Confectionery

“They almost had their own containers of sweets,” recalls Maggi Knutsen, then a young female roustabout. “It was always so pleasant to go to work.

“At the end of night shift, when we were due to end our working day, these men always came past with a bag of sweets for me – since I was a 20-year-old girl. That was very kind.”

Another episode she recalls occurred when 50-kilogram bags of sand were to be heaved up into lifeboats, and proved to be heavy work.

“There were probably three of us working on this at night. The weather was fine, but dark and cold. Then Kalle, a fellow from Flekkefjord, says: ‘Some coke and a few sweets would be good, eh, Maggi?’

“’Oh, you mustn’t even say that,’ I replied. When somebody says something like that, you become kind of thirsty. We continued working with these sacks, and then took a little break.

“Kalle went over to a box of life jackets and took a peek inside. ‘Well I never,” he cried. ‘You must come and have a look, Maggi’.

I went over, and saw it contained coke cans and goodies. He’d stocked up, as it were. ‘What fun,’ he said. ‘One minute we’re talking about it, and the next we find this.’ Such pleasantries spiced up daily life.”

Recounted by Margaret Knutsen.