Meet The Schoolship Boy Ansgar Thorkildsen (1923-1998)
Glenn and Bonnie Thorkildsen contacted us a few weeks ago via Facebook. They wanted to share pictures and tell of their father and father-in-law who they thought sailed as a schoolship boy on Sørlandet in 1937. We got a series of pictures and learned a little about what he had done until he was called to military service when World War II broke out. Here's the story.
It was Bonnie at the keyboard. They live in Arizona, USA. She was eager and sent a lot of pictures. Her father-in-law Ansgar Thorkildsen was born in 1923 and was only a young boy when he left Lista. He did not meet the family again until after World War II and as recently as 1947.
The story as Bonnie and Glenn know it is that Ansgar went to sea as a 14-year-old. His brother Arne was only 2 years old when he left. But he remembered that Ansgar had said that they undressed and bathed on the deck Sørlandet . He sailed on several ships during the war and was a gunner on an escort ship or part of a convoy. He was torpedoed and had not talked much about the war only the people.
After the war, he sailed to places such as Scotland/England, Jamaica, Cuba, Chile, Argentina, and the United States. Bonnie had found drawings of several of the ships. A table in the photo gallery shows an overview of some of his travels.
The family left Norway and Ansgar met them in New York in 1947. He sailed with the SS Romulus and immigrated to the United States when he arrived in San Pedro, California a year later. The family moved to Seattle, and he stayed there for the rest of his life. He loved the sea and fished in Puget Sound. Later he worked on larger fishing vessels and canned factories in Alaska.
The old book from 1927 confirms
Ansgar mustered on the school ship Sørlandet in 1939,
it turned out when we checked with the old overview of school ship boys from 1927. We found him seeking number 89. He had applied to the school ship Sørlandet's 13th summer voyage in 1939. It says that his name was Anskar Thorkildsen and was from Farsund - specifically Brekne at Lista. He had paid NOK 300 and became a schoolship boy or pupil number 7 - born 18 September 1923. His grades are also noted in the chart.
Bonnie found a series of pictures of Ansgar and his friends in an old album. Both she and her husband - the son of Ansgar - wanted to share the photos so everyone can see them. They have allowed us to share them here and elsewhere.
