Haslund was not too surprised at such a request as only three days earlier his name had been linked with the movement of the gold from Lillehammer, but the German parachutists arriving in the Dombås area on April 14th curtailed any such movement. Haslund duly met with Torp at the Grand Hotel interested to know what the Minister of Finance had planned for him. He listened attentively as the plans were presented to him – to lead the gold transport out of Lillehammer to the port of Åndalsnes and away to safety via the Royal Navy. He was also advised to report to a Colonel David Thue at the port from whom he would receive further instructions.60 Haslund understood the full weight of this responsibility and promised Torp he would execute his duties to the best of his ability. Torp, of course, expected nothing less.
The next day, Haslund immediately set about organising transport out of Lillehammer. A ‘mixed traffic’ train was required – goods wagons as well as a passenger car or two. Secondly, the route had to be prearranged so that Haslund’s train could travel through Otta, Dombås and on to Åndalsnes unhindered. NSB, the railway company got to work straight away to ensure that Haslund’s needs were met. Papers of citation were required to ensure confirmation of Haslund’s authority over the bullion and these were coordinated via the local military commanders, Colonel Finn Fougner and Major Arentz who obtained signed papers from General Ruge of Army HQ. Another officer, Colonel Ole Broch then made further arrangements for Haslund to meet up with General Ruge at a small village called Tretten; arriving there without incident, Haslund discussed with Ruge how the bullion could be transported out of Lillehammer. In turn, Ruge offered a military escort, which Haslund gladly accepted, but warned him that the transport could not move until the German parachutists in the Dombås area had been fully dealt with.
Meanwhile, in London on April 16th, Parliament was in session and unbeknown to the Norwegians and the British military authorities questions were already being raised in the House of Commons. Member of Parliament for Kingswinford, Mr Arthur Henderson asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir John Simon whether he had any information regarding the value of the Norwegian gold reserves and if the Germans had seized any of it during their invasion? Sir Simon rose from his seat and replied that the gold holdings of the Norwegian banks amounted to some ‘£18,000,000 or £19,000,000.’ He further stated that he had no other exact information on what amounts were being held outside the country. Sir Simon understandably was also unable to answer the second part of the question as to whether the Germans had captured any of the gold. At that precise moment in time, and apparently unknown to the British and the Germans for that matter, the bullion was still in Lillehammer.61
Haslund now returned to Lillehammer and immediately sought out the Fylkesmann (County Governor) as well as the Chief of Police for the Lillehammer area to finalise arrangements for the transport. Secrecy was to be paramount if they were to succeed. On April 17th Torp arrived in Lillehammer to join in the preparations and warned Haslund that the gold would have to be moved at very short notice. Lists were drawn up and a further detailed inventory made of the gold boxes and their contents. It would seem that even when at war one still needs an accountant.
In Dombås, a few scattered German parachutists remained in the area, although these were being successfully engaged in an effort to clear the area. As soon as the area was deemed safe Haslund would need to move quickly. By April 18th plans were well in hand and volunteers were being sought in preparation to move the gold with the arrangements being implemented by the police chief. The assembled volunteers, around thirty in number, were ordered to meet at a secret location at 22:00 and to arm themselves with spades and shovels. This was to give passers-by the impression that the men were off to dig trenches, but the reality was far from the case.
The men were quietly transported to Norges Bank without fuss and setting aside their digging tools, immediately began the arduous task of loading the trucks in preparation for the short journey to the railway station. The plan was to move the gold the following day. Security was naturally of the highest order with roadblocks and guards put in place to ensure that no unauthorised persons came anywhere near the bullion.
Meanwhile, the soldiers were being assembled at Jøstadmoen military camp.62 The guards were chosen hurriedly and were made up of men of all ages and from varying units. Initially, mobilisation of Norwegian forces had been confused and shambolic. Orders and counter orders had been issued, but outside the German controlled areas mobilisation had been more organised. Men unable to attend their assigned camp instead (certainly in the case of soldiers in the Lillehammer area) made for the camp at Jørstadmoen instead. One of those men who had joined the camp was Nordahl Grieg.
Grieg, a Norwegian poet and playwright, was staying at the Continental Hotel – perhaps better known as the Theatre Café – in Oslo with his fiancé, Gerd Egede-Nissen when hostilities broke out. At first Grieg disbelieved the rumours that the Germans were invading thinking that it was the Germans and British naval forces playing out a sea battle in retaliation to the British having just laid mines off Norway. These illusions were shattered when on the morning of April 9th, whilst at breakfast, Grieg witnessed a German officer in uniform dashing into the hall of the hotel and demanding to see Mr Quisling and failing him, Mr Hagelin, a Norwegian businessman.63 The officer quickly disappeared into the hotel lift to seek out his man.
Rumours circulated rapidly that mobilisation orders were being announced via Norwegian radio. Grieg dashed out of the hotel and made his way to a nearby Norwegian military establishment only to be told to go home, as the situation was useless. Grieg, devastated, was witnessing at first hand the sudden and shocking manifestation of armed Germans wandering the streets of Oslo, and he was convinced that his beloved Kingdom of Norway was yielding swiftly to the German invaders.
Overwhelmed by hopelessness and brimming with contempt for the traitor Quisling, he decided against returning to his hotel. Realising that he had to get away from the capital, Grieg telephoned Gerd and told her to get out of Oslo, promising that he would somehow find a way of rejoining her when he could.
Later, that evening, Grieg found himself listening intently to a radio for any update in the news, enraged as the broadcasts from Quisling’s Government continuously announced that resistance to the Germans would be futile and be met with severe penalties. The broadcasts were accompanied with supposed inspiring national music; Grieg despaired.
The following morning the poet travelled by train and bus until he eventually reached Hønefoss. There were no Germans there and for a while he felt safe. But no matter what military establishment Grieg reported to the only advice that he received was to go home, such was the confusion in the Norwegian mobilisation. Undeterred, Grieg made his way to the Gudbrandsdal valley where he chanced upon the Jørstadmoen military camp and it was here he was accepted into the local force. In the ensuing patriotic but uncoordinated melee to resist the Germans, Grieg managed to obtain a Krag rifle along with a few rounds and some remnants of a uniform and then spent the next few hours dashing around in a car looking for German patrols. Fortunately for the keen recruits the Germans were still some way off and so no shots were fired in either direction.
Just days later Grieg, along with others, was ordered to Lillehammer to occupy the railway station. Once assembled, they were informed that the Germans were rapidly approaching and that Lillehammer was to be defended at all costs. At that point in time, Grieg had absolutely no idea about the military objective that had been bestowed upon them and guarding a nation’s wealth would have been very low on his and his comrade’s list of guesses, but arriving quietly and taking up his duties on the station, Grieg witnessed workmen loading an infinite amount of white boxes, some large, some small into railway trucks. He also noticed some very heavy kegs and these appeared to be sealed with red wax; everything was marked with two black letters…NB – Norges Bank. Watching the comings and goings of the bullion loaders matters soon became clear and it didn’t take the sol
diers long to realise that the whole of the gold holding of Norges Bank was being loaded aboard the trucks. A short time later, during the early hours of the following morning, orders were issued that the train was to have a military escort and that the soldiers currently guarding the station would be that escort. Grieg clambered aboard not realising the unrelenting seven weeks that was about to ensue.
Grieg, who had trained as a neutrality guard some years prior to the invasion, was later quoted.64
We were turned into some kind of soldiers within 5 minutes. No one asked for names or numbers and nothing was written down. We were allowed in to peoples’ homes to take whatever we wanted such as guns and uniforms. We stayed in farmhouses overnight. Next morning there was a full alarm…the German parachutists were supposed to be in the area. We jumped into cars and were told to load our guns, but it was a false alarm and no parachutists were found. April 18th and 30 men from this unit were ordered to be ready for a special mission at short notice The next evening (19th), we were told to bring provisions for two days and 100 rounds each. In the moonlight we drove towards Lillehammer with the Germans known to be approaching. With us we brought two recently arrived cadets, sergeants in rank. These two sergeants were given command of 15 men each plus we had a commanding officer, a Major. We stopped at Lillehammer and were ordered to secure the railway station.
From Jørstadmoen military camp 30 Norwegian rank and file soldiers were tasked to guard the gold. One officer, Major Bjorn Sunde was appointed the leader of the men; two non-commissioned officers, Sergeant Alf Pahlow Andresen and Sergeant Pettersen, in turn supported him.
Bjorn Sunde was a civilian engineer by trade prior to the invasion, but had reported to Jørstadmoen camp when war broke out. A few days later, and without any pre-planning whatsoever, he was ordered to take charge of 30 soldiers and 2 NCOs for a special assignment. Whether he knew what he was letting himself in for is not recorded, but he did not hesitate.
The soldiers detailed to guard the gold were a composite group of vastly differing ages, abilities and backgrounds. Some were of a professional standing such as teachers whilst others were equally diverse in livelihood being farmers, labourers, and a poet who had all come together in some desperate attempt to repel the invaders. Their concerns and anxieties for what lay ahead were not incongruent, but Sunde and his two NCOs saw to it that minds were focused – the safe transport of a nation’s wealth rested firmly with them.
German infantry pushing up through the Gudbransdal Valley. Picture credit: Tore G Eggen.
6
Move the Bullion!
Andreas Lund, who had been anxious about his role in the safekeeping of the gold at Lillehammer, attended a meeting with Haslund on the afternoon of April 18th whereupon he quietly, and perhaps with some discomfiture, revealed to him that in 1933/34 he had been a member of Vidkun Quisling’s Party – National Samling, but had left in 1934 after being threatened with exclusion.65 Lund wanted Haslund to be aware of his political connections but Haslund had other priorities and showed no real concerns regarding this revelation. Further meetings commenced with Finance Minister Torp, Haslund, Lund and a local army officer, Colonel Finn Fougner and with Dombås now clear of parachute troops the decision was taken to move the gold. Lund, having been previously ordered by Rygg to send away all descriptions of the vault locks was requested to open them – the time was now close to midnight. Julius Pettersen and Hans Olsen Skurdal also attended as they had the keys to the main door. Lund later wrote:
At last orders came and we went down to the vault to open the door. It was impossible to get the code in the right order. It continuously slipped out of my hand. The knowledge of what this was about started to wear on my nerves, it was no simple affair to blow up the modern armoured door with dynamite and now time was literally money…gold money. I worked for ½ an hour to open the door; it was the longest ½ hour I have experienced to this day.
Concerns were quickly raised when it was realised that Lund could not open the vault. Frantic calls were made to the Finance Minister Oscar Torp to warn him that the vault could not be opened. In desperation the idea of using dynamite was considered, but by whom has never been made clear, although Haslund would have been quite within his rights to demand this if the vault could not be opened. Norway’s national poet, Nordahl Grieg later wrote about the debacle, although somewhat romantically.66
When the Germans were approaching, Torp, after consultation with the government, gave Haslund the most extensive authority to get the gold out of the way. The whole affair was however locked up in the Lillehammer branch of Norges Bank, and the iron door was closed with a complicated lock, the secret of which was only known in Oslo. Haslund was just on the point of sending for dynamite when one of the bank employees drew him aside [Lund]. The man wanted to say that he had belonged to the Quisling Party, National Samling; he was not pleased about this, and might he be allowed to try his hand with the lock? He had once seen it opened and he had a good memory. He threw off his coat and struggled with the lock for two hours, with the sweat pouring down his face, it was as if he was fighting with Quisling, and he won. The door sprang open, and the 1503 boxes were taken out and transported down to the station to be loaded up.
After the war several people criticised Lund for his ‘forgetfulness’ and blamed him for attempting to delay the release of the gold from the vaults, but this is a very harsh viewpoint and there is absolutely no proof whatsoever to support this claim. What does come across is a man who was heavy with fear and anxiety with his responsibility to safeguard the nation’s wealth. It is also worth pointing out that the vault was brand new, had been opened only once previously and had never been used operationally until the gold arrived. Taking into account his anxious state, surrounded by others whilst he worked out the combination in his head and the fact that he had only seen the combination once before, it was an accomplishment that Lund managed to get the vault opened at all.
Just after 01:00 Lund was successful with the code, the vault doors swung open and the backbreaking business of loading the gold on to the trucks began. Haslund, in one of his later radio broadcasts from Boston, in the USA, describes the scene in the town at that particular moment, but like Grieg he couldn’t resist a little romanticism in his description.67
Lillehammer was asleep; there was no sound, no lights showing, and an insidious darkness that filled every doorway, every window with its inky stain.’
Haslund likened Lillehammer to being like ‘the bottom of a deep grave’.
The bank officials and Haslund anxiously awaited the arrival of the lorries that would help to transport the gold and although it was dark the unspoken thoughts were that the Germans would suddenly arrive and take their prize without so much as a fight from the inhabitants. Then away in the distance a slight rumbling could be heard, then drawing nearer and louder…it was the lorries approaching slowly and cautiously. No sooner had the vehicles stopped in front of the bank than orders were issued and the loading of the gold onto the small lorries began in earnest.
Haslund anxiously looked to the sky scanning for any signs of dawn, which would herald the return in mass of German bombers, but the veil of darkness was still in place.
Haslund, always mindful of security, had the centre of the town cordoned off by armed police. The crews of the lorries, some of them brought in from the surrounding districts, worked long and hard loading the gold stopping only for the briefest of pauses to regain their breath. With impressive haste the lorries were fully loaded. Haslund sensed that this was only the beginning and that much work still lay ahead, but exactly what he had no real idea.
As soon as the lorries were loaded they made the very short journey to Lillehammer Railway Station where the arduous task of unloading the lorries one by one, and then re-loading the railcars began. 68 The men worked mainly in the dark, occasionally relieved by dim, shielded torches, but these were required mainly for the controllers from the bank as they inspected the metal bounded boxes and
made a cursory inventory check of their contents.
With the loading complete, Haslund clambered aboard the train signaling its departure from Lillehammer. On board with Haslund were Julius Pettersen and Andreas Lund of Norges Bank who had volunteered to accompany the transport.
The wooden railcars, creaking and straining, moved slowly away from the platform as the train, with considerable effort, pulled its valuable load away.
As the train pulled out of Lillehammer Station the guard soldiers suddenly realised that they were heading north and not south. The relief must have been immense knowing they were heading away and not towards the German lines.
The train should have departed at 01:00, but actually left at 04:00. Haslund omitted to state in his report why this was, but it would seem that the holdup in getting the vaults open would have been a significant factor.
Essential precautionary measures featured clearly in Haslund’s thinking. He wanted to factor in a degree of safety and warning so he ordered two men, Hans Kristiansen and Øivind Schou, to drive ahead and reconnoitre the way ahead for the train checking for damaged rail tracks and anything else that could hinder their journey.69 The idea was to use a standard red signal lamp to stop the train if they encountered any problems. The two men, who had transported part of the gold from Oslo to Lillehammer, were ideal for the adventure. Fortunately there were no problems save from being stopped by Norwegian patrols and having to show their papers to the soldiers. The train proceeded to Otta with headlights dimmed hoping to avoid unwanted attention from any marauding Luftwaffe aircraft. Haslund also warned his soldier guards to be very alert with rifles placed strategically at the ready. A disciplined silence permeated through the cool spring air; their position and presence was not to be surrendered to carelessness.
Gold Run: The Rescue of Norway’s Gold Bullion from the Nazis, 1940 Page 9