BRITONS’ ESCAPE FROM OSLO

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 183, 30 April 1940, Page 8

BRITONS’ ESCAPE FROM OSLO

Pretended To Be Speaking Norwegian The adventures of two young Englishmen who arrived in Oslo at much the same time as the Nazi troops have been related from the Empire station at Daventry. The two men were members of a British volunteer unit which had arrived in Helsinki to fight for Finland against the Russians just in time to hear the conclusion of the peace announced. After staying a few weeks in the Finnish capital they decided to make their way home and proceeded via Sweden and across Scandinavia. When their train drew up at Oslo they were amazed to see nothing but German uniforms on the platform. They managed to escape from the station safely and, after much difficulty, for they spoke neither Norwegian nor German, obtained some Norwegian clothing. They passed through the streets of Oslo with much trepidation and warded off the inquiries of .German soldiers by a clever move. They studied the names on shops and agreed on how they thought they would be pronounced. Then, when a German soldier approached them and put questions, they mumbled the names to him. They chanced to miss the few Germans who understood Norwegian, and got away with their trick. Norwegians standing by were puzzled, but soon guessed their predicament and _ gave them every assistance. With their aid they set out on a cross-country trek and finally reached Andalsnes. Here they met the British troops.

They got back to an English port on one of the returning troop transports, but not before they bad a taste of Nazi bombing attacks.