"Svanen" - The Swan                                                                                   Updated:  21 FEB 2009

Simrishamn, Sweden. The white boat at the lighthouse looks like "Svanen". Ernst Petersen needed a passport 1944. Ebbe Hasselholt Jørgensen 1941
Postcard and passport photo from Ernst Petersen´s daughter Birthe Fält-Hansen.                                                    See citation from General Eisenhower.

Simrishamn, Sverige. Den hvide båd ved fyrtårnet ligner "Svanen".       Ernst Petersen søgte pas i 1944 i Sverige.  Ebbe Hasselholt Jørgensen 1941.
Postkort og pasbillede fra Ernst Petersens datter Birthe Fält-Hansen.                                                                          Fra Niels Christian Pihl. Se tak fra USA.

Co-Pilot, 2nd Lt Lauren Davis og Top Turret Gunner, Sgt Glenn Standish fra B17 42-31156, der landede her ved Skyttegaard omkring 2 km nord for Nexø blev sejlet til Sverige den 17. april 1944. Denne beretning af Anders Bjørnvad viser, at det var farligt! Den 1. juni 1944 valgte Ernst Petersen, Ebbe Hasselholt Jørgensen og andre at blive krigen ud i Sverige. Den dag sejlede de John Whiteman og 3 andre flyvere fra B17 42-31619 til Sverige! Se  Flugtruter og Bornholm 1998.

"Lørdag den 15. april 1944 henvendte Hasselholt Jørgensen sig til fisker Ernst Petersen og bad om en samtale. Han spurgte Petersen, om han ville sejle to amerikanske flyvere til Sverige.

Ingen fiskere var på det tidspunkt glade for at have passagerer med ud på "fiskeri", da tyskerne undersøgte fiskerbådene før enhver afsejling. Men Ernst Petersen, der i tiden fra august 1943 og fremefter havde foretaget op mod en halv snes illegale udsejlinger fra Bornholm til Sverige, indvilligede straks. Man lagde en plan.

Mandag morgen kl. 5 kørte Ernst Petersen fra sit hjem til Hasle Havn (her) med en trillebør. (Ernst Petersens beretning 1968) Den raslede bravt, og de tyske vagter var da heller ikke i tvivl om, at han havde en fin samvittighed. Petersen bragte fiskeredskaberne om bord i sin kutter, "Svanen", og gik derefter ned i lastrummet. Her anbragte han nogle tomme fiskekasser således, at der blev et hulrum under dem. I hulrummet anbragte han en madras, og derpå var han klar til at modtage flyverne.

Disse var i nattens løb blevet bragt ind til Ole Bidstrup på Herolds Hotel, hvor Hasselholt Jørgensen i øvrigt havde logi. Hotellets have gik lige ned til havnen, således at flyverne kun havde en kort vandring hen til "Svanen".

Da tyskerne var optaget af at undersøge en kutter længere henne på havnen, gik flyverne ligeså stille om bord i "Svanen", hvor de straks blev anbragt i hulrummet. Fiskegarn blev lagt hen over hele arrangementet. Nu ventede man på den tyske undersøgelse.

Få minutter efter kom tyskerne. Mens to soldater blev stående på kajen med skarpladte maskinpistoler, gik en tredje om bord i kutteren for at undersøge, om alt var i orden.

Ren rutine for tyskerne, men absolut ikke for de implicerede danske. Nede i lastrummet stod Petersens bedstemand, Frede Olsen, klar med en kort jernstang. Petersen selv havde en haglbøsse skjult under sit olietøj, som hang på styrehuset. Bag de to tyskere på kajen stod Hasselholt Jørgensen med hånden på sin tjenestepistol.

Hvis flyverne blev opdaget under ransagningen ville alle tre tyskere øjeblikkeligt blive gjort ukampdygtige, hvorefter Ernst Petersen omgående ville stikke til søs.

Den undersøgende tysker snublede over noget grej nede i lastrummet. Frede Olsen troede, at han havde opdaget flyverne og gjorde tegn til Petersen. Denne tøvede et øjeblik med hånden på aftrækkeren, og imens rejste tyskeren sig op og fortsatte sin undersøgelse. Flyverne blev ikke fundet. Alle trak vejret lettet.

Kort efter fik "Svanen" lov til at sejle, og dermed skulle de værste vanskeligheder være overstået. Men det var de ikke! Netop da kutteren nåede ud af havnen, kom en tysk u-båd til syne. Den fulgte med ud til fiskepladsen, syd for Sverige.

Det følgeskab var ingen om bord i "Svanen" glade for. Men 9600 kroge blev da kastet ud, således at enhver kunne se, at der blev fisket fra kutteren.

I regn og tåge lykkedes det senere Ernst Petersen at forlade sine fiskeredskaber og nå til Sverige, hvor han ud for Skillinge (her) landsatte flyverne uden at nogen rigtig lagde mærke til, hvem der kom med de to mænd.

Derpå sejlede han straks tilbage til fiskepladsen for at tage fangsten ind. Dette arbejde var man i fuld gang med, da følgesvenden fra den foregående dag, u-båden, ved 6-tiden om morgenen slog et slag rundt om båden.

Tirsdag aften ved 19-tiden sejlede Ernst Petersen ind i Hasle Havn med 75 kasser torsk i lasten. Her stod Hasselholt Jørgensen og ventede spændt på, hvordan turen var gået. "Svanen" havde ladet vente på sig. "Han blev så glad, som kun et godt menneske kan være," slutter Ernst Petersen sin fortælling om episoden." (DFEV)

Co-pilot, 2nd Lt Lauren Davis and Top Turret Gunner, Sgt Glenn Standish from B17 42-31156 who came down here at Skyttegård about 2 kms north of Nexø were taken to Sweden by boat on 17 April 1944. This account by Anders Bjørnvad translated by Kirsten Klitgård shows that it was dangerous! On 1 June 1944 Ernst Petersen, Ebbe Hasselholt Jørgensen and others chose to stay in Sweden for the rest of the war. On that day they sailed John Whiteman and 3 other airmen from B17 42-31619 to Sweden! See more in Escape Routes and Bornholm 1998.
 
"On Saturday 15 April 1944 Hasselholt Jørgensen approached Ernst Petersen, the fisherman, and asked for a conversation. He asked Petersen if he would take the two American airmen to Sweden by boat.
 
At this time no fishermen were happy to take passengers along on a "fishing" trip since the Germans searched the fishing vessels before every departure. But Ernst Petersen, who from August 1943 and onwards had made about ten illegal departures, agreed at once. A plan was made.
 
On Monday morning at 5 Ernst Petersen wheeled a barrow from his home down to Hasle harbour (here) (Ernst Petersen's account 1968). It rattled a lot, and the German guards had no doubt that he had a good conscience. Petersen took the fishing tackle onboard his fishing vessel, "The Swan", and then went down into the hold. Here he placed some empty fish boxes in such a way that there was a hollow under them. In the hollow he put a mattress, and then he was ready to receive the airmen.
 
During the night they had been taken to Ole Bidstrup at Herold's Hotel where incidentally Hasselholt Jørgensen had taken lodgings. The hotel garden stretched right down to the harbour so that the airmen had only a short way to walk down to "The Swan".
 
When the Germans were occupied searching another fishing vessel further down in the harbour, the airmen went quietly onboard "The Swan" where they were immediately placed in the hollow. Fishing nets were spread over the whole arrangement. Now they waited for the German search.
 
A few minutes later the Germans arrived. While two soldiers remained on the quay with loaded machine guns, a third went onboard the vessel to see if everything was all right.
 
Mere routine for the Germans, but absolutely not for the Danes involved. Down in the hold Frede Olsen, Petersen's leading seaman, was standing with a short iron rod. Petersen himself had a shotgun hidden under his oilskins which were hanging on the side of the wheel house. Behind the two Germans on the quay Hasselholt Jørgensen was standing with his hand on his service pistol.
 
If the airmen were found during the search, all three Germans would immediately be put out of action after which Ernst Petersen would put out from the harbour at once.
 
The German who was doing the search stumbled over some tackle in the hold. Frede Olsen thought he had discovered the airmen and made a sign to Petersen. The latter hesitated for a moment with his finger on the trigger, meanwhile the German got up and continued his search. The airmen were not found. Everybody felt relieved.
 
Shortly afterwards "The Swan" was allowed to leave, and with that the worst difficulties ought to be over. But they weren't! Just when the fishing vessel sailed out of the harbour, a German submarine appeared. It followed the vessel to the fishing ground, south of Sweden.
 
Nobody onboard "The Swan" was happy with this company. But 9600 hooks were thrown out so that everybody could see that people on the vessel were fishing.
 
Later, in rain and fog Ernst Petersen succeeded in leaving his fishing tackle and reaching Sweden where he disembarked the airmen off Skillinge (here) without anybody fully noticing who brought the two men.
 
Then he immediately sailed back to the fishing ground to take in the catch. They were in full swing doing this work when their companion from the previous day, the submarine, took a turn round the vessel about six o'clock the next morning.
 
On Tuesday evening at about 7 pm Ernst Petersen sailed into Hasle harbour with 75 boxes of codfish in the hold. Here Hasselholt Jørgensen stood waiting anxiously to hear how the crossing had succeeded. "The Swan" had been long in coming. "He was so happy as only a good person can be," Ernst Petersen concludes his account of the episode." (DFEV)