Olaf Hansen (1911 - 1942)

Born 19 Nov 1911 in Skudesneshavn, Norway

Died 1 Jul 1942 at age 30 in At Sea

Biography

Olaf Hansen was a Prisoner of War during World War II.

Olaf Hansen died as a prisoner of war on the Montevideo Maru during the Second World War.

Olaf (or Olav) was born in 1911 in Skudesneshavn, Norway (which may be near Karmøy, Norway), the son of Martha Hansen.

He was an electricial on board the Norwegian freighter "Herstein" when it was bombed and sunk by the Japanese in Rabaul Harbour, Territory of New Guinea in Jan 1942. When the Japanese invaded, he was captured at Kokopo, near Rabaul and interned as a civilian prisoner. Although Norway and Japan were not combattants during the War, the crew of the "Herstein" were treated as hostile, probably because they had defended the ship with deck guns during the bombing.

He died on board the "Montevideo Maru" when it was torpedoed and sunk off the coast of the Philippines on 01 Jul 1942, en route from Rabaul to Hainan, where he was destined for forced labour.

Sources

• Death Form - National Archives of Australia - Defence - General - Information of deaths for persons lost on the MONTEVIDEO MARU - https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=102239&S=84

• crew of the "Herstein" - http://www.warsailors.com/POWs/pows2.html#herstein

• Memorial - "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVGC-37GP : 13 December 2015), Olav Hansen, 1942; Burial, Stavern, Larvik kommune, Vestfold fylke, Norway, Merchant Marine Memorial; citing record ID 117363898, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.

• Red Cross inquiry card - (2017-06-18). Hansen, Olaf, [No Service Number]. - https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/226240777