Day 14 Narvik 9 August

We took the cruise line’s organized shuttle bus into town and eventually found the cemeteries to the Polish, French and British soldiers, sailors and airmen who were killed in 1940 when the Germans invaded.

 

The French memorial.

The British memorial

Here is recycling - Norwegian style. Good luck remembering which one is for bin night.

 

We made our way back to the military museum which was very modern and well laid out. 

The battleof Narvik went on for 62 days and involved, amongst others, German mountain troops, the French Foreign Legion, French mountain troops, British guard units as well as the local Norwegian forces. Norwegian women who had children to German servicemen during the war, lost their citizenship which was a bit of a shock.

 

An electronic map that displayed German dispositions and attacks by shops and aircraft.

The Eidsvold  (also a Queensland town) and its sister ship Norge (1905 vintage) were quickly sunk by German destroyers in 1940.

Various anti-tank guns and artillery.

I know French Hotchkiss tanks were bad, but this is not good, but this exhibit was a part of a reflection of war and was asking who wins in a war. Apart from Boeing, Westinghouse and other arms manufacturers...no one.

We headed back to the ship for lunch before our afternoon excursion. The stairwells are decorated with reproductions of the Bayeaux Tapestry illustrating the Norman invasion of England.

Our afternoon excursion took us to the Narvik Train Station. And yes, we did see a stuffed wolverine, an old steam engine and an empty iron ore train return to Sweden, but the highlight was leaving it.

 

This is the reason we travelled 17,000 km...

We did a bit of a bus tour around the town which was not that exciting, but did improve as we got some photos overlooking Narvik. This was very fortunate as we had planned to do the cable car, but the weather at the top was overcast, so that saved us some money. 

Along the way the bus stopped so we could see a German bunker. They had built them in the area.

 

Our last stop was the village of Arkenes, just south of Narvik in order to visit the oldest church in the area. This was a Lutheran octagonal church built in 1842 and which was badly damaged by a German bomb in 1940. 

There was a small choir who sang us songs that celebrated the navvies who had built the railroad from Narvik to Kiruna in Sweden so they could transport their iron ore through an ice-free port. The tour had some highlights.