Nils Økland
Encyclopedia
Nils Andreas Økland was a Norwegian
Esperantist
and teacher in Stord (Hordaland)
, Norway. His father Matthias Larsen Økland (b. 1844) was also a school teacher and a church chorister; his mother was Signi Nilsdatter (b. 1853) from Eidsvåg. Having learned Esperanto
indirectly through his friend Haldor Midthus by 1904, he served as president on the executive council of Stord's Norwegian Esperanto League
branch.
in 1896; the parish priest made particular note of his "knowledge, diligence and conduct with distinction." By 1900 he was a student at a Stord teachers training college.
Beginning in the spring of 1904, Økland taught Esperanto courses at the Bethania Waisenhus in Stavanger
. Under the direction of the Stavanger parish priest, the Bethania complex, housing about 150 orphans in three asylum buildings
and a further 20 to 30 young offenders in a separate youth detention center
on Lindø, operated a printing shop producing newspapers, religious tracts
and books.
In the early period of the movement's growth he propagated the planned language
among his colleagues and through newspaper and magazine articles
. In 1910 and 1912 he taught adult Esperanto courses in Haugesund
, and in 1932 he taught a children's Esperanto course in Stord. He was also Stord's county mayor
(ordførar) from 1932 to 1934.
to Lerwick
in the Shetland Islands
, together with 16 other Norwegians, as part of the organized Shetland Bus
evacuation of Resistance fighters. His brother Gregorius F. Økland left the same day for the Shetlands in his own boat, the M/B Silden. The Kristian Stein group, led by Ole Alfred Olsen, had stolen a well boat, the M/B Nora I, a Hardanger cutter
registered in Herdla
, to help Dagfin Vassenden and Alf Grung Johnsen, two Bergen residents who had fled to Hernar
to escape a Gestapo
manhunt.
in 1927. Captained by Olaf K. Egidius, the vessel had been chartered to Standard Oil of New Jersey. Refitted in Halifax
, Nova Scotia
with an aft gun and four fixed machine guns, the Daghild set out September 10, 1941 as part of a naval merchant convoy
from Halifax to Liverpool
to resupply Great Britain
during the Battle of the Atlantic (1939–1945).
Økland joined the crew
of the Daghild in Britain as one of three gunners, and the vessel made a further trans-Atlantic supply run as part of a convoy in April 1942. On a return convoy from Loch Ewe
(September 2, 1942) and Liverpool to New York
six merchant ships and the escort vessel HMCS Ottawa
were sunk by U-boats, and on September 12 the Daghild was one of six other ships damaged by torpedo fire from Capt. Lt. Otto von Bülow
's U-404
.
After an attempted conversion to aircraft carrier
, the Daghild sailed with another resupply convoy
but her new deck with aircraft, barges and landing craft made her unstable and difficult to manoeuvre, and the Daghild was forced to return to port in St. John's, Newfoundland. Departing again for Great Britain, she was torpedoed again during the night before February 7, 1943 by Capt. Lt. Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner's U-402. The Daghild sent three SOS messages, but after all 39 aboard including Økland had evacuated to three lifeboats, a further torpedo sank the vessel. All the sailors were rescued by the Free French
corvette . After rescuing 11 sailors from a Greek ship that had been rammed by a destroyer, the Lobelia arrived safely in Greenock
, with the rescued sailors continuing to Glasgow
.
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
Esperantist
Esperantist
An Esperantist is a person who speaks or uses Esperanto. Etymologically, an Esperantist is someone who hopes...
and teacher in Stord (Hordaland)
Stord
Stord is a municipality in the county of Hordaland, Norway. Stord is sometimes called "Norway in miniature" - as it has such a variety of landscapes: coastline, fjords, forests, agricultural land, and mountain areas....
, Norway. His father Matthias Larsen Økland (b. 1844) was also a school teacher and a church chorister; his mother was Signi Nilsdatter (b. 1853) from Eidsvåg. Having learned Esperanto
Esperanto
is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
indirectly through his friend Haldor Midthus by 1904, he served as president on the executive council of Stord's Norwegian Esperanto League
Norvega Esperantista Ligo
Norvega Esperantista Ligo was founded in 1911. As the Norwegian arm of the Esperanto movement, its aim is to spread knowledge and use of the international language Esperanto. The league has a modest size of a couple of hundred members, and work done within NEL is mostly voluntary...
branch.
Brief biography
Born in 1882, Økland was confirmed in the Evangelical Lutheran ChurchChurch of Norway
The Church of Norway is the state church of Norway, established after the Lutheran reformation in Denmark-Norway in 1536-1537 broke the ties to the Holy See. The church confesses the Lutheran Christian faith...
in 1896; the parish priest made particular note of his "knowledge, diligence and conduct with distinction." By 1900 he was a student at a Stord teachers training college.
Beginning in the spring of 1904, Økland taught Esperanto courses at the Bethania Waisenhus in Stavanger
Stavanger
Stavanger is a city and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.Stavanger municipality has a population of 126,469. There are 197,852 people living in the Stavanger conurbation, making Stavanger the fourth largest city, but the third largest urban area, in Norway...
. Under the direction of the Stavanger parish priest, the Bethania complex, housing about 150 orphans in three asylum buildings
Orphanage
An orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable or unwilling to care for them...
and a further 20 to 30 young offenders in a separate youth detention center
Youth detention center
A youth detention center, also known as a juvenile detention center , juvenile hall or, more colloquially as juvie, is a secure residential facility for young people, often termed juvenile delinquents, awaiting court hearings and/or placement in long-term care facilities and programs...
on Lindø, operated a printing shop producing newspapers, religious tracts
Tract (literature)
A tract is a literary work, and in current usage, usually religious in nature. The notion of what constitutes a tract has changed over time. By the early part of the 21st century, these meant small pamphlets used for religious and political purposes, though far more often the former. They are...
and books.
In the early period of the movement's growth he propagated the planned language
Constructed language
A planned or constructed language—known colloquially as a conlang—is a language whose phonology, grammar, and/or vocabulary has been consciously devised by an individual or group, instead of having evolved naturally...
among his colleagues and through newspaper and magazine articles
Article (publishing)
An article is a written work published in a print or electronic medium. It may be for the purpose of propagating the news, research results, academic analysis or debate.-News articles:...
. In 1910 and 1912 he taught adult Esperanto courses in Haugesund
Haugesund
is a town and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.-Location:Haugesund was separated from Torvastad as a town and municipality of its own in 1855. The rural municipality of Skåre was merged with Haugesund on January 1, 1958. Haugesund is a small municipality, only 73 km²...
, and in 1932 he taught a children's Esperanto course in Stord. He was also Stord's county mayor
County municipality (Norway)
A county municipality is a Norwegian public elected body that is responsible for certain public administrative and service tasks within a county. Each county consists of county municipality, with the exception of Oslo, which is both a municipality and a county municipality...
(ordførar) from 1932 to 1934.
Shetland Bus
With Theodor S. Økland, Nils Økland fled Nazi-occupied Norway, departing on October 13, 1941 on a two-day voyage across the North SeaNorth Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
to Lerwick
Lerwick
Lerwick is the capital and main port of the Shetland Islands, Scotland, located more than 100 miles off the north coast of mainland Scotland on the east coast of the Shetland Mainland...
in the Shetland Islands
Shetland Islands
Shetland is a subarctic archipelago of Scotland that lies north and east of mainland Great Britain. The islands lie some to the northeast of Orkney and southeast of the Faroe Islands and form part of the division between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the North Sea to the east. The total...
, together with 16 other Norwegians, as part of the organized Shetland Bus
Shetland bus
The Shetland Bus was the nickname of a clandestine special operations group that made a permanent link between Shetland, Scotland, and German-occupied Norway from 1941 until the German occupation ended on 8 May 1945. From mid-1942 the official name of the group was "Norwegian Naval Independent Unit"...
evacuation of Resistance fighters. His brother Gregorius F. Økland left the same day for the Shetlands in his own boat, the M/B Silden. The Kristian Stein group, led by Ole Alfred Olsen, had stolen a well boat, the M/B Nora I, a Hardanger cutter
Shetland bus boats
The Shetland bus was the name given to a clandestine special operations group that made a permanent link between Shetland, Scotland, and German-occupied Norway...
registered in Herdla
Herdla
Herdla is an island in Askøy, Norway, at the north end of the island of Askøy. The island was part of the municipality of Herdla until 1 January 1964. The island has a nature reserve with 220 registered species of birds...
, to help Dagfin Vassenden and Alf Grung Johnsen, two Bergen residents who had fled to Hernar
Øygarden
Øygarden is a municipality in Hordaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Midhordland. The administrative centre is Rong.Øygarden was created as a new municipality on 1 January 1964 after the merger of Hjelme and parts of Herdla....
to escape a Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
manhunt.
Wartime merchant convoys
During World War II Økland was one of 39 sailors aboard M/T Daghild, an oil tanker that had been built in CopenhagenCopenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
in 1927. Captained by Olaf K. Egidius, the vessel had been chartered to Standard Oil of New Jersey. Refitted in Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
with an aft gun and four fixed machine guns, the Daghild set out September 10, 1941 as part of a naval merchant convoy
Convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...
from Halifax to Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
to resupply Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
during the Battle of the Atlantic (1939–1945).
Økland joined the crew
Royal Norwegian Navy
The Royal Norwegian Navy is the branch of the Norwegian Defence Force responsible for naval operations. , the RNoN consists of approximately 3,700 personnel and 70 vessels, including 5 heavy frigates, 6 submarines, 14 patrol boats, 4 minesweepers, 4 minehunters, 1 mine detection vessel, 4 support...
of the Daghild in Britain as one of three gunners, and the vessel made a further trans-Atlantic supply run as part of a convoy in April 1942. On a return convoy from Loch Ewe
Loch Ewe
Loch Ewe is a sea loch in the region of in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The shores are inhabited by a traditionally Gàidhlig speaking people living in or sustained by crofting villages, the most notable of which, situated on the north-eastern shore, is the Aultbea settlement...
(September 2, 1942) and Liverpool to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
six merchant ships and the escort vessel HMCS Ottawa
HMCS Ottawa
Four Canadian naval units have been named HMCS Ottawa. was C class destroyer commissioned as in the Royal Navy before serving with the Royal Canadian Navy from 1938-1942....
were sunk by U-boats, and on September 12 the Daghild was one of six other ships damaged by torpedo fire from Capt. Lt. Otto von Bülow
Otto von Bülow
Otto von Bülow was a German U-boat commander in World War II, and a captain in the German Bundesmarine. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves...
's U-404
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
.
After an attempted conversion to aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
, the Daghild sailed with another resupply convoy
Mid-Ocean Escort Force
Mid-Ocean Escort Force referred to the organization of anti-submarine escorts for World War II trade convoys between Canada and the British Isles...
but her new deck with aircraft, barges and landing craft made her unstable and difficult to manoeuvre, and the Daghild was forced to return to port in St. John's, Newfoundland. Departing again for Great Britain, she was torpedoed again during the night before February 7, 1943 by Capt. Lt. Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner's U-402. The Daghild sent three SOS messages, but after all 39 aboard including Økland had evacuated to three lifeboats, a further torpedo sank the vessel. All the sailors were rescued by the Free French
Free French Naval Forces
Les Forces Navales Françaises Libres were the naval arm of the Free French Forces during the Second World War. They were commanded by Admiral Emile Muselier.- History :...
corvette . After rescuing 11 sailors from a Greek ship that had been rammed by a destroyer, the Lobelia arrived safely in Greenock
Greenock
Greenock is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in United Kingdom, and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland...
, with the rescued sailors continuing to Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
.