by CW Browning
5. On March 15th, 1940, two British bombers flew across the North Sea, Denmark and the Baltic to reach Warsaw. Their mission was to drop somewhere between six and seven million propaganda leaflets on the former capital of Poland. After making their “bombing” run, both planes were low on fuel, which necessitated returning across Germany to land at airbases in France. One of the planes landed by accident in Germany when the pilot thought he had crossed over into France. In front of astonished peasants, he managed to take off again and land safely in France the following morning. On that same day, March 16th, the Germans aggressively attacked the British fleet at anchor in Scapa Flow. Fifteen German bombers dropped bombs on the port, killing three officers on the heavy cruiser Norfolk, and also killing a civilian who was standing at the door of his cottage, watching the raid. Two days later, Winston Churchill told the War Cabinet that, “There was considerable feeling in the country that while the Germans used bombs, we only dropped leaflets.” (The Second World War, Martin Gilbert, p 49)
6. The Spitfire’s Wooden Propellers. The early Mk I Spitfires were powered by a 1,030 hp Merlin Mk II engine. These engines had a ten-foot diameter two-blade wooden fixed propeller which weighed 83 lbs. But the two-blade propellers severely limited take-off distance and climb rate. And, as you can imagine, there are several reports of other issues with the wooden propellers. They were susceptible to dry rot, and on more than one occasion a propeller would snap during routine flight. In this book, one of the pilots experienced just that. However, from the 78th production airframe, the wooden propellers were replaced with three-bladed, two-position metal propellers, which improved take-off performance, maximum speed and service ceiling on the Spitfire, making it the only fighter capable of successfully competing with the German BF 109 at higher altitudes. To incorporate the new propeller on already existing MK I Spitfires, a kit was developed and teams went to the air bases to replace the propellers. By August 16th, 1940, every Spitfire had been modified with the new metal propellers.
- Interestingly, wooden propellers were to return by 1941, as the war caused a shortage of the duralumin metal used to produce the propellers. This led to the application of the Schwarz process, where “special machinery pressed a hard metal mesh coating and cellulose sheet” over propellers made from soft wood. This ended up producing very hard, composite wood blades which were used until the end of the war. These were the Rotol Propellers, which were contant-speed wood and metal blades. (Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/rotol-spitfire-propeller-blade-constant-speed-wood-and-metal/nasm_A19601413000) (Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Spitfire_(early_Merlin-powered_variants)#cite_ref-32)(Key.Aero – Spitfire MK I, II and IIA’s Prop Fittings https://www.key.aero/forum/historic-aviation/89374-spitfire-mk-i-ii-and-iia-s-prop-fittings)
7. Vidkun Quisling. A Norwegian military officer and politician. In 1933, Quisling left the Farmers Party and founded the National Union, a fascist party. His party did achieve some popularity, but failed to win any seats in government and was still only active on the fringes in 1940. In 1934, he met Nazi ideologist and theorist Alfred Rosenberg. By 1936, Quisling had hardened his anti-Semitic stance. By 1939, he was delivering lectures entitled “The Jewish problem in Norway” and he openly supported Adolf Hitler in the growing European conflict. He sent Hitler a 50th birthday greeting thanking him for “saving Europe from Bolshevism and Jewish domination.” In the summer of 1939, he was invited to tour Germany and was well-received, with Germany promising funds to boost his party in Norway and help spread pro-Nazi sentiment. In December, he met Hitler, gaining a promise from the Fuhrer to respond to any British invasion of Norway pre-emptively with a German counter-invasion. On March 31st, he was summoned to Copenhagen to meet with Nazi intelligence officers, who asked for information on Norwegian defenses and defense protocols. He returned to Norway on April 6th, and Germany invaded on the 9th. That afternoon, Quisling was told by the German liaison that if he set up a new government in Norway, it would have Hitler’s personal approval. Quisling created a list of ministers and then accused the legitimate government of having fled. By 5:30pm, Oslo was occupied by the Germans, and Norwegian radio ceased broadcasting at the command of the Germans. With their support, Quisling entered the NRK studios in Oslo and broadcast a message. He announced the formation of a new government with himself as Prime Minister, and revoked the earlier order made by the King to the Norwegian army and civilians to fight the German invasion. Within 24 hours, Hitler officially recognized the new government under Quisling.
- Quisling’s success, however, was short-lived. On April 10th, Germany’s ambassador traveled to Elverum where the legitimate Norwegian government sat and demanded that King Haakon appoint Quisling head of a new government. In that way, they could secure a peaceful transition of power. King Haakon refused, saying that he would rather abdicate than appoint any government headed by Quisling. Upon hearing him take a stance, the Norwegian government unanimously voted to support the king, and urged the Norwegian people to continue their resistance. Germany retracted its support of Quisling’s government when it became clear that he did not have the backing of the country, choosing instead to build its own independent governing commission. By April 15th, a new German governing body was instituted by Hitler. Today, the word Quisling is a term used in Scandinavian languages and in English for a person who collaborates with the enemy – a traitor. (Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidkun_Quisling)
8 Norwegian ambush. After the surprise invasion of the German forces on April 9th, the Norwegian forces were temporarily scattered as they were overrun by the superior Wehrmacht. They were loyal to the King, however, and refused to accept the Quisling government’s submission to German rule. They regrouped and prepared to fight, accepting thousands of young Norwegian recruits who joined the units taking up positions along the narrow mountain roads. One of these young Norwegians was a recruit by the name of Eiliv Hauge, a clerk by trade. On April 11th, he saw action for the first time when a column of German buses filled with troops wound its way inland towards his unit’s position. The Norwegians had blocked the road with tree trunks and, as the Germans began to leave the buses, the Norwegians opened fire. “Within minutes, Hauge later recalled, the buses were ablaze. Dead and wounded Germans lay in the road. White flags of truce were waved – in vain.” The historian of this episode wrote, “Coming shamefully of age, Hauge and his comrades fired on these too, until two hundred Germans lay silent in the snow.” (The Second World War, Martin Gilbert, p 49)
-This is an actual event that took place on April 11th in the mountains of Norway. I maintained the event and the details in their entirety, neither to glorify the act nor defend it, but only to illustrate the desperation and horror that the men and women in Norway faced in those dark days as German forces overran their country.
9. Landing at Namsos. On April 14th, two cruisers and ten destroyers sailed into Namsos, landing Royal Marines in Norway. However, everything else surrounding the town and events in the book is fictional. To my knowledge, no civilians were taken off shore, and none of the ships left immediately. They remained and, on the 15th, were under heavy fire from the German Luftwaffe. Namsos itself was bombed relentlessly in the following days.
10. King Haakon. When the Oscarsborg Fortress at Drøbak fired on the leading German ship, Blücher, the resulting battle and retreat of the remaining ships enabled King Haakon to escape Oslo with the Royal family and his entire government. They fled to Hamar, but the rapid advance of the German troops forced them to move to Elverum. They met with the German ambassador in Nybergsund on the 10th, a small town outside Elverum where the government was staying. When the King famously refused to appoint a government with Quisling as head, the Luftwaffe attacked the town the following day, destroying the village, but failing to kill any member of the government or royal family. Neutral Sweden was only 16 miles away, but the Swedish government had decided that it wo
uld “detain and incarcerate King Haakon if he crossed their border” (something King Haakon never forgave). With Sweden closed to him, the King and his son, the Crown Prince, fled north with their ministers. What followed was two months of harrowing travel around Norway as they tried to stay ahead of the Germans, and their bombers. Under fire and almost caught several times, they continually moved to avoid being captured or killed. One hundred highly trained German paratroopers were ordered to pursue the royals, capture the government, and kill the King. Hitler knew that without their King, the Norwegians would end resistance. King Haakon’s desperate flight finally ended when the King and his party were taken onboard the British cruiser HMS Glasgow at Molde and transported 620 miles north to Tromsø, where a provisional capital was established on May 1st. The Royal Family and Norwegian Government were evacuated from Tromsø on June 7th aboard HMS Devonshire with a total of 461 passengers.
-This evacuation became extremely costly for the Royal Navy when German warships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau attacked and sank the nearby aircraft carrier HMS Glorious with its escorting destroyers HMS Acasta and HMS Ardent. Devonshire did not rebroadcast the enemy sighting report made by Glorious as it could not disclose its position by breaking radio silence. No other British ship received the sighting report, and 1,519 British officers and men and three warships were lost. Devonshire arrived safely in London, and King Haakon and his Cabinet set up a Norwegian government in exile in London.
-Unlike in the book, the Swedish did not refuse to allow the King to cross the border. However, they advised him that both he and his son would be detained and interned. Wishing to continue his rule and to lead his country, the King chose to remain in Norway with the Crown Prince. Interestingly, Crown Prince Olav’s wife, Crown Princess Martha and the three royal children (including today’s King Harald) were driven over the border to her homeland of Sweden, where they were allowed refuge. (Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haakon_VII_of_Norway)
(News in English.no: https://www.newsinenglish.no/2015/04/08/the-kings-defiance-and-chaotic-escape/)
About the Author
CW Browning was writing before she could spell. Making up stories with her childhood best friend in the backyard in Olathe, Kansas, imagination ran wild from the very beginning. At the age of eight, she printed out her first full-length novel on a dot-matrix printer. All eighteen chapters of it. Through the years, the writing took a backseat to the mechanics of life as she explored other avenues of interest. Those mechanics, however, have a great way of underlining what genuinely lifts a spirit and makes the soul sing. After attending Rutgers University and studying History, her love for writing was rekindled. It became apparent where her heart truly lay. Picking up an old manuscript, she dusted it off and went back to what made her whole. CW still makes up stories in her backyard, but now she crafts them for her readers to enjoy. She makes her home in Southern New Jersey, where she loves to grill steak and sip red wine on the patio.
CW loves to hear from readers! She is always willing to answer questions and hear your stories. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
If social media isn’t your thing, she can also be reached by email at [email protected] and on her website at www.cwbrowning.com.
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Note from Author:
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed Night Falls on Norway, please take a moment to leave an honest review. Reviews are invaluable to authors, and it would be greatly appreciated!
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Copyright © 2020 by Clare Wroblewski
All rights reserved.
Cover design by Dissect Designs / www.dissectdesigns.com
Book design by Clare Wroblewski
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or events is entirely coincidental.
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CW Browning
Visit my website at www.cwbrowning.com
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First Printing: 2020
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