the unexpected

A year after he died, I learned that my father had a different name for part of his life. Since then I’ve learned he had a different nationality, too. I’m endlessly fascinated and once again am in a research stage. Today, a cousin (second cousin? cousin once removed?) wondered why my father served in the Royal Danish Navy when he was 26 rather than when he was 18-ish.

My dad was born in 1912. He always said 1913, but the Norwegian Navy said 1912, and when I tracked down his birth certificate a handful of years ago, it said 1912. In 1933, he went on the 7th Thule Expedition to Greenland with Danish explorer Knud Rasmussen. The expedition, using an airplane on a wooden ship, charted the eastern shore.

When I researched, I found nothing to support this. He wasn’t listed on the expedition’s crew in either of his names. His ship, the Nordstjernen, wasn’t one of the expedition’s ships. But I knew it was true; I had photos and more importantly, when my father was dying, he wanted the Nordstjernen, including the airplane, and the expedition on his gravestone.

I’m a Taurus. Stubborn. Eventually, after x hours of research, I found that the Danish Navy loaned a plane to the expedition. The plane was based on a ship called Nordstjernen.

This afternoon, I discovered I hadn’t saved that link. After a 2-hour search, I discovered a 16-minute film (click the image below) of the expedition. I’m in awe.