Oddvar came to collect us in the morning and we went to his home in Ås, a small town about 30 miles south of Oslo. Here we spent the morning viewing a treasure trove of old photos and mementos. Oddvar showed us a tool made by his grandfather, Ole Andreas Nordnes, in Ketchikan, a tool used to keep track of the hooks on a fishing line. Ole's initials are carved into the tool! I commented on how clever the tool seemed and Oddvar brought out a second one and gave it to me! Any of you reading this who live near me, just ask and I'll bring it out and show you how it works. This is such a wonderful and unexpected gift. Anyway, we were immersed in reminiscing and identifying people in old photos that we completely lost track of time. Fortunately, Solveig hadn't. She had prepared a lovely lunch for us.
After eating, we went to the campus of the college where Oddvar had been a student only a few years ago (right, Oddvar?). Solveig had worked in the library of this campus until 3 days ago when she retired. I didn't know she was intending to retire and so we had many toasts to the glory of emeritus status.
After our walk was concluded, Oddvar decided to take us for some views of the Oslofjord and we drove west to the eastern side of the fjord which ends at the city of Oslo. He told us about the German battleships which attempted a stealth entry into this fjord during WWII. There is a relatively narrow neck to the fjord at the town of Drøbak. Fortunately, the Norwegian government had anticipated that this channel would prove too attractive to the Germans as an entry point for a potentially devastating attack on Norway. In the darkness of the night of April 9 in 1940, a fleet of German ships attempted to enter Oslofjord. They were running without lights, but were spotted by a lookout. Here's what the Wikipedia entry says about it:
"The Battle of Drøbak Sound took place in the northernmost part of the Oslofjord on 9 April 1940, on the first day of the German invasion of Norway. It was the start of the war in Western Europe . . . .
Oscarsborg Fortress engaged a German fleet sailing up the Oslofjord with the objective of seizing the Norwegian capital and capturing Haakon VII, the Norwegian king, and his government. At the time of the battle, the ageing fortress' Main Battery of guns was over forty years old and the installation had been relegated to training coastal artillery servicemen, leading the Germans to disregard the fortress' defensive value. Furthermore, the most powerful weapon of the fortress was a torpedo battery, which no one but the Norwegian military knew about.
In the end, the fortress' armament worked flawlessly. By sinking the lead ship of the German armada headed for Oslo, Oscarsborg Fortress saved the Norwegian king and government from being taken captive in the first hours of the invasion."
Here's the site for the info on this battle (it's pretty interesting, especially since the good guys won this particular battle):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Drøbak_Sound
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