25 Feb 2021

I rejoined the British Newspaper Archive which I’ve found to be very useful in the past. I searched for Hvaal to see what reports I could find.

There were some reports of the execution of Emil Gustav Hvaal.

From the Dundee Evening Telegraph - Wednesday 20 October 1943:

TRAINED IN BRITAIN AS SABOTEURS

Ten Norwegians Shot

Ten Norwegians sentenced to death by Germans in Norway for aiding the Allies have been shot, says the Norwegian Telegraph Agency today. Three are said to have returned to Norway from Britain after receiving training as sabotage agents and parachutists. A German statement said: " Emil Hustav Hvaal of Praesteroed, near Toensberg, went to Britain in May, 1940, as a radio operator aboard a whaler. Ha was trained as an agent and in April, 1942, returned to Norway, where he set up radio receiver and transmitter to gather information and send it to Britain. " When arrested he resisted the Gestapo with revolvers

https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000563/19431020/005/0001 (PDF in sources/newspapers)

From the Aberdeen Press and Journal - Thursday 21 October 1943

Nazis Hunt for “Lady in Black”

The Germans are scouring Norway for a woman known only as the “Lady in Black”, who has been seen in different parts of the country after acts of sabotage.

She is believed, according to reports from Norway, to have been associated with the ten men shot in Oslo as “members of the underground movement”. The men were said to have been specially trained for sabotage and revolt in the event of Allied landings.

The ten men executed were:- Sigurrd Jacobsen, Sverre Ensen, Olaf Oerstud, Eugen Groenholm, Kaare Gundersen, Sverre Anderson, all of Oslo; Emil Hvaal of Toensbergl Erlin Marthinson of Bergen; Christian Fastingall, of Aalsund; and Elias Telle of Tellevaag.

Trained in Britain

A special S.S. communique said that after training in Britain with the Intelligence Service they were dropped by parachute equipped with British arms. They attacked shipping at Oslo, set up arms dumps and stores at key points, organised new cells of the underground army, and regularly broadcast military information to Britain

The Norwegian Telegraph Agency said that six of the executed men were alleged by the Germans to have taken a leading part last April in the sinking of a ship in Oslo harbour, when another ship, two lighters and a lighthouse were damaged.

There have been 198 executions in Norway, it stated.

https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000578/19431021/031/0003 (PDF in sources/newspapers)

Dundee Evening Telegraph - Friday 29 May 1942

NAZIS DENUDE VILLAGE

Sequel to Shooting Germans in Norway

Stockholm, Friday. A deathlike stillness to-day haunts the little fishing village of Televag, near Bergen, following the shooting of two Germans, one of whom was the deputy Gestapo chief for Western Norway. As a reprisal, says the Stockholm newspaper " Aftontidningen,” the Germans sent the entire male population of the village, numbering 60, to concentration camps and evacuated their families, including baby four days old. They also burned down about 50 houses. In Oslo, 320 people have been seized as hostages for the killing of a Quisling stormtrooper named Quist-Christensen. Over thousand Norwegians arrested the Germans have been sent to the Reich. The latest group, despatched a week ago, numbered 100.

https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000563/19420529/003/0001 (PDF in sources/newspapers)

Some general background about Norwegian whalers arriving in Britain:

Dundee Evening Telegraph - Friday 31 May 1940

5000 NORWEGIAN “WHALERS” REACH BRITAIN

Five thousand sturdy Norwegian “whalers” who were in the Southern Antarctic seas when they heard of the German invasion of their country are now England, all eager to complete their homeward journey as soon possible to join battle with the Nazis.

In the London hotel where several hundreds are staying the hall is piled with large kitbags, seamen’s chests, and baggage of all description belonging to men who are ready to be off at a moment’s notice.

A ship’s engineman to a Press Association reporter voiced the feelings of the Others when he said. “If we can’t get back to Norway and they need us here, we want do our utmost to help—Navy, Army, or Merchant Service —we don’t mind. The Germans are a terrible people.”

Here a flaxen-haired, middle-aged man broke down completely. It is two year? since he was home—over six months since he had news his wife and children.

https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000563/19400531/047/0005 (PDF in sources/newspapers)

Also I came across a mention in 1947 of a Mrs Hvaal working as the Matron of St. Agnes Home in Eastbourne. It was a convalescence home for children with disabilities. It opened in 1938 but was evacuated in 1940, reopening once the war was open

Eastbourne Herald - Saturday 11 January 1947

A REAL HOME

The re-opening of St. Agnes’ Home after it was de-requisitioned by the War Office has been a welcome event for the Society. It is a fine well-built house standing right on the seafront and has been redecorated throughout. The walls are illumined with mural paintings dear to the heart of children. and 21 little beds in orderly nurseries are occupied by the " over twos " and " under fives." The diningroom and playroom are well arranged There is a real feeling of homely warmth and kindness about the place. and this is due to the " motherliness " of the Matron, Mrs Hvaal , and the Sister and to the attentiveness of their staff, who help to train and teach the little ones " adopted " by the Society. The children are happy and bright-eyed and all are well-dressed Many. of the clothes were sent over by the ladies of the Canadian Red Cross, and the fact that there is no uniform and nothing Institutional about St. Agnes’ Home is one of its most pleasing features.

https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002017/19470111/030/0003 (PDF in sources/newspapers)

I’m noting here some other information I found last week from general Googling. It is from the Norwegian Center for the History of Seafarers at War. Emil is listed as working on whaling ships in 1939/40 which were then pressed into the war effort. He was on a ship in 1938 that recorded him in London, so he definitely had good connections with England.

Source: https://www.krigsseilerregisteret.no/en/sjofolk/658271/monstringer

Emil Gustav Hvaal Date of birth: September 27, 1908 Date of death: October 1943 Gender: Measure [Male] Nationality: Norway Birthplace: Lardal Place of living: Tønsberg County: Vestfold Service: Foreign merchant navy 1939-1945 Rank: Worker - Whaling

Other: Participant in WW2 Whaling expedition 1939-1940

The D/S Sourabaya was built in 1915 in Belfast and was called the Carmarthen until 1929 and had call sign VPSM. It was registered to The South Georgia. Co. Ltd. (Chr. Salvesen & Co. Leith. UK.) of Great Britain and its home port was Leith, UK. It was torpedoed 27 Oct 1942. (Source: https://www.krigsseilerregisteret.no/en/skip/26960/)

The D/S Salvestria was built in 1914 in Belfast and was formerly called the Cardiganshire. Its call sign was EIKX. It was also registered to The South Georgia. Co. Ltd. (Chr. Salvesen & Co. Leith. UK.) of Great Britain and its home port was Leith, UK. It was sunk by a mine on 27 Jul 1940 (Source: https://www.krigsseilerregisteret.no/en/skip/24964/)

Chr. Salvesen refers to Christian Salvesen. Leith refers to Leith Harbour on the island of South Georgia in the Atlantic, near the Falkland Islands. It was established in 1909 by Christian Salvesen’s company. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leith_Harbour

I found one reference to the Sourabaya in the newspaper archive (hard to search for because Sourabaya is also a port in the East Indies)

NORWEGIAN RELIEF FUND . —The Lord Provost’s appeal on behalf of King Haakon’s Fund for Relief in Norway continues to do well in Edinburgh . A sum of £121 has been received from Messrs Chr . Salvosen & Company, this amount having been collected by the Norwegian members of the crew on board the floating factory ship Sourabaya . Other donations include £ 50 from Messrs J . T . Salvesen & Company, Grangemouth ; £25 , “Anonymous, per D, S. . & M.”; and £25 from the Fife Coal Company, Ltd .

(Source: https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000540/19400610/081/0003)

The Christian Salvesen Company archives are held at Edinburgh University. While reading a page about the archives (http://libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk/edinburghuniversityarchives/2020/01/) I noticed this advertisment for Tønsberg Reberbane AS (Tønsberg Ropeworks Company). Tønsberg is where Emil Gustav Hvaal was living according to the whaler ship records and the newspaper reports above.

The long building is the rope track where they made single length ropes for whalers. At 455 metres it was supposedly the longest rope track in the world.

I had a quick look on Ancestry for Hvaal in England after the war. I found a couple of references in the Electoral Registers to an Elizabeth A Hvaal living in Berkshire in 1947 and 1948 at The Two Brewers, Henley. [Source: Berkshire, England, Electoral Registers, 1840-1965)

Also I found references to Sharon M Hvaal living in Kensington North in 1964 and 1965 Source: [London, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1965]

Ancestry only carries a few electoral roll collections so I was lucky to find Elizabeth and Sharon in these ones.

I can’t find any other information about Elizabeth or Sharon Hvaal in Ancestry. The information we have so far says Elizabeth died in 2003 in Durham and Sharon in 2009 in France but there appear to be no records of those deaths.

I did a Google search for Sharon Margaret Hvaal since it is an unusal name and found this email from someone trying to get in contact with her on 13 Nov 2013: https://groups.google.com/g/english-genealogy-family-and-local-history/c/0NS52Q7AbxI

Dear friends.

I’m searching a cousin of mine, and I want to get in contact wit her if possible.

Name:Sharon Margeret Hvaal. born: late 1942 Mother: Elisabeth A Dean (Married early 1942) to.. Father: Emil Hvaal

My last registration is by London England, Electoral Registers of 1964:

Name: Sharon M Hvaal County: Kensington and Chelsea Ward: Kensington North Street adress: 16 Queensdale Road

I also know that she travelled to Canada 7 USA in 1957 and returned to UK in 1958.

I hope anyone may help me.

Best regards

Egil Havaldsrud, Kongsberg Norway

There was a reply from someone called Malcolm on 3 May 2020:

Hi Egil. I knew Sharon well in England. I have more details on her if you want them. Have you found her since 2013 ? Has the covid19 killed her ? I hope not. Write to me at the above address or [elided for privacy]

Thank you. Good luck to both of us. Stay healthy !

Malcolm

I think Egil’s email address is [elided for privacy] since he appears to be mentioned on http://www.ksh-lag.no/?page_id=139 as the contact person for the Kongsberg and Sandsvær history team

Since I have resubscribed to the British Newspaper Archive I thought I would take another look at the Risca Colliery Disaster of 1880 in which my great great grandfather Joseph Ximenes was killed. Previously I have found some wonderful drawn pictures of the aftermath of the disaster but I wanted to see if anything new had been added to the archive in the meantime.

The Star of Gwent - Friday 23 July 1880 edition had details of the injuries sustained:

THE TERRIBLE COLLIERY EXPLOSION AT RISCA.

FRIDAY.

In the afternoon several more bodies were brought to the surface. Most of them showed considerable signs of having been knocked about, and the great proportion were scorched and burned, in a few instances almost beyond recognition. The bodies of William Matthew and John Potter, who had been ripping the top in No. 1 level, working together, were found about 20 yards apart. Matthews scorched about the hands and face, his hair was scorched, he was burnt about the body, and he had sustained several contusions about the head and face. Potter has had the skin of the hands burnt, his right arm dislocated, had sustained a compound fracture of the left leg, a fractured arm, and dislocation of the left shoulder, besides a fracture of the base of the skull. Charles Randall, a timberman, was found in the inside of the old lamp station. He had been engaged in stacking. The injuries he had sustained were of such a character that he could only with difficulty be recognised. The next body brought up was that of Morgan Davies, a haulier. He found in No 2 level, about 80 yards from the stable, with some marks of burning; and he had also had a fracture of the fore-arm, a dislocation of the left elbow, and contusions about the body. The bodies of three ostlers, William Caine, John Fry, and William Hughes, were brought up from the stables, where they were found late in the evening. Caine found with his head lying in the manger, and his body underneath part of the carcase of a horse. Death was pronounced to have resulted from suffocation. The other ostlers were found in similar positions. Last to be brought to the surface the body of Joseph Hemmings, a labourer, scorched about his head and face found in No 2 level. Twenty bodies in the whole had been recovered up to Friday evening.

[Source: https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003168/18800723/096/0006, PDF in sources/newspapers]

The South Wales Daily News - Friday 16 July 1880 had an interesting extra detail about where he lived in its list of men killed:

67. Joseph Hemmings, labourer, 40, married, near Risca station.

[Source: https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000919/18800716/016/0003, PDF in sources/newspapers]

The explosion and subsequent enquiry is detailed on the Northern Mine Research Society website:

The explosion occurred about 1.30 a.m. on the morning of the 15th July. At the time the only men that were in the pit were a repairing shift consisting of one overman and 117 men and boys. The shift had descended between 10 and 10.30 p.m. on the 14th and had been at work for about three hours. The explosion affected all working parts of the mine.

[Source: https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/accidents-disasters/monmouthshire/risca-colliery-black-vein-pit-explosion-risca-1880/]