An interesting day in Trondheim

We were blessed with a beautiful day when we woke in Trondheim. Having eschewed the  various arranged trips, we had a leisurely breakfast and start to the day, then walked into the city centre to admire the cathedral, a nice church and the marina near the harbour:

The river flowing through the middle of the city was pleasant as well:

 Then back to the ship past a very smart looking modern hotel for a hurried lunch prior to meeting up with Morten - one of the people who have helped so much with finding out about Uncle  Ken's demise.

Thanks to excellent instructions before setting off from England, we found Morten very easliy, though sadly his partner, Linzee wasn't with him as she'd had to fly back to Scotland due to a family emergency. Here's Morten discussing something with Barbara, the Black Watch visible across the bay in the background.

 

Our first stop was at a building site across the bay from the harbour, that Morten had identified as having been the base for the German squadron of sea-planes, where the BV-138 that shot down Ken's Catalina would have taken off on the 22nd October 1941. There's not much to see there now, but some buildings the Germans used as barracks are still standing.

 Then Morten took us up to Stavne Cemetery where Wing Commander Richard Briese, the squadron's commander, is buried. His was the only body to be washed up on the Norwegian coast, a month of so after the shooting down. He would have been one of the last people to see Uncle Ken alive, and was so concerned about the safety of one of his crews on this dangerous mission, that he elected to fly with them as the third pilot, to ease the strain of a 24 hour mission.

Here we are by his grave:

 And some of the many other graves of Commonwealth soldiers, sailors and aviators who died during WW2 in this part of Norway:

Morten then took us across town to an impressive looking tower:

 It has a small restaurant and observation deck near the top:

 With terrific panoramic views across Trondheim. You can just see our ship in the distance:

 Or, with a better lens on, the ship and Munkholmen (Monk's Island):

Then, after an interesting visit to the old castle, and a pleasant walk back downhill to the ship, we sadly bade Morten goodbye - Many thanks Morten, it was a great day and we're forever grateful for your, and Lindzee's, help with the research and everything.

Back on the boat, it left soon after we got back aboard, and there was a pre-dinner rock'n'roll party on the back deck as we left Trondheim Harbour.

All for today .....