There are some places that as a motorcycle rider you need to visit, its a bit like riding from John O’Groats to Lands End in the UK or riding the Glossgrockner, Trollstigen or Stelvio passes – it just has to be done. Riding to Nordkapp takes some determination but trust me you wont be on your own. Beautiful coast hugging roads and a whole host of other crazy determined people will accompany you on your trip. I rode east across sandy Arctic wilderness, struck by the similarity to the dry scrubby Mediterranean landscape (but with snow), amazed and the hardiness of the local Sami people who live and work this land making a living from Reindeer farming. On the way back to my camp, I managed to pick up a puncture which rather scuppered my evening, but having purchased a new tire at Norwegian rates, I have now run out of money and need to ride south…
Author Archives: Gary
The Tirpitz, Alta and the demise of Easy Elsie
Tirpitz was the largest battleship in the German Kriegsmarine and a sister to the Bismarck, built in 1939 and named after the deputy admiral Alfred von Tirpitz Freiherr. In March 1943 Turpitz was berthed in Kåfjord in Alta with the role of threatening Allied convoy traffic in the Barents Sea. The Germans built a massive navel base in Altafjord, as in addition to Tirpitz the battleship Scharnhorst and cruiser Lützow were stationed in Alta – a total of 20,000 German troops lived the in areas I have been exploring on the bike over the last two days. It has been fascinating to see the object of attraction for Easy Elsie, stumble across historic artefacts and sobering to remember the tragic loss of life on both sides in this conflict.
A walk in the woods with Easy Elsie
On the 29th October 1944, Easy Elsie took off from Lossiemouth, one of 37 Lancasters on a bombing run to hunt and sink the Battleship “Tirpitz”. The round trip was in excess of 2250 miles so all the Lancasters were modified to reduce weight and these modifications included removal of the mid-upper turrets and other non-essential equipment, plus the installation of additional fuel tanks giving a capacity of 2406 gallons. At the time of the attack, cloud had hidden the Tirpitz, so all the Lancasters dropping their Tallboy bombs on the estimated position, but no direct hits were achieved. Easy Elsie attempted six separate bombing runs over the target before releasing its bomb missing the Battleship, but was damaged by flak. Losing fuel, the crew and Pilot set course for Sweden, releasing a return to Lossiemouth was not practicable and after jettisoning weapons and more fuel near Porjus, Flying Officer Carey skilfully landed the Lancaster in a clear section of forest. Although the landing gear dug into the soft bog the Lancaster stood end up before falling back – allowing all the crew to escape safely – they were subsequently repatriated to the UK.
