Though Byron Deveson’s current working hypothesis (that Charles Mikkelsen was the Somerton Man) has many features to commend it (not least of which would seem to be that two completely separate people identified Mikkelsen as SM at the time), it does struggle with the very public report of Mikkelsen’s death aboard the M/V Tirranna on 10th June 1940, more than eight years before the Somerton Man’s death.
Now that we have (I believe) almost entirely ruled out the scenario where there were two people both called Charles Mikkelsen trying to emigrate to Australia at the same time, there would seem to be two remaining major alternative scenarios to consider:
#1: The Imposter Scenario
What if the person identifying himself as “Charles Mikkelsen” on the Tirranna was actually an imposter?
The two problems with this are (a) it’s extraordinarily unlikely, and (b) it’s extraordinarily hard to test. But I thought I’d mention it anyway.
#2: The Deserter Scenario
What if Charles Mikkelsen managed to get off the Tirranna before it was sank by the British submarine HMS Tuna, either in Sydney (from where it left on 15th May 1940) or in a midway stop en route to Mombasa?
The first good thing about this scenario is that, as we previously saw, Mikkelsen had previously deserted at least two three different ships (in *1924*, 1937 and 1940): so this is a scenario for which he arguably has ‘form’. The other ‘good’ thing supporting (or rather ‘not opposing’) this scenario is that any document on the Tirranna went to the bottom of the sea a little later in 1940, when it was sunk by HMS Tuna: so there remains a chance that his reported death on 10th June 1940 was somehow inferred rather than actually known.
However, the two main bad things about this scenario are (a) that we have documentary evidence that the Boarding Inspector confirmed that Mikkelsen was on board while the ship was in port in Sydney; and (b) we don’t have anything at all that stands against the report of his death.
What Can We Do?
To my mind, one good avenue of attack is social – that is, trying to find Mikkelsen’s New Zealander fiancée and seeing if we can trace his post-1940 history through her. Mikkelsen mentions her in a number of places, but she doesn’t appear in any family tree (so they probably were never married): and she may indeed never have travelled over to Australia. Sending him a “Dear John” copy of the Rubaiyat in the post may be as close as she got. 🙂
A second good avenue of attack is by trying to better understand the last few days of the M/V Tirranna. What archival evidence is out there? And how good is Google Translate with Norwegian? As a great philosopher balder than me likes to say, only one way to find out…
The M/V Tirranna
(Image Source: Allen C. Green Series H91.109/469, State Library of Victoria)
The M/V Tirranna was built in 1938 in Danzig: here is its entry in the 1940 Lloyds Shipping Register (which I found scanned on the Tirranna wrecksite.eu page):
The Tirranna left Melbourne on 30th May 1940, bound for the United Kingdom. It had a crew of 60 Norwegians and 12 passengers: according to this news article, “[w]hen the Tirranna left Melbourne she was carrying as passengers a number of Norwegians who were returning to Europe with the intention of joining the Norwegian forces to continue the fight for their country”.
According to this article, “most of those aboard joined the ship in Sydney. One was Mr. S. Rasmussen, who was with the Australian Motorists Petrol Co Ltd. He was on the Norwegian navy’s reserve list, with the rank of lieut-commander.” Another passenger on board the Tirranna was (according to this article) “Mr. Birger Bjornebye, who left in the Tirranna to join the fighting forces in Norway … [who was a] sales representative of Mr S. Lie’s firm.”
Another page notes that the Tirranna “…had a full general cargo and a large shipment of ambulances for the British forces”, which elsewhere is listed as “wheat, flour, wool, 178 military vehicles and general cargo”.
It seems that the idea was for the Tirranna to proceed to Mombasa, and then – when the coast was clear, so to speak 🙂 – proceed from there onwards to the Suez Canal, a vital asset which the British maintained control of throughout WW2.
The M/V Tirranna Timeline
Extremely helpfully, the National Archives of Norway have the following document, courtesy of this page:
From this and other details on this page, we can reconstruct the M/V Tirranna‘s timeline:
* 1st May 1940 – Arrived Sydney (from Kobe, Japan)
* 13th May 1940 – Departed Sydney
* 15th May 1940 – Arrived Melbourne
Note: while in Melbourne, weaponry was fitted to the Tirranna and five crew members were trained how to use it
* 30th May 1940 – Departed Melbourne
* 10th June 1940 – Encountered the German Raider Atlantis south-east of Mauritius
Perhaps The Pendulum Swings Once More?
As far as Charles Mikkelsen goes, understanding this timeline opens up the very direct possibility that the second (Deserter) scenario might easily be in play.
This is because even though we have archival confirmation that Mikkelsen was on board the Tirranna in Sydney, he could surely have jumped ship in Melbourne: the Tirranna was in port for a whole fortnight having the gun fitted. Perhaps nobody noticed Mikkelsen wasn’t on board until after the surrender when they compared the original passenger list with who was left?
So the next place to look is the maritime hearings that “were held in Oslo, Norway on Dec. 21-1940 with Captain Gundersen and 1st Mate Holst appearing”, part of which is transcribed here. According to Captain Gundersen’s (reconstructed) log, after he had surrendered the ship:
“It then turned out that following 5 men were killed:
– 4th engineer Einar Christensen,
– Electrician Otto Kristensen,
– Matros [?] Hilmar Engelsen,
– Machine Boy James Andersen,
– Passenger Charles Mikkelsen”
But once again, was Mikkelsen killed or merely missing? “It turned out” is such a vague turn of phrase, we simply can’t tell… yet. With a little luck, maybe we will, though.
In many ways, this hunt for Charles Mikkelsen is a perfect example of a cipher mystery, in that it has that characteristically fine balance between equivocal evidence (which seems to speak two opposing stories simultaneously) and the surprising difficulty of uncovering the tiniest of evidences that would collapse the two stories into the binary divide of true and merely hopeful. If you don’t see it as a pendulum, you’re probably not looking closely enough. 🙂
So… Where To Look Now?
I continue to be intrigued by the possibility that we might be able – by some means – to identify Mikkelsen’s fiancée in New Zealand. It may be that someone in his family may have the tiniest of clues as to her identity, that we may collectively be able to amplify up into an identification: in those days, letter-writing was just as pervasive as texting is now, so a mention in a letter may well be all we need. Though I doubt they married (and suspect that they may have split up by the time Mikkelsen got on the boat to go back to Norway, even if he did possibly change his mind), she might well have known if he had lived beyond 10th June 1940.
For those who read Norwegian, the 1943 book “Tusen norske skip” edited by female war reporter Lise Lindbæk (or her Wikipedia entry) may offer some clues: luckily, there’s an English translation (entitled “Norway’s New Saga of the Sea: The Story of Her Merchant Marine in World War II”). I should be no surprise that I’ve just ordered a copy and look forward to reading it.
Finally, I estimate that there’s a 80% or better chance that someone who was on board the Tirranna is still alive: of the (supposed) sixty crew and 12 passengers, only 48 are listed online, of whom 36 survived. Here’s the list (“[I]” means injured):
Captain – Edvard Hauff Gundersen
1st Mate – Thorolf Holst [I]
2nd Mate – Nils A. Nilsen
3rd Mate – Sven Bjørneby
Radio Operator – Johnny Haaland
Boatswain – Ole Paulsen [I]
Able Seaman – Kristian Christensen [I]
Able Seaman – Robert Fuglevik
Able Seaman – Floor Andersen
Ordinary Seaman – Alf Sverre Hansen
Deckboy – Einar Olsen [I]
Deckboy – Johan Jacobsen
1st Engineer – Johannes Knudsrød
3rd Engineer – Rolf Andersen
Mechanic – Erling Olsen
Mechanic – Leonard Hilland
Mechanic – Thomas Berg
Mechanic – Leif Henriksen
Mechanic – David Johansen
Mechanic – Kjell L. Gundersen
Oiler – Ragnar Andersen
Steward – Frithjof Gundersen
Cook – Olaf Eliassen
Galley Boy – Einar Jacobsen
Mess Boy – Haakon Sørensen
Saloon Boy – John Rønning
Saloon Girl – Jenny Jensen
Passenger – Odd Nyrud
Passenger – Peder Grodeland
Passenger – Karl Fause
Passenger – Sigurd Vaage Rasmussen
Passenger – Thor Haugen
Passenger – Leif Bartho
Passenger – Birger Bjørnsby [I]
Passenger – Trond Larsen
Passenger – Ole Herman Andersen
I doubt that anyone has yet tried to trace these Tirranna survivors specifically to ask about Charles Mikkelsen. So perhaps we should… 🙂
Nick, Charles also deserted from the Bessa in 1924.
It’s all messy and interesting
especially:
Although he comes up in NSW, Vic, and QLD he seems to gyrate toward SA every time (with various SA addresses cropping up in Payneham, Clare, Brighton…)
There’s a blank envelope in one file. Not sure why.
I’m guessing they never for their 1pound….
The Brighton Address is Marborough St. Brighton is just South (1 suburb, I think) of Somerton Park. Coincidentally (as has been mentioned in relation to Prosper) there’s a Marlborough St at Henley Beach too.
Interesting that he got a painting gig at Customs House in 1935 (long before he should have been working in Aus, I think) – there’s an opportunity for some mischief
There’s plenty mention of his fiance (just not by name)
The surnames Hicks, Jacka (Jaksa?), and Hansen (although that’s possibly a Customs Officer) seem to be acquaintences
The 50 pound to his fiance wasn’t verified – only that some money was sent
Two seaman (not Mikkelsen) returned to Melbourne from Sydney rather than continuing on the Tirrianna. Mikkelsen is referred to as “seaman” (is that consistent with him being a pax?). Tin foil says passport swap sees him off the boat….although undetected desertion is also possible (and I think more likely) if he was a pax – and then when they get set on by the Gerrys a role call makes him missing, presumed dead.
It’s not clear whether he ever had that appendectomy. The amount of time spent in hospital and the subsequent doctor’s certificate excusing him from any hard work would suggest he DID have one (1 month recovery is consistent), but all the wording simply talks about him presenting with appendicitis, or arriving with the intention of having an operation. On the whole there’s no reason to think he DIDN’T have one, but I do find it curious that the operation itself is not mentioned.
Is there any link to any of the other players and the hospitals he stayed/worked in at any time?
Addendum:
Admitted 24/08
Discharged 10/09
Medical Cert 25/09
It’s a little interesting that the Medical Certificate is issued a fortnight after discharge – I realise people forget to get one and go back for it, but still seems a touch odd (As everything with this case does)…and I think one so long after the fact is less reliable, because at a hospital it’s not even necessarily written by the doctor who treated him – and depending how much they rely on records and how much they trust conmen…..
Nick,
Very interesting post. Thank you.
Milongal, Mrs Jacka ran a boarding house and she has a significant paper trail (all good but nothing of interest). The others also have significant paper trails and were involved in horticulture,
agriculture, and poultry.
Mr Hansen was almost certainly one of the Hansens who ran the guest house at American River, King Island. That is where the “Cheltenham woman” met him “23 years ago”.
Byron: thanks for pointing that out, page corrected accordingly. 🙂
Nick, the WarSailors site only lists ten passengers ibncluding Mikkelsen. So, there seem to have been two passengers who went missing, somewhere.
Nick, from my reading it was SOP for the officers of any captured WW2 ship to throw overboard all the ship’s papers, and anything else that might be of value to the enemy.
Byron: I believe that two passengers (not including Charles Mikkelsen) got cold feet in Melbourne. The definitive answer should be in Volume 2 of the Atlantis’s ship’s log, which I am reasonably sure the US Navy also translated and declassified, but which hasn’t yet appeared on the web.
Byron: it was indeed SOP, but if you read the Atlantis’s Ship’s Log, you’ll find many instances where Rogge found all manner of secret information – code books, orders, charts. shipping patterns – which he used to great effect.
@BD NAA file 31817302 (linked in one of Nick’s post) pg 1 shows Customs Vic confirming (to Customs Syd) repatriating Norwegians: 4 pax boarding (Mikkelsen underlined and flagged (in pen), other 3 crossed out). It also lists 2 others permitted to return to Sydney.
Domestic legs of International travel are still a challenge today – there used to be a flight (QF81/82 I think) that looped Singapore, Adelaide, Sydney, Singapore – so you could catch a domestic ADL->SYD leg but you would have to be processed through Customs (basically waved through, but I think they would sight some form of ID and Qantas would have to put a special sticker on your boarding pass to flag domestic travel). The challenge for Customs was not so much the domestic travellers, but working out what the flight number was – because it depended which leg you were on….and it was likely also codeshare with Emirates and possibly others – I think there was also another similar flight, possibly through Melbourne and Sydney….and shipping is even more difficult (these days), because cruises may travel Fremantle->Adelaide->Melbourne->Sydney->Brisbane, or may leave Australian waters without ever docking – which interests Customs as foreign travel, but not Immigration (even though they’re now once again the same thing). I digress…
Customs definitely believed him to be onboard when the vessel departed Australia. (but the “official version” of the John Friedrich** stuff 25 years later shows the system isn’t foolproof – and I think (digressing again) part of the problem is the Customs vs Immigration thing….fundamentally Customs is about goods and Immigration is about people – but go to any port (air or sea) in Australia and you’re processed by Customs with Immigration looking on (or possibly not even present at seaports)…of course now the big bold Border Farce is responsible as part of Dept of Immigration and Border Protection (they don’t like being called DImmiBoP, preferring instead the “DIBP” (yes, they try to actually pronounce that – sort of “Dibbip”)) – but you’ll notice their uniform is modelled on the old ACBPS/ACS one, not DIAC/DIMMI/DIMA/DIC (yes, they used that acronym briefly until the Secretary got offended at being referred to as the “DIC-head” – I think that’s when the “And” got added to the acronym (Department of Immigration AND Citizenship)).
Even before computers, Customs and Immigration records needed synchronisation and clearly shipping records occasionally needed verification, and I suspect (call it an educated guess) that there’s some thousands of current records that are out of sync in one way or another….
**(must be true, on wikipedia 😛 )
“On 20 January 1975, Hohenberger arrived in Melbourne on a flight from Auckland, New Zealand. According to Department of Immigration records, Hohenberger left Australia on a flight to Singapore on 22 January. It is thought he tricked Australian Customs into believing he had boarded a plane but remained in Australia”
I’m interested in an Australian departure December 1945 to NZ but can’t help with ports. The passengers of interest are Borovansky & Slavinsky (names might need slight adjustment) and the return journey would have been late January through to early March 1946. I believe that Nick Pelling may have a ‘shipping News’ with pax index for that period.
John sanders: oddly enough, I looked at Borovansky’s return journey a few days ago. He was Edward Skrecek Borovansky, he died in 1959, and was a person of interest to the authorities because he was *gasp* a communist. Slavinsky I don’t recall, though… I’ll have a look later. Were they travelling together?
John sanders: there was a “T Slavrinsky” (a 37-year-old “artiste” from Poland) on the Awatea in 1937. According to this site it would seem that this was Thadee Slavrinsky:-
Unfortunately, Papers Past currently only has the Otago Daily Times up until 1930, but perhaps the story was covered in a different paper.
Slavrinsky died in 1945.
Yes he was reported to have died suddenly in Dunedin on 22/1/1945. The years I gave you were one year advanced. For that I apologies old habits die hard. So we’re looking at 44/45 and yes they were known to each other from as far back as the mid and late 20’s when they toured with Anna Pavlova. Both had settled in Australia by 1937 and it was Thadee’s wife Marie who eventually remarried the pharmacist and settled in West Beach which is the sub. abutting Glenelg.
John sanders: who was the pharmacist?
Edwin Hammat originally from Victor Harbour and an ex RAAF Sqn. Ldr. Wed Margaret Marie Slavinsky nee Doran who as a well known G&S soprano in 1948. He had obtained his Pharmacists entry cert. about the same time. She continued performing under he original name well into the fifties and died in the early sixties. He passed on few years later and now Centennial Park is the place they call home. With regard to our shipmates I expect they’ll go out together and not be so overly surprised if they return the same way notwithstanding that one was buried at Andersons Bay Cemetery on the day of his demise. I could explain but it would take more time than I have available at present.
It’s amazing how one can stuff up a good post with a few to many under the cross bars and its also the time zones that create some problems. I really doubt that Mr. Slavinsky is our man being dead and all but I’m confident that he is likely to be the common denominater in this riddle. I’m thinking that the best way through this Delemma might be to put some questions to me and lets hope that I can give answers suggestive of a reasonable case scenario.
John sanders: I’m not really sure where you’re hoping things will lead with Mr or Mrs Slavrinsky, so I’m a bit short of the kind of questions you’re hoping for. 🙁