During the war he was active in the Norwegian Resistance Movement, and participated in several famous sabotage actions against the occupying forces.
He was responsible for the Italian branch of the Norwegian airline Braathens, but soon started his own company, the E. Riis & Company, acting as legal representative for hundreds of international air carriers flying into Italy, handling traffic rights, organizing cargo and passenger charters, as well as sale and purchase of large transport category aircraft.
The case was apparently settled when the Riis' would acquire the bulk carrier Sognefjell in 1974 from A/S Falkefjell, one of the shipping companies of the Olsen & Ugelstad group.
Before the ship was delivered to her the 1973 oil crisis had damaged Falkefjell's economy, and the Sognefjell was secretly used as Collateral to the company's lender Den Norske Creditbank (DnC).
[3][4][5] The case went to an Arbitration Court in order to establish recovery and damages suffered by the Riis family due to the non deliverance of the 12 million $ worth ship.
The aviation business in Rome folded due to the Riis' need to constantly travel back to Norway in order to attend court proceedings, and to the legal costs involved.
All initiatives seemed to be vain, and the Riis couple became more and more frustrated about the Norwegian legal system, while encountering severe economic difficulties.
The Olsen & Ugelstad's assets had in fact been allowed to "disappear" under the eyes of the Probate Court which was responsible for preserving the disputed inheritance until a final verdict had taken place.
[7][9] He started demanding increasingly amounts of money and, when these were questioned, Berge threatened to "freeze" the estate proceedings taking place in Monaco where the Riis's were resident.
ALL of Herman Berge's claims - economical, or of being an "heir", a "testamentary executor", or a "creditor"- were dismissed in several Court rulings in Norway, Sweden, and Monaco.