Soon after the war ended, Harvey Firestone received a letter from Kjell Harmens, giving the real names of some of the Norwegians who had helped them. The friendship that started when Harmens carried Firestone over a stream on the way to Little Canada became a lifelong friendship. As of the date of this writing, Firestone and Harmens are believed to be the only members of the crew and the people who helped them who are still alive, although some of the youngsters who witnessed the crash, including Magnus Askvik's sons, are also still alive. The injuries to Firestone's knee from the crash in Nova Scotia and to his neck from the emergency landing in Norway continue to bother him.

Gordon Biddle and the members of his crew never forgot their Norwegian helpers who had helped without question or hesitation, despite the fact that the Germans made it clear than anyone who even saw the crew and didn't report it would be shot.

The Canadian Minister of Veteran Affairs wrote the following letter on April 27, 1966.

To the residents of Os

Those who carry this letter recently told me about their emergency landing in your area in September 1944.

They told me about the excellent cooperation and you gave them, at great personal risk, to save them from arrest and a long miserable life as prisoners of war, and about the efforts to return them safely to England.

Personally, I well understand the crew's warm feeling towards you, because I was in an aircraft that was shot down in World War II. I was not as lucky as these men, and I remained a prisoner of war for many uncomfortable months.

Therefore, on behalf of the government and people of Canada, I wish to salute you for your brave actions in those now long-past days. I also convey my personal thanks and the thanks from every veteran in Canada.

Yours truly

Roger J. Taillet

The letter was personally delivered by Harvey Firestone and Maurice Neil, who returned to Os with their wives, to Helén Mowinckel Nilsen on May 29, 1966.

The visit by Firestone and Neil provided an occasion for a reunion of the more that 70 Norwegians who had helped them evade capture and make their way back to Britain. Magnus Askvik, Ingeborg Bjørnen, Einar Evensen, Magnus Hauge, Jakob Hjelle, Torvald Jakobsen, Leif A. Larsen (Shetland Larsen), Edvard Lønningdal, Lars Orrebakken, Magnus K. Røttingen, Nils Røttingen, Haldor Øvredal, Marta Øvredal, and many others attended the reunion. Some of the people knew each other but had been unaware that the other was also involved in the rescue.

In 1979, Firestone had an unexpected encounter. He was again planning to visit his friends in Os. On the day of his departure, he left work shortly after noon, even though they were not leaving until evening. To pass the time, he went to a gym to work out. In the locker room, he met a friend and told him that he and his wife were going to Norway. The man asked why they would go there.

While Firestone was telling his story, a man came out of the shower and appeared to be interested in what Firestone was saying. After the friend left, the man came up to Firestone and said that he too had been in Norway at the time the Wellington landed.

Firestone was of course curious, especially because the man spoke English with a pronounced German accent. So Firestone asked him what he was doing in Norway at that time. The man looked Firestone straight in the eyes and pointed a finger at his face and said: “I was looking for you.”

He told Firestone that he had been a soldier in the Wehrmacht in the quartermaster corps in Bergen. His duty was to buy fish and other foods from local fishermen and farmers. He was very aware of the emergency landing of the Wellington, because he was taken off his regular work and employed on the search. He, along with soldiers from Os and the Bergen district combed the hills for days, and were later reinforced by regular troops transferred from other areas to take part in the search.

He said that more than four thousand soldiers were involved in the search for the flight-crew, and that for some time the search was the main task for the entire garrison in the Bergen district. He said that he and many of his countrymen could not help but admire the Norwegians for their strong national pride.

In 1999, a commemorative monument was unveiled in Haugland at Søre Neset, on the location where the Wellington made its emergency landing on the hill. Members of the crew and their families have visited Norway and some have made the trek up to Little Canada. Harvey Firestone has visited Os several times since the war. Firestone's last visit was in September 2004, to mark the 60th anniversary of the emergency landing and escape. On the 60th anniversary, a second plaque was unveiled at the site.

At a luncheon after the new plaque was unveiled, Ingemar Askvik told how it took the Germans three days to cut up the Wellington with axes and haul the pieces off – but not all the pieces. He and his brother, Ottar, would sneak in and take parts when the Germans were not looking, sometimes assisted by their father. Those prized possessions have remained in the family every since.

The brothers had managed to get George Death's uniform cap, and Ottar wore it on Liberation Day in 1945. After having the cap for 60 years, Ottar gave it to Harvey Firestone, who brought it back to Canada and gave it to George Deeth's son.

One other prized artifact had remained in the Askvik family – the Very pistol that Firestone had handed Magnus Askvik after trying to set the plane on fire with it. At the 60th anniversary luncheon, Ottar Askvik returned the Very pistol to Harvey Firestone.