A NORWEGIAN VIP has thanked the woman whose war hero dad died freeing civilians from the besieged island of Maloy in the Vaagso Raids of the Second World War.

Berit Kjelsberg, honorary consul in Norway, joined Ann Jones, of Kilsby Drive, Widnes, as she visited a headstone in Trondheim constructed in memory of her father, Lance Sergeant Harold Povey, a founder member of the British Commandos, who was killed in house-to-house fighting during one of Norway's most famous battles.

Mrs Kjelsberg joined Ann on a tour of Stavne Cemetery in Trondheim at the end of July, which was also a fact-finding mission to discover the whereabouts of her father's remains. She believes they are contained in one of five unmarked graves.

Ann has received a letter from Mrs Kjelsberg praising all the British soldiers who gave their lives for the Norwegian people.

She wrote: 'I think your dad and all the others died for a purpose. In Norway, we opened a holocaust centre yesterday. If we hadn't got help to get rid of the Germans, we never know what life we would have had afterwards.

'I feel very grateful to those who gave their lives for us, especially the Brits who died in a foreign land.'

Ann said she was deeply touched by the letter and said she felt better after seeing the memorial headstone for herself.

She said: 'If people like my father hadn't succeeded in the battles such as Maloy, the people of Norway could have faced a holocaust situation.

'There are thousands of soldiers, sailors and airmen buried out there and I wonder how many people actually make the effort to go to see their graves.'

Ann is now convinced that one of the other graves at Stavne Cemetery, which contain the remains of unidentified British soldiers who died at Maloy, is her father's. But her request for DNA testing has been rejected.

She laid wreaths and crosses at the graves.

Ann, who has spent six years researching, is now attempting to track down relatives of other soldiers who died there in a bid to find out the exact circumstances in which her father was killed. adrian.short@cheshirenews.co.uk