Work begins

When I was finished with the 7 years at school, I was still only 13 years. Nevertheless, I had to start work. That was as a working boy at a nursery garden, but as boy you often had to follow the adult when moving flower or other heavy items. It was in 1940, and soon after came the occupation. It did not have greater impact on my work, but more for life in general, where we at the same day had to cover windows so all went dark, and consumers were now rationed.

After more than two years, I instead got a job as working boy on a auto repair shop in Roedovre. Although the workshop was spartan equipped, it was my biggest wish, and especially when we had completed the devices so much, that the workshop was approved to have apprentices, and I was the first. One of the drawbacks was the distance from my residence, where I had to go 20 km on bicycle each day and at a time when new bicycle tire was not to get. Even worse was when I become apprentice, because I now should visit the technical school in Glostrup in the evenings, and then was the bicykeltrip extended to 30 km. It was a small workshop with a free speaking, and I was allowed to try almost all areas. I could also use the garage facilities after the days work, and it was obviously a big advantage, especially when I started to make the motorcycle ready, and later built the racing car showed below.

It was after I had been a skilled mechanic that I began this project. This was due to people after the war had been very interested in motor sport, and now after the American model would introduce the concept of "Midgetracer" in Danish motor sport. However, there was not identified some real rules for how a midgetracer had to be constructed, why there was built several different types, all of which quickly went into oblivion. They were instead replaced by the smaller "Gocarts" and the bigger "formel" models of different type.

It had been instructive years in the workshop. The first year we worked almost exclusively with gasgenerator equipped  cars, and after the end of the war in May 1945, all wanted to get the idle cars running again. For my part, this time ended in 1948 when I was called as a soldier, and you can read about this in the next section.

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Edited february 27 2009