Allehelgensaften – All-Saints-Evening – Halloween and a bit of history…

Allehelgensaften in Norwegian, more or less directly translates as All-Saints-Evening or in English Halloween is tonight. Halloween traditions have made it’s way into Norwegian culture and we have already had two lovely kids at the door for some candy with the Norwegian term for “trick or treat”: “Knask eller Knep”! 🙂 Lovely!

We’ve also been to the cemetery lighting candles today. At the same time we drove up to a vantagepoint above the city and took some pictures of the beautiful sky and the newly erected memorial over major Ivar Hyldmo, chief of the “Hyldmo-Batallion” that fought long and hard to secure the First Allied Victory during the 2nd World War in recapturing Narvik from the German Nazi Occupation Forces. My grandfather and a lot of my relatives took part in this epic battle to free Narvik. Luckily my two grandfathers (one a Norwegian soldier, infantry, the other a German soldier and radio-operator) and my grandmother (a telegraph-operator) all survived the war in Narvik, or I would not have been here to write this blog…

Major Ivar Hyldmo - Retired Colonel, spent 2 years as a Prisoner of War in Germany - and survived, later became a Brigade-Commander for peace-keeping forces in Germany and a Norwegian Military Attace in London. Now, 70 years after the war he and his men got their memorial in Narvik. Ivar Hyldmo was a loved and respected grade-school teacher by trade. The memorial reads: "Go boys! Norway's at stake! - Erected in Gratitude"

Major Ivar Hyldmo (ret. Colonel) with one of the hills he and his men stormed in the racapturing of Narvik in the background.

Memorial over Major Ivar Hyldmo (ret. Colonel) with one of the hills he and his men stormed in the recapture of Narvik in the background. This was the first allied victory against Nazi Germany in the 2. World War