Rekordbesøks på Gammeldags Jul på Å!
Published 5 December 2023
Rekordbesøks på Gammeldags Jul på Å!
27 October 2023
On October 25th, Lofoten War Memorial Museum were visited by War Veterans from Lofoten. Head of department at the museum, William Hakvaag, received an award for his many years of work and good cooperation with war veterans.
The meeting was planned between Rolf Johnsen and the head of department at the museum. Such meetings require a little extra attention. The visit also consisted of two female officers from the Armed Forces who had come on this occasion.
Lecture on colonel birger eriksen
First, a lecture was given by William Hakvaag about Colonel Birger Eriksen, who was commander of the fortress Oscarsborg on 9 April 1940. Eriksen was from Moskenes in Lofoten and it was he who gave the order to bring live grenades up to the guns at Oscarsborg. This ends, as we know, with the Blücher being sunk. This in turn delayed the occupation of Oslo for many hours. Thus, King Haakon, Crown Prince Olav and the government managed to escape with a train that was set up in haste. Marta and the children also managed to escape to Sweden. Even the gold from Norges Bank was driven out of Oslo. There shall have been 27 trucks that tumbled out of Oslo, each with 3 tonnes of gold on the truck bed? All this could happen because of Colonel Eriksen’s vigor.
Rare objects in the exhibition
The museum exhibits the story of Colonel Eriksen. The museum actually also has the flag from Blücher that the Germans managed to salvage. Rare historical stuff!
After a further visit to the museum, Hilde Kristine Nøkleby held a lecture about today’s war veterans, their rights and opportunities in today’s society.
William receives the award
After this, William Hakvaag receives the award for his many years of work with and safeguarding history from WW2 and his cooperation with war veterans from both 1940 and later. The meeting concluded with all veterans and the military’s two female representatives handing over a mug as a memento from the visit and the museum. A pleasant visit for all parties.
Congratulations to William on this award!
