TWO VERY BRAVE GIRLS
This statue is on the other side of the street in front of my house. It was placed there in honor of these two young brave girls. Below you will read about their brave act.

It all started on the morning of January 24^th 1894. The lighthouse-keeper’s wife and one of their six children, a boy was going to Stavanger. The father thought this good training for the elder boys, so he brought two of them for the trip in to Tananger. The weather wasn’t too bad and the kids needed training in maneuvering the sailboat in rough weather. Left back on the island were the two oldest daughters, 12 and 15 years old and the youngest of them all, a boy. After doing some shopping, the father and his two sons Torvald and Ansgard, 10 and 8 years old, left the safe harbor of Tananger and set sail for Flatholmen. Passing the point "Tangen" he must have noticed the increased wind and bigger waves. Still, three of his children were left on the island and the light had to be lit. After all, he had done this in worse weather than this. Good training for his boys.

The daughters followed their progress from the kitchen window. A shower off hail approaches the sailors, and gusts from that shower is big enough to capsize the little boat. All three of them fall into the freezing cold water. The two sisters watching with terror, the drama not to far from their warm kitchen. Bertine and Ester react immediately. Closing the door for their youngest brother, they hurry down to the boathouse. After a hell of a job they get a rowingboat on the water. With blisters starting to develop in their small hands they reach the spot where the sailboat overturned, they can only find one of the shipwrecked. It’s their younger brother Ansgard and when they after a lot of work get him in to the boat, he is lifeless. After rowing for what seems an eternity, they reach the boathouse, get the unconscious kid ashore and try to bring him back to life.

Earlier one of the smaller children had fallen into a swampy pond on the island and they had watched how their father had revived him. They started up by doing what their now dead father had done. During this work, they still remembered the duties of a lighthouse-keeper, so the light got lit. The sailors passing the island couldn’t have imagined the drama taking place on the island.
The girls succeeded again and brought their brother back to life. Four frightened fatherless children alone on this dark and isolated island, and still the light shines from the lighthouse.
The next day they get the attention of some lobsterfishers and help is sent for.

For their incredible courage and feeling of duty they received a gold watch from the Freemasons and 50 kroner from the government. The story about these two brave girls circulated in all of the countries newspapers and the story ended up in the Nordahl Rolfsen readingbook used by the schools in Norway. Thirdgraders all over the country learned the story about two brave girls from Tananger. A song was even written by Elias Kræmmer with music by Ingebrigt Håland, the sisters brother. You can see the song scrolling on the bottom of your screen.(as soon as I can get my wife to write it.)

History was collected from: http://www.sola.kommune.no/lokalhistorie/TanangersMinne/flatholmen1.htm