A group of siblings from Norway are hopeful the answer to a decades-long family mystery could lie in Aberdeen.
Pål Gulbrandsen, a professor at Oslo University, and his siblings believe they may have a secret brother – with a connection to the north-east.
Their father, Nicolai Gulbrandsen, spent a number of years in Aberdeen during the Second World War, and letters discovered by the family after his death suggest he may have had another child.
This potential son and brother was likely to have been born in 1945 – when Mr Gulbrandsen Sr was based in Scotland.
Mr Gulbrandsen Jr has reached out to the Press & Journal in the hopes that Aberdeen readers can help his family solve this mystery.
Who is Nicolai Gulbrandsen?
The siblings’ father, Nicolai Gulbrandsen, was born in Norway in 1918 and died in 1993.
During the Second World War, he fled from the Nazis in his home country and eventually reached the Norwegian forces outside Aberdeen in July 1941.
Mr Gulbrandsen Sr never spoke to his family about the war but they do know he was stationed in the north-east of Scotland between 1941 and 1945.
Through his work with the Red Cross in Hungary he spent a lot of time travelling, and his son said he “got along with everyone”. He had a turbulent post-war life and spent many years working as a a journalist and editor, retiring in the mid-1980s.
Mr Gulbrandsen Sr was married in Tonsberg in 1946 and became a father to Jon in 1947 and Ellen in 1950.
After divorcing his first wife, he married Pål Gulbrandsen’s mother in 1953 which was followed by his birth in 1955, then his brothers Tor and Lars in 1957 and 1962.
Discovering another sibling
The siblings’ current search is not the first time they have discovered a mystery brother.
In April 1946, Mr Gulbrandsen Sr fathered another son in the city of Trondheim in Norway.
His name was Lasse and the siblings did not meet him until their father’s funeral in 1993. Mr Gulbrandsen Jr said it was “such a great thing to meet him”.
“We had such a lot in common, and it made me think we could have the same success again,” he added. “We just have to look to see if he’s out there. And if we found him, it would be wonderful.”
Long lost letters
Before she died in 2008, Mr Gulbrandsen Jr’s mother shared his father had received a letter from a woman in Scotland in the early 1960s.
Enclosed with the letter was a photo of a young boy with the words “Just to remind you” written on the back.
The Gulbrandsen siblings believe this young boy may be their brother.
Based on what they know so far, and the time of his birth, they believe he was probably adopted at birth. They tried to do some research of their own but soon discovered statutory records of birth, marriage and death are not available online in Scotland until decades after the event.
With just the knowledge of the photo, the siblings felt it would be impossible to track their potential brother down.
More than a decade later, Mr Gulbrandsen Jr had an “emotional” experience when more of his father’s correspondences were discovered.
On Good Friday this year, his son was looking through some old family papers as part of a history assignment at school. He discovered letters from Mr Gulbrandsen Sr’s family that state he had met a woman in Scotland who he wished to marry.
In the letters, dated November 1944, it says he wanted to bring the Scottish woman back to his home in Norway and marry her after the war.
Connections in Aberdeen
Mr Gulbrandsen Jr also shared the details of another recent finding – “a very interesting” hand-written letter sent to his father from an address on King’s Gate in Aberdeen.
The content of the letter, dated July 20, 1945, suggests it may be from the woman he wished to marry, or someone who at least knew who she was.
The letter writer is signed Irene Strachan, who appears to have been involved with the Auxiliary Territorial Service in Aberdeen at the time.
One part of the letter mentions Mr Gulbransen Sr’s wife, but he was not married in 1945, while the writer also addresses some papers she has sent to him in Norway and says she may be moving there herself in the future.
The siblings do not know for certain why the woman would consider moving to Norway, but she does say she has spoken about their father a lot with her own parents and brothers.
Mr Gulbrandsen Jr said although it is unlikely this Irene Strachan is still alive, it is not impossible. He and his siblings are hopeful she may be a vital link in helping them unravel this mystery – and potentially find out who the child in the photo is.
He added that he is not implying Irene Strachan would be the child’s mother, but her or her family may have some much-needed information about Mr Gulbrandsen Sr and his north-east connections.
Mr Gulbrandsen Jr plans to visit Scotland in September – and is hopeful he will have a reason to travel up to Aberdeen by then.
