How many have not said: “I should have talked to my father about what he did during the war.”
I am one of them. But fortunately, some glimpses of what he told me have stayed in the mind of a young boy.
My father – who many also called SAS Hansen – passed away in 2004. By then, he had lived in Sola for 51 years and had been the head of SAS at Sola for 27 of them.
I had actually put this behind me. But then something suddenly triggered me to find out more about him. A couple of years ago, in the War Sailor Register, which is continuously updated, I discovered that my father had been awarded the St. Olav Medal with Oak Branch – for heroic efforts during the war. One of the highest-ranked medals one could receive.
He had never told me this. I don’t have the medal – although I do have some of the others.
This discovery triggered me to dig further. It ended in an amazing story.
Organiser: Sola Historical Society