Norway.org: You started warsailors.com as a way to learn more about your father, particularly his years in labor fcamps. What are some of the most interesting things you’ve learned about him?
Siri Lawson: I knew he had escaped ffrom some camp, but I didn’t know which or where, so when I found an old letter from him describing the escape, it was interesting to learn more details [note: Ms. Lawson’s father’s letters area online at http://www.warsailors.com/oddswar/frameoddletters.html; the letter in question is No. 3]. But the most fascinating thing of all is that not long after I had added his letters to the site I was contacted by the daughters of two of his crewmates who were in the camps with him. One of them was even my dad’s cabin mate on the Ringulv, the ship he was on when he was interned. His daughter’s Guestbook message took my breath away [see http://www.warsailors.com/gb2.html#veiberg].
Also, in an old book from 1943 called “Tusen Norske Skip,” there’s a chapter called “Rudzin’s Diary,” which I added to my site, because it describes the exact same things my dad describes. Rudzin was the stoker on Ringulv, and was from Latvia. The chances of finding a relative of his would seem slim, but lo and behold, his daughter landed on her father’s diary on my site one day when she was searching for relatives in Latvia!
Norway.org: Your site has inspired other people to share their stories. Do any of those stories in particular stand out? Have you gained any particular insights into war and the effect it has on people that you would like to share with our readers?
Siri Lawson: Each story is equally important, but there’s one that I’ll never forget as long as I live. Over a long period of time, I kept receiving messages from several different people who had met an old man on his wanderings around Loleta, Calif. He lived in a shelter for the homeless, was in an advanced state of senility, and could barely remember who he was or where he lived, but to each and every one of them he had recited a very long poem, which inspired them to make further investigations.
The poem mentioned the Norwegian ship Hallfried, and it was easy for them to find it on my website. However, his name, Karl Hansen, did not match the names of any of the crew members of this ship. With the help of an “Internet friend” in England, who made a visit to the Public Records Office for me, I found out that he was identical to the British Thomas P. Shaw, one of three survivors of Hallfried. He had, for some reason, taken the Norwegian name Karl Hansen. I also found him in the crew list for another Norwegian ship that was sunk during the war, the Rym [http://www.warsailors.com/singleships/rym.html] and later learned that he served on several Norwegian ships.
In 2005, two years after I had first been contacted about this man, I received a long Guestbook message [http://www.warsailors.com/gb5.html#thomashaw] from a lady in the same town, who had seen him outside her house, and who had invited him in for a Christmas meal. He subsequently ended up living with her and her family. He has since passed away, but had some happy years with this family. I contacted some people in Norway, who were also deeply moved by his story, and with their help we were able to get him a Norwegian war pension. I’ve added his poem to my page about Hallfried [http://www.warsailors.com/singleships/hallfried.html]. The page also has links to the many Guestbook messages and forum postings I received about this man. [See also this article about him http://www.northcoastjournal.com/102005/cover1020.html.]
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What I’ve learned is that we should never judge our parents until we know what they have experienced in their lives. We are all a result of our life experiences and carry our own little “backpack” of issues around with us. Those who sailed during World War II had a hard time settling into a normal life afterwards. This invariably affected their children, too. And this is true whether it’s World War II or today’s wars – I can’t imagine you’ll ever be the same person after having taken part in war.
Norway.org: How did it feel to receive the Order of Merit, one of Norway’s most prestigious rewards?
Siri Lawson: To be honest, I felt kind of numb, because it was impossible to wrap my brain around the fact that it was for real. I’ve been sitting here fiddling with “my ships” now for years, and at times have wondered if anyone even notices. It has been a hobby, I was an old housewife whose kids had left for college, I needed something to do, so can you imagine what it felt like to receive such an award for my “little hobby”? When I started, I knew next to nothing about the war, nor about the seamen who sailed during that time, not to mention the ships and convoys etc. I’ve since learned so much about all of that.
This is so huge -- it's impossible to fathom. But you know, as huge as it is, what remains the most rewarding for me is to see all the e-mails and Guestbook messages from descendants of those who sailed on "my ships," who have wondered for years and years what happened to their relatives, mails like, "My mom is still alive, and has never known what happened to her brother, until I found your website." Also, several crewmates or descendants of crewmates have been reunited through the site. What better motivation to continue working on the site, realizing it means something personally to people?
Norway.org: Your website’s hit counters suggest that your site has amassed somewhere near 1 million hits. Did you ever imagine that your site would receive so many visitors?
Siri Lawson: Never in a million years! I never even check that counter, so had no idea it had reached that number, until you told me. Actually, there’s probably more, because people sometimes run searches for specific ships or events, and then land directly on my pages about those ships, where I don’t have counters, so we’ll probably never know how many visitors there have been all total.
Norway.org: How much time do you put into the site in a typical week?
Siri Lawson: When I started the site, I worked on it all day long, every day, including weekends. I’d get up in the morning and go directly to my computer. My husband would run my errands, do grocery shopping, etc., as he was retired and also needed “something to do.” I still work on it several hours every single day, but in the past couple of years, I’ve tended to run out of steam by 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon, as opposed to 5:00 or 6:00, or even later, as before. This really bugs me, because I have so much information that still needs to be added, and I feel as though there’s not enough time to get it all done. If I live to be 110, it’ll never be finished
Norway.org: How and where do you find your information?
Siri Lawson: I'm sitting here thinking back - In the beginning there was just me and three books. Just a few days after I had started to list all the Nortraship ships, a Swedish guy, spotted my site and sent me myriad corrections, which in my opinion are just as important as the information itself. Later he also sent me lots of information from Swedish archives, and from Lloyd's War Losses, which I’ve since acquired myself. Then I heard about and purchased Roger Jordan's book “The World’s Merchant Fleets 1939,” and soon thereafter the author himself started to send me heaps of pictures and information.
Pretty soon, CD's full of original convoy documents and sinking reports started arriving in the mail, from several people in the U.K. They must have spent countless hours at the Public Records Office. Books kept arriving, from people I had never even heard of. I still receive books in the mail. Norwegian descendants of war sailors sent me info, as did people from Germany, the U.K. and the U.S., whose relatives had been on a Norwegian ship during the war. A Dutch guy, who was also on Norwegian ships and who speaks fluent Norwegian, whose hobby it is to paint ships, shared his beautiful paintings with me. Out of the blue, here came more convoys, as well as Voyage Records, all based on the late, well-known Arnold Hague's database, sent to me by a friend of his here in the U.S whom I later got to meet. A few years ago I ordered original Voyage Records for all of Nortraship's ships from the Norwegian National Archives, which would have cost me a small fortune, but they never did send me a bill, though I kept reminding them several times that I hadn't paid for them.
Yet I'm the one receiving a medal! All I've done really is type what others have sent me, and compare the info with the info in various sources, to make sure I get it right, as far as this is possible.
I’ve discovered that books can have a lot of errors, which then keep getting repeated in other books, and it’s so important to me to get these errors corrected. This is one of the biggest advantages of having the information online – I can easily go in and correct any mistakes. Once it’s in a book, it’s in there forever.
Norway.org: Is there particular information your site is lacking, something our readers might be able to help you track down?
Siri Lawson: No, I can’t think of anything it’s lacking, but I’d be very happy to receive personal stories that I can add to the site. Time is running out, and it’s so important that these stories get recorded, for all the world to see! I have a section entitled “Warsailor Stories” [http://warsailors.com/freefleet/historiereng.html], and I could add them there. Just to save me time and work, I’d prefer it if they’re already typed up, and sent as a Word document, but if this is not possible, I’d still love to receive them. English or Norwegian, doesn’t matter.
Norway.org: Any other thoughts you would like to share with our readers?
Siri Lawson: To any war sailor among your readers, please write down your story, if you haven’t already done so. To any younger reader, if your father or grandfather or great uncle, or whoever, sailed during the war, or otherwise took part in it, please ask them about it, and encourage them to tell you their story. You have no idea how many e-mails I receive that start by saying they’re just going through the belongings of their late relative -- they find information related to their service, then tell me the relative never talked about his experiences, and they never bothered to ask questions while he was still alive. This is exactly what happened to me too, my own dad was willing to talk about, which is unusual, but I was too young and too stupid to take notice. When I was old enough to be interested, it was too late. Now I keep thinking, what would he have said about all this if he had known what I’ve been doing for the last 10 years or so?
I would also like to mention that I have three discussion forums on my site where people can go in and ask questions concerning ships or seamen -- these are very popular and the people who visit them on a regular basis are extremely friendly, knowledgable and helpful.
Links
Main site: http://warsailors.com/
Ship Forum: http://www.warsailors.com/forum/list.php?1
Find Old Shipmates Forum: http://warsailors.com/forum/list.php?2
Book forum: http://warsailors.com/forum/list.php?3
All photos (c) Carl L. Lawson