What does Kirsti insist happened for her birthday?

Kirsti insisted that Tivoli Garden had fireworks on her birthday. Unfortunately, it wasn't fireworks she was hearing..... it was the sound of bombs..... bombs the Danes used to destroy their own fleet of naval ships. The Danes destroyed their ships to keep them away from the Germans.

Then Annemarie remembered. Kirsti 's birthday was late in August. And that night, only a month before, she, too, had been awakened and frightened by the sound of explosions. Kirsti was right—the sky in the southeast had been ablaze, and Mama had comforted her by calling it a birthday celebration. "Imagine, such fireworks for a little girl five years old!" Mama had said, sitting on their bed, holding the dark curtain aside to look through the window at the lighted sky.

The next evening's newspaper had told the sad truth. The Danes had destroyed their own naval fleet, blowing up the vessels one by one, as the Germans approached to take over the ships for their own use.