The Flight of the Ansgar (October, 1946)

The answer to Anna Bøg's question about leaving Manchuria in 1946, "Can we get out?", turned out to be "Yes". That "Yes" took many months to accomplish, however.

Here is some more of the story in the words of a newspaper reporter in Cedar Falls, Iowa, who interviewed Anna Bøg in October 25, 1947 -- a year after her return to Denmark:

"When UNRRA [United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration] came, they promised to help the Danish women out of there [Siuyen]. But, because they were in a Communist territory, it was difficult. They finally got out by truck and cart, taking 12 days for a journey which should take four hours.

"Miss Madsen sat on a big load of peanuts and traveled thus for five days, when she got to Antung. She had to stay there for three months, at the home of a doctor [Dr. Bertelsen] until another cart came along and she traveled seven more days to reach the railroad. There was an old couple, 80 years old, with them who had been missionaries for 53 years [Rev. and Mrs. Bolwig], and they put straw in the cart so the old people could lie down.

"At Mukden they stayed 16 days in a Chinese home and the food given them by the Red Cross tasted so good that they ate until they were ashamed.

"UNRRA helped them to Peiping by train, and they got a Chinese transport plane to India and flew over the hump, crossed Burma and landed in Calcutta and changed to a Scandinavian Mission air flight.

"On the trip they flew across India, breakfasted in India, had lunch in Arabia, and dinner in Cairo, Egypt. They flew over Persia, saw the Garden of Eden, and the Euphrates and Tigris rivers about which they had so often taught their students.

"They stopped at Baghdad, and when they went over Jericho, the pilot came in and said, 'Here is Jericho, there is the Dead Sea and here is Jerusalem,' as they went over each.

"At Cairo they had a day's rest and she went to see the Pyramids.

"Down from Cairo they flew across the Mediterranean sea, stopped at Athens, Greece, and saw Rome in Italy. Over the south of France through Nice, they flew across Switzerland and Germany, and landed on schedule in Denmark.

"What if the customs officials closed their bags again, because there was so pitifully little in them? What if they wore the same clothes they had left in 13 years before? These people did not care.

"'We were home again,' Miss Madsen said."

The "Scandinavian Mission air flight" referred to by the reporter that brought Anna Bøg and others safely home was named after St. Ansgar (801-865), the patron saint of Denmark. The plane was a Douglas DC-3 Dakota.* [See footnote below.]

As Kirsten Berggreen Buch, the daughter of D.M.S. missionaries to Manchuria, explained:

"In Peking there was still a Danish embassy which could direct Danes towards Shanghai or Hong Kong. The Scandinavian missionary associations had together bought a plane, as it was well known that many missionaries were confined in far-away stations with very little contact with compatriots and embassies. [My parents' group of] Danish missionaries escaped from Harbin via a U.S. plane that charitably made some trips from Harbin, being in the Red's power. In Hong Kong, the mission's plane Ansgar waited for the Scandinavians and flew them back to their country."

As we saw above, however, in Anna Bøg's case, the Ansgar picked up the missionaries in India (where the D.M.S. also had missions). After the arrival of the Ansgar, the D.M.S. newspaper published this article by C. Rendtorff about the missionaries' homecoming:

"There was much anticipation on the part of the big crowd of people who went out to Kastrup airfield Saturday, 5 October to welcome the returning missionaries.

"Finally, there came the Ansgar and with it came the missionaries from Manchuria -- ten adults and five children. The trip had gone excellently all the way and the return brought great joy on all sides. Now again in the Danish Missionary Newspaper we bid them all welcome.

"[Rev.] Bolwig and wife are not young anymore. He became 80 years old a few days ago, and she will soon be next. Yet they are able-bodied. It amazes us that they could bear so long a journey at all at that age. He belongs to the pioneer missionaries of our China Mission. He faithfully remained at his post for the past 50 years. Takushan has been his home, and it was not easy for him to leave there, but under present circumstances, we are certain that it is good that he has come home to Denmark. He and his wife will probably shortly take up residence with their son, Rev. Erling Bolwig.

"Mrs. Gejlsberg came home with their three children. [Rev.] Gejlsberg, who had a very hard time during the War when he was imprisoned by the Japanese, could not come home yet for the sake of continuing his work. It is gratifying that he has regained his health so well that he can continue there for some time yet. Mrs. Gejlsberg and their children are staying with family here in Copenhagen and we are confident that the children will soon regain their health and strength here at home.

"Mrs. Bertelsen has also returned without her husband. Dr. Bertelsen must remain for some time at the hospital in Antung. None of the returning missionaries were so worn-out as Mrs. Bertelsen. She had recovered a few days before and went out to see the Pyramids in Cairo, and she also did some shopping for little things in town, but the next two days she was ill, and the day they arrived, she had left France with a temperature of 40 Gr. during the morning. Her heart is not so strong and she was right away hospitalized at St. Luke's Institute, where hopefully she will speedily regain her strength. She has already improved significantly.

"Her sister, Miss Helga Bech-Andersen had it much better. She took charge of Dr. Bertelsen's two children when they arrived in Denmark. They are staying here in Copenhagen with the third sister in D.M.S., Miss Johanne Bech Andersen. She was employed at the offices of D.M.S., but later moved to Jutland.

"Miss A. Busch, whose work was in Siuyen, also seem to be relatively well. She is staying with her family in Gentofte.

"Miss Bøg Madsen will for the time being stay in D.M.S.'s lodging. In the very near future, Miss Bahnson, Miss Petra Nielsen and Miss Almstok will be departing. Thus there will be room for others. At D.M.S., we held a little celebration dinner for Miss Bøg Madsen on the day of her arrival, and she was welcomed home from Manchuria. She is healthy, but naturally like all the others she needs rest and peace to regain her strength.

"Miss Helen Madsen has in recent years had difficulties with one of her feet as we have several times reported in the D.M.S. newspaper. The foot is not completely well yet, and Miss Helen Madsen may soon be admitted to a hospital to get her foot examined. We hope that it will completely recover. For the time being, she is living with her family in Hellerup.

"[Rev.] Gjærulf Larsen left immediately for Elsinore, where until further notice he will be staying with his mother. He seemed to be well. He was a great help to the entire company during the journey home, and even before the journey home, during his stay in Shanghai, he arranged travel home by ship for Rev. Willer and family and Rev. Frimer-Larsen and family.

"Mrs. Helga Christensen was not a missionary. She went to manage the house of her brother in-law Axel Christensen, until his wife could join him, but just then the war broke out, and Mrs. Helga Christensen could not come home. Now she has finally arrived, and we welcome her like all the others.

"There are still a fairly large number of Danish missionaries left in Manchuria. We do not know when they will be able to come home. Some of them are bound by work and must wait for relief, others are in the Communist-controlled zone and can not easily get out. We have in the meantime sent a telegram to the Mission treasurer, Axel Christensen, and asked him how many Danish missionaries there are who are ready to travel home at the end of November, when we hope to be able to send out the Ansgar on a China trip again."

Sources:
Buch, Kirsten Berggreen; letter to the authors; February 6, 2005.
Rendtorff, C.; "Hjemvendte Missionær", Dansk Missionsblad, Vol. 113, Nr. 39, October 18, 1946; pp. 611-613. Translated by Marie-Jacqueline.
Turnbull, A.B.; "Anna Madsen Survives under [Japanese] Rule, to Return to Manchuria Soon," Cedar Falls Record; October 25, 1947; pp. 1, 5. Courtesy of Casey Welch.

Images:
Top - Photograph of the Ansgar. Courtesy of Kirsten Berggreen Buch.
Bottom - Photograph of Anna Bøg (in the wide-brimmed hat in the back row) and other missionaries when they returned to Denmark on October 5, 1946. From the above cited article by C. Rendtorff. Scan courtesy of Anne Hviid Jensen.
According to the D.M.S. caption, left to right, the adults are: Helen Madsen, Anna Busch (partly hidden), Helga Bech-Andersen, Anna Bøg, Mrs. Bolwig, Mrs. Gejlsbjerg, and Rev. Bolwig. The children are Bitten and Kirsten Bertelsen and Jens Gejlsbjerg.
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*The Ansgar left the service of the Scandinavian missions in 1948. It subsequently changed owners, names, and countries several times. In 1981, the plane wound up in the employ of the South African Air Force. It is believed that as a U.S. Air Force plane named "Haystack Annie", the Ansgar was in use as air support on D-day, June 6, 1944 — the day the Allies landed at Normandy to liberate Europe from the Nazis. Some of our readers may wish to read the remarkable story of the plane at this link.