We reached Grotli Hotel on the mountain plateau, only 24 miles from Geiranger, and decided to sleep a few hours before tackling the steep descent towards Geiranger. As we left in the morning, we met two Norwegian shipowners, who were on their way to New York. They were heading for Stryn on the west coast and asked why I had chosen Geiranger. “Because the boy and his reindeer have opted for Geiranger”, I said. As it turned out, we arrived in Geiranger 24 hours before the ship-owners did. But then, their journey had not been planned by the telegraph manager at Otta!
At the end of the long frozen lake we were ambushed by 5 armed men, who turned out to be telegraph workers, alerted by the telegraph manager at Otta. They took the lead and escorted us down the steep slopes above Geiranger. We sat on our skis and scrubbed with our feet, finally reaching the bottom of the descent. Here, we were met by a horse and sledge and further downhill we were transferred to a truck, which took us right down to the quay. The post boat to Ålesund had been kept waiting for us for more than an hour, but the overnight trip took us to Ålesund in comfort. Asbjørn and I had a real treat, when Gobinot opened a bottle of strong spirits, and treated us to a really welcome drink.
On arrival in Ålesund, Gobinot was unable to walk, and we got him a lift in the van of Grand Hotel, which took us to the military office, where I got an official receipt for the safe delivery of Monsieur Charles Gobinot.
So what was this secret mission all about? I had my own guess at the time, but I did not know the truth until I met Charles Gobinot again – strolling the deck of the British cruiser HMS Devonshire, which transported King Haakon and his Government from Tromsø beyond the Arctic Circle to Scotland. Gobinot told me that the Allies had decided that Vigra radio station near Ålesund should be the focal point for communications between Allied fleets and the ground forces in Norway. And the French Ambassador had been entrusted to bring the Allied codebooks to the radio station.
But how could you take the risk of driving right into the hands of the German parachutists, I asked Gobinot. No, said Gobinot. They would shoot the driver first – and that was you – and that would give me a split second to flick my thumbs, which would activate the explosives in both bags, and we would all be blown to kingdom come – including the code books! It was not until the bombing of London that I felt so close to death! Asbjørn and I had to return the same way via Geiranger to pick up the car at Pollfoss, and we drove down to Otta, where we reported for duty at the Telegraph manager’s office. He said there is another secret job waiting for you, check in at the Grand Hotel and ask for a CA Stang, a barrister from Oslo. We met him, and he said he had been asked by the Minister of Finance to locate the Head of the Bank of Norway. Stang had reason to believe that the bank chief was in Tønset, where the Government had appointed a new governor (Fylkesmann). So we started up the Fampus road past Rosten Bridge and Kirkestuen Hotel, until we reached Dombås rail junction of tracks to Oslo, Trondheim and Åndalsnes. We stopped at Dombås Tourist Hotel for lunch, we thought, but the Germans then started to bomb the railway station – where they killed the American military attaché, as he was standing just outside the railway tunnel. We escaped by driving on the Dovre mountain plateau.
We arrived at Tynset and were given a splendid supper, during which I went to sleep through sheer exhaustion. I woke up by the Governor shouting that the Germans were coming, and he dropped me in my long-johns and other clothing unceremoniously in to my car, whilst his staff got Stang and Asbjørn pushed into my car. I did not even have time to put on my trousers, because I started the car as the Germans entered the village from the south.
We travelled northwards from Tynset, and had a slight accident, when I went to sleep at the wheel, but the car luckily stopped in the snow in the roadside. When we reached Ullsberg, my passenger CA Stang was arrested by a young army lieutenant. I did not know at the time, but after waiting an hour or so, I walked up to the local HQ and asked the young lieutenant why he kept my passenger as a prisoner. He said it was a peculiar mission to try to locate the whereabouts of the Chief of the Bank of Norway, but when I showed him my “passport” signed by the Commander-in-Chief of the Norwegian Army, General Otto Ruge, he reluctantly let us go.
We then motored via Oppdal and the entire length of the Sunndal valley to Sunndalsøra, where we were met by an unbelieving array of army officers, who told us that the entire road had been bombed by a German aircraft for about an hour before our arrival. We knew. We had seen and heard them!
So we arrived in Molde. My flat was in fine shape, but somehow we knew that the Germans were around, because the King and Government were staying in Molde. Asbjørn and I reported to Einar Gerhardsen (later to become Prime Minister), and he asked Asbjørn to return to Oslo to get the families of the Government members to travel northwards. I never met Asbjørn again until we were both bombed in London in December 1940. Gerhardsen asked me to report for duty at the office of Fylkesmann (Governor) Trygve Utheim.
My first job at the Fylkesmann’s office was to take care of the foreign diplomats stranded in Molde by the Government. Luckily, the father of two of my girlfriends in Molde owned timber huts on a small island north of Molde, and I accommodated the Hungarian Ambassador and his wife in one hut, the other being occupied by the Finnish Minister and Count Douglas of Sweden plus CA Stang and myself.
I returned to the island every evening – by rowing across the sound until one evening, when all hell broke loose. The Swedish count had decided to return to Oslo, but the Finnish minister objected and used his fists to knock out the Swedish Count. I told the contestants that there was precious little to fight about, because the Germans were expected to land in Molde the next day.
Next morning I was asked by Governor Utheim to drive to the innermost part of the Romsdal Fjord to pick up the wife and children of Sigbjorn Mustad, MP, who was staying with us on the island. I got there in the nick of time, because the Germans were on the other side of the fjord, thanks to the fact that good Norwegians had kept the ferry on the other side of the fjord.
Finally, I stood in the Governor’s office, when a German naval plane landed on the Molde fjord. The Governor had a stand-by fishing boat at Vevang, and I implored him to come with me to the boat, but he said he had to stay behind to safeguard Norwegian interests. So I left alone in my car and drove to the island, where I picked up Mustad and Stang, and then on to Vevang to join the fishing boat. I met Governor Utheim in London several months later, when he was appointed a member of the exile government.
There were five of us on the boat, escaping from Molde to north Norway. One of them was Lars Evensen, prominent trade union leader, later to become a member of the post-war Norwegian government. As days went past, we were talking about what would happen in Norway before the war was over, and it was almost uncanny how Lars Evensen proved to be correct. He said – and named – dissidents in the Labour Party who would step forward and offer their services to the Nazis. I cannot remember names, but his forecast was accurate.
It took a week to journey from Vevang to Tromsø, and we had several incidents en route. During a short stay at Harstad we were bombed, but survived. In Tromsø we rented a house that belonged to the former Nazi mayor – and the tenants consisted of Professor Karl Keilhau, barrister C A Stang, Miss Unni Diesen (daughter of the admiral and secretary to the Foreign Minister), Finn Hansen (private secretary to the Prime Minister) and myself. Keilhau arranged for me to get a dual job – as assistant to the board of Bank of Norway, and as secretary – to the board of Norwegian Broadcasting. My boss in both jobs was Dr Arnold Raestad, twice foreign minister in the late liberal government.
The war in Norway took a turn for the worse in early June 1940, and I remember that Dr Raestad took me aside and asked whether I wanted to continue the fight in England. I answered YES – unhesitatingly – and I went to the chief of police to get a new passport. On Thursday June 7 – Norway’s Flag Day we left Tromsø on board the British cruiser, the HMS Devonshire, 105 of us, including King Haakon.
I forgot to tell you about an incident, which happened a couple of weeks before withdrawal from Norway. During a board meeting at the Bank of Norway we had a frenzied phone call from the manager of the Bank of Norway branch in Bodø, saying he had run out of cash. The chairman, Dr Arnold Raestad, authorised J Nørve, a member of the board, to proceed to Bodø with five million Krone in bank notes, and asked me to accompany him. We set off in a small fishing boat with two local boys. As we entered Bodø harbour, the Germans started bombing. Nørve and I climbed to the very top of Landego Island, where we had a bird’s eye view of the wanton destruction of Bodø. Afterwards, we tied up in the port and contacted the local Bank of Norway representatives, who received the cash. Then we returned to Tromsø. Professor Keilhau received a phone call late at night from the manager of Bank of Norway in Harstad, saying he had thirty thousand pounds sterling in his vault, and, knowing about the impending withdrawal, he asked what we could do about it. I told Keilhau that the Navy had an aircraft which called at Tromsø twice a day, and I would be willing to accompany it to Harstad to pick up the cash. Professor Keilhau phoned the naval office, but was told that the admiral was asleep, and nothing could be done. So much for wartime red tape: and in due course the Germans got the cash.
HMS Devonshire steamed northwards from Tromsø and skirted Spitsbergen, because it was evident that the Germans were out in full to hit King Haakon and his Government.
We were treated well onboard ship, and it felt like being cruise passengers, until 5am one morning we woke up to the sound of heavy guns firing. Nothing happened to us, but at midday I was told by Charles Gobinot that the German battleships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst had sunk the British aircraft carrier Glorious and two destroyers, sailing about 30 miles behind us. Obviously, the Germans had thought that the King and Crown Prince and Government were on board the aircraft carrier. This mistake had probably saved our lives.
We were transferred from HMS Devonshire on board a lighter, and then we stood on firm ground again – in Scotland. It was only when we stood there, we realised for the first time that now we were exiles. The problem was made clear when a well-meaning immigration officer started to stutter the names of the exiles. Then, almost as out of another world, the President of the Storting, J. C. Hambro, stepped forward, and gently took the list out of the hands of the immigration officer, and said “Perhaps I can make the job easier for you” Hambro then started in his most stentorian manner from the Storting to read out the names of the refugees. Mine was the second last name to be called. Hambro started by ringing out the name of “Prime Minister Johan Nygaardsvold”, and the Premier shouted “HERE”. And so it went on, the list involving 105 names. From Gourock, we travelled in a most luxurious train, which proved to be the personal train of King George VI. We had wonderful food and plenty of drinks – until we arrived at Euston station about 10 pm. King George turned up in person to greet King Haakon, and took him to Buckingham Palace… On arrival in London, we were met by officials from the Norwegian Embassy, and all non-government officials were taken to South Kensington Hotel.’
Per Prag
Map Routes
of the Gold Transport
Notes
1 Haarr, G, The German Invasion of Norway: Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley, 2009, p. 3. NB this publication is now widely regarded as the most definitive account of the German invasion. If the reader wishes to understand more about the complexities and events of April 1940 then this book is heartily recommended.
2 Taylor, A.J.P. The Second World War – An Illustrated History: Penguin, London, 1976, p. 17.
3 Ibid.
4 Knight, N, Churchill – The Greatest Briton Unmasked: David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 2008, pp. 96–97.
5 The League of Nations had been set up when peace negotiations began in October 1918; President Woodrow Wilson of the USA stated that the Fourteen Points plan should serve as a basis for the signing of the Armistice. The League of Nations had no armed forces and relied on boycotts if nations contravened the rules. There were sixty nations signed up to the agreement including Britain, Germany, France and Norway. Germany resigned from the League in October 1933. France resigned in April 1941. The League of Nations was replaced by the United Nations in 1945.
6 Taylor, A.J.P. The Second World War – An Illustrated History: Penguin, London, 1976, p. 30.
7 Ibid., p. 32.
8 Radio broadcast from the Prime Minister of Great Britain & Northern Ireland Neville Chamberlain on 3rd September 1939. Directly after his speech the air-raid sirens sounded in London. It was a false alarm.
9 Belgium had declared herself as neutral.
10 Gilbert, M. The Churchill War Papers – At the Admiralty Vol 1: Heinemann, 1993, p. 6. Churchill had previously been forced to resign his original Admiralty post in 1915 as a result of the failures of the Dardanelles campaign.
11 Gilbert, M. The Churchill War Papers – At the Admiralty Vol 1: Heinemann, 1993, p. 6.
12 Gilbert, M. The Churchill War Papers – At the Admiralty Vol 1: Heinemann, 1993, pp. 120–121. This comment by Churchill was not factual. No mines were actually laid.
13 Robert, A. The Holy Fox – Biography of Lord Halifax: Weidenfield & Nicholson, 1991.
14 Churchill, W.S. The Second World War, vol 1: Cassell, London, 1948, p. 424. Please note that Churchill’s account was written after the war and is not 100% consistent with the minutes taken at the meeting.
15 The Deutschland class Graf Spee was one of three heavily armoured cruisers. The term ‘pocket-battleships’ was coined by the British due to the ship’s main armament of six 11inch (280mm) guns. The Kriegsmarine later classed them as heavy cruisers.
16 Kersaudy, F. Norway 1940: Collins, Glasgow 1990, p. 24.
17 Ibid., p. 62.
18 Rankin, N, Churchill’s Wizards – The British Genius for Deception 1914–1945: Faber & Faber, London, 2008, p. 233.
19 Beesly, P. Very Special Intelligence – The Story of the Admiralty’s Operational Intelligence Centre 1939–1945: Chatham Publishing, 1977, p. 37.
20 Denham, H. Inside the Nazi Ring (A Naval Attaché in Sweden): John Murray, London, 1984, pp. 2, 4.
21 Haarr, G, The German Invasion of Norway: Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley, 2009, p. 56.
22 Lieutenant Commander Gerard B. Roope was later posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his deeds.
23 Plan R4 was an initiative to pre-empt a possible German reaction to the mining of the Norwegian Leads. British troops were embarked in HM cruisers and troop ships ready to sail to the ports of Trondheim, Narvik, Stavanger, and Bergen. The plan was not implemented due to the German invasion of April 9th 1940.
24 Weser is the name of a river in Germany.
25 Brassey’s Naval Annual. 1948. H.G. Thursfield, ed. New York: Macmillan, 1948.
26 This order originated from Commanding Admiral Diesen. During the evacuation of Norway, Admiral Diesen was transported to Britain on the Ulster Prince.
27 Also known as Räumboote. Used mainly for minesweepers and escort duties. Designed to operate in shallow waters. Similar in size and shape to the ‘C’ Class British motor launches.
28 Part of transcript of Mr Fevang’s interview carried out by Stian Trovik, Lillehammer.
29 Report from First Lieutenant Fregattenkapitän Erich Heymann, with thanks to Geirr Haarr.
30 It was the Polish submarine Orzel (meaning Eagle in Polish).
31 Kersaudy, F. Norway 1940: Collins, Glasgow 1990, p. 65.
32 Michael, M. Haakon King of Norway: Allen & Unwin, London, 1958.
33 National Archives reference: FO371/24829.
34 The time Koht and Bräuer met was approximately the same time that Blücher received hits from the batteries at Oscarsborg Fort.
35 Koht, H. Norway Neutral and Invaded: Hutchinson, London, 1941, pp. 66–67.
36 Ibid., p. 76.
37 Haarr, G, The German Invasion of Norway: Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley, 2009, p. 177.
38 Gilbert, M. T
he Churchill War Papers – At the Admiralty Vol 1: Heinemann, London, 1993, p. 991.
39 Sir John Colville, CB, CVO was a British civil servant who kept wartime diaries of his time with the then Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. He died November 1987.
40 Dik Lehmkuhl, Journey to London: Hutchinson, London, 1942, p. 49. Lehmkuhl writes that the simple code completely hoodwinked the Germans.
41 The War Illustrated – April 1940, Vol 2 No 34.
42 The War – Incorporating War Pictorial – April 19th 1940, No. 26, p. 777.
43 National Archive reference: T1/12177. NB the paragraph, originating from one of Hambro’s agents in Norway was copied and included in the letter.
44 Nicolai Rygg was born the son of a shoemaker on the 29th February 1872. His background clearly did not restrict him though, and eventually he rose to become an economist and Professor in state economy and statistics from 1910–13. Promotion as Director of Central Bureau of Statistics (Statistisk sentralbyrå) from 1913 to 1920 prepared him well for his next post – that of Governor of the Bank of Norway (Norges Bank). He held this post in Norway from 1920–1946. Rygg’s hobbies included mountaineering and writing books. He was also the author of the History of Norges Bank. Married to Agnes they had one child, Else who tragically only survived for two weeks (25.9.1911–7.10.1911). Rygg passed away in 1957 and is buried at Vestre Gravlund Cemetery, Oslo.
45 A gold bar weighs about 400 ounces or 11.3 kg, but the bullion markets will accept bars ranging from 350 ounces to 430 ounces. Most bars, however, are close to 400 ounces so an imperial ton (2000 pounds or 32,000 ounces) contains about 80 bars of gold. A bar of gold is assayed and the actual purity of the gold is stamped on the bar together with a registration number. A bar of gold considered to be ‘good delivery’ will not be less than 995 parts gold in 1000 parts. The amount of gold that was rescued from Norway was approximately 50 tons and was made up of 818 large crates at 40 kg per crate, 685 smaller crates at 25 kg each and 39 kegs weighing in at 80 kg each. The kegs were filled with 5 bags of bullion and each bag contained 1000 coins.
Gold Run: The Rescue of Norway’s Gold Bullion from the Nazis, 1940 Page 25