in the 1700s there was a battle here between Norway (which was in union with Denmark) and the invading neighbor Sweden. this summer there was an attempt at reenacting the battle at the old naval base. while the theatrics were pathetic, there was lots of loud cannon fire and plenty of
smoke. it was tough on the ears but i managed to get in a few shots myself
there's a local group of no longer young men who are very fond of firing the cannons that are still around from those days.
in previous decades there were much better attempts at making the battle seem plausibly realistic. back then there was a small but impressive fleet of tall ships in the sound and a sizeable force on both sides.
this time around the men were much older and far fewer but the scene with the smoke from the cannons was equally impressive
the soldiers in red are the norwegians fending off a single two masted vessel
despite the heavy cannon fire the swedes manage to beach and assembled an impressive force of 6 men. behind them spectators are lined up at the side of the battlefield. one on the right came prepared and stands ready with a sword just in case.
though they fought valiantly with their muskets blazing, the outnumbered swedes were easily trounced. when the last two standing surrendered the battle was over. no spectators were killed and the only injuries were temporary loss of hearing and the occasional case of tinnitus
RIP