Viking Magazine - Sep/Oct 2023 - 11

ordinary sailors with no military training,
essentially put on the frontlines of
battle-their day-to-day journeys
extremely dangerous and oftentimes
fatal. More than 4,000 krigsseilere were
killed at sea-accounting for the highest
concentration of Norwegian war
casualties. Many more were wounded,
returning home with permanent
trauma, both mental and physical.
It is almost certain that without the
krigsseilere's service, the Allies would
not have been able to emerge victorious.
British Prime Minister Winston
Churchill later expressed his gratitude,
claiming " the Norwegian seafarers were
worth more than a million soldiers. "
But despite being such a vital component
of the Allied victory, the krigsseilere
were not immediately recognized
or compensated as such. Upon their
return from the war, they struggled to
receive the same medical care and
rehabilitation efforts that were offered
to other veterans and were granted
WWII Through a Krigsseiler's Eyes
Here's an excerpt from seafarer
Deane Wynne's writings about his
experience aboard the British ship,
D/S Kingsbury: " We looked around for
help. There was none. Three other ships
around us had also been torpedoed. All
four of us were hit within the space of
10 minutes and all by the same U-Boat,
U-338. The sky was brightly lit by
parachute fl ares. Guns seemed to be
fi ring all over the place. "
much smaller pensions than military
soldiers. It took decades for the world
to begin acknowledging them as heroes
and preserving their story.
It wasn't until 2013 that the Norwegian
minister of defense at the time,
Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen, issued
a public apology for the collective
negligence of the krigsseilere's service,
acknowledging that as a society, Norway
had let them down.
While certainly far too late, the story
of Nortraship is fi nally being told and
understood by the world, with several
monuments built, a register preserving
their contributions established, and
even a popular book, fi lm and TV
series created about their experiences.
In March 2023, Netfl ix released a series
titled, simply, " War Sailor, " which also
serves to educate on the contributions
and brave sacrifi ces of these sailors.
Viking September/October 2023 7.25x2.25 $504.
Sámi Dreams:
Portraits of Resilience in the Norwegian Arctic
July 1 - October 31, 2023
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vesterheim.org
563-382-9681
Norwegian Heritage Center
Welcome to Livsreise where you can learn about Norwegian immigrants through
many state of the art interactive elements. The Vesterheim gallery has been updated
made by Norwegian immigrants featuring Ole Evinrude; inventor of the outboard motor.
with a new display titled " Innovators and Inventors " featuring the significant contributions
" Where
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Viking Magazine - Sep/Oct 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Viking Magazine - Sep/Oct 2023
