them.
We scrambled on at a fair pace, keeping as close together as the heavy foliage and the wet, slippery terrain would allow. Approximately a half hour later it became apparent that we were descending a rather steep incline and that we were approaching water. At the foot of the hill, as we emerged from the trees, we entered a little clearing. The clearing was rock strewn and not more than fifty yards in width. Less than a hundred feet away the waters of the fjord dashed against the rocks. Ingeborg signalled to us to get down and whispered that we should try to blend in with the surroundings so that we could not be seen by boats that were passing on the fjord very close to land.
Throughout the evening Johannes had not uttered a sound; it was obvious that he did not speak nor understand English. Ingeborg, in her conversations with us, had referred to her father and we were under the impression at that time that the man with us was Mr. Hans Bjørnen. We did not discover his true identity until many years later.
We crouched down among the rocks and hastily took in our surroundings. Filled with concern for what was to happen next, we besieged Ingeborg with whispered questions. In reply to our curiosity, she explained that her father had agreed to arrange for us to be at the cove at that time. She went on to explain that some people her father had contacted were going to attempt to reach us and that we were to go with them. She claimed she knew nothing other than what she had told us. Though many questions must have been on the minds of the crew, none were voiced, feeling satisfied that she would not be able to answer. We knew the present and our immediate future was in the hands of others and there was very little we could do to alter the course of events as they were unfolding at the time.
We waited nervously. We saw several boats passing not too far from shore and we wondered if they were looking for us. Little did we know then that the Germans had set up a blockade of the peninsula. They used seven patrol boats, plying back and forth, in an effort to make sure we were kept on the peninsula so that no attempted rescue by sea would succeed.
After Ingeborg had answered our questions, we settled down to a hushed, silent vigil. Eight pairs of eyes scanned the fjord, anxiously trying to detect signs of the approach of our expected rescuers. We had been waiting for about an hour when suddenly a rowboat materialized out of the misty darkness. We all seemed to spot it simultaneously. There were two men in a large rowboat drifting in towards the rocky shore. The man in the front was frantically waving for us to join them. We thanked Ingeborg and Johannes for all they had done and hurried to scramble on board the rowboat; scrambled is just what we did, with the boat tossing and pitching the six of us presented quite a sight in our attempts to get settled aboard. Once seated, we waved farewell to Ingeborg and Johannes who, standing on the shore, continued to wave until we lost sight of them.
Ingeborg and Johannes returned to their respective homes under the cover of darkness and were successful in not arousing the suspicions of the Germans. The next day however, when the Germans discovered that we were no longer on the peninsula, they swept down on the Bjørnen home, arrested Ingeborg's sister, Hanna, who had not been home when we were in the area. Apparently, in order to shield her sister and father, Hanna avoided answering the questions put to her. The Germans were positive that she had contributed to our success in fleeing from Bjomen. She, like her sister, spoke English very well and this added to their suspicions of her. She was treated very harshly by her captors, suffering extreme torture at their hands in an attempt to get information from her. She defied them with such vehemence that she was eventually sent off to prison and remained there until the end of the war.
Ingeborg Bjomen returned home after visiting us in the afternoon and shortly thereafter met with her father and Johannes Ferstadvoll. They told her of the plan to take us to the rendezvous point at Bjomatrynet. It was decided that Johannes would accompany Ingeborg. The trek through the woods was a very perilous one, due to the rain and the darkness it was even more so than usual, notwithstanding the presence of the many Germans in the area. Shortly before seven o’clock Ingeborg and Johannes quietly left Bjørnen and started working their way through the woods in our direction.
Meanwhile the rain, which had been falling on and off all during the after noon, developed into a heavy drizzle as evening approached. Darkness quickly descended and we stayed closer together under the rock outcropping in order to stay as dry and as warm as possible. We were quite startled when Ingeborg and Johannes suddenly materialized out of the blackness. She, practically without hesitation, signaled that we were to hurry and follow them. We scrambled to our feet hastening to comply but full of curiosity as to what was happening. Hushed enquiries broke the stillness of the night and we had to remind each other that any untoward sound could betray our position. She and Johannes led the way, as we silently wended our way through the trees and underbrush behind them.
We scrambled on at a fair pace, keeping as close together as the heavy foliage and the wet, slippery terrain would allow. Approximately a half hour later it became apparent that we were descending a rather steep incline and that we were approaching water. At the foot of the hill, as we emerged from the trees, we entered a little clearing. The clearing was rock strewn and not more than fifty yards in width. Less than a hundred feet away the waters of the fjord dashed against the rocks. Ingeborg signalled to us to get down and whispered that we should try to blend in with the surroundings so that we could not be seen by boats that were passing on the fjord very close to land.
Throughout the evening Johannes had not uttered a sound; it was obvious that he did not speak nor understand English. Ingeborg, in her conversations with us, had referred to her father and we were under the impression at that time that the man with us was Mr. Hans Bjørnen. We did not discover his true identity until many years later.
We crouched down among the rocks and hastily took in our surroundings. Filled with concern for what was to happen next, we besieged Ingeborg with whispered questions. In reply to our curiosity, she explained that her father had agreed to arrange for us to be at the cove at that time. She went on to explain that some people her father had contacted were going to attempt to reach us and that we were to go with them. She claimed she knew nothing other than what she had told us. Though many questions must have been on the minds of the crew, none were voiced, feeling satisfied that she would not be able to answer. We knew the present and our immediate future was in the hands of others and there was very little we could do to alter the course of events as they were unfolding at the time.
We waited nervously. We saw several boats passing not too far from shore and we wondered if they were looking for us. Little did we know then that the Germans had set up a blockade of the peninsula. They used seven patrol boats, plying back and forth, in an effort to make sure we were kept on the peninsula so that no attempted rescue by sea would succeed.
After Ingeborg had answered our questions, we settled down to a hushed, silent vigil. Eight pairs of eyes scanned the fjord, anxiously trying to detect signs of the approach of our expected rescuers. We had been waiting for about an hour when suddenly a rowboat materialized out of the misty darkness. We all seemed to spot it simultaneously. There were two men in a large rowboat drifting in towards the rocky shore. The man in the front was frantically waving for us to join them. We thanked Ingeborg and Johannes for all they had done and hurried to scramble on board the rowboat; scrambled is just what we did, with the boat tossing and pitching the six of us presented quite a sight in our attempts to get settled aboard. Once seated, we waved farewell to Ingeborg and Johannes who, standing on the shore, continued to wave until we lost sight of them.
Ingeborg and Johannes returned to their respective homes under the cover of darkness and were successful in not arousing the suspicions of the Germans. The next day however, when the Germans discovered that we were no longer on the peninsula, they swept down on the Bjørnen home, arrested Ingeborg's sister, Hanna, who had not been home when we were in the area. Apparently, in order to shield her sister and father, Hanna avoided answering the questions put to her. The Germans were positive that she had contributed to our success in fleeing from Bjomen. She, like her sister, spoke English very well and this added to their suspicions of her. She was treated very harshly by her captors, suffering extreme torture at their hands in an attempt to get information from her. She defied them with such vehemence that she was eventually sent off to prison and remained there until the end of the war.