PROUD THAT I WAS ONCE NORWEGIAN

New Zealand Listener, Volume 5, Issue 126, 21 November 1941, Page 12

PROUD THAT I WAS ONCE NORWEGIAN

(Written for "The Listener" by

ANTON

VOGT

HE Norwegians were a nation of C.0.’s. We hadn’t had a war for over 100 years. We were too civilised. But it takes two to keep a peace. When on April 8, 1940, the Norwegian Government heard that foreign warships were steaming into Norwegian waters, they weren’t sure whether they were German or British. For some hours it seemed likely. that we would be at war with both powers. But they were German all right. And

so were the bombers ‘that came over, without declaration. And, of course, the merchantmen, who were spread out ‘along the entire coastline — with Nazi soldiers under the hatches. Norway was C.O. for as long as it took to find that out. The resulting campaign was a miracle of endurance. Unprepared, she fought for 62 days on her own soil against overwhelming odds. It was longer than Poland, France, or the Netherlands could hold out.

And Hitler’s losses were stupendous, Germany lost 65,000 men (more than. Norway’s entire _ fighting force), one third of her entire navy, over 300 ’planes (more than had been lost over England up to that time), as well as hundreds of tanks and armoured cars, and such quantities of ammunition as Norway had never dreamed of possessing. And this was due almost entirely to the resistance put up by. the Norwegians themselves. First Shots The first shots were fired at the mouth of ‘the Oslofjord, just before midnight on April 8, 1940. A small Norwegian patrol boat sighted a large German squadron, headed by the Gneisenau (27,000 tons), and the Blucher. The patrol boat opened fire. The Germans sank her immediately with a murderous volley, and her Commander, Welding Olsen, rolled himself over with both legs shot off. The war had begun.

Then followed a rush mobilisation, with the well-prepared Nazis striking simultaneously at all important points, cutting communications, bombing from the air, and issuing false messages from captured Radio Oslo. Quislingite activity was infinitesimal. There was no betrayal from within. It was David and Goliath, with Goliath armed. Norway was doomed. But the heroism of the people was legendary. Armies without ammunition pelted the Nazis with stones. In North Oslo, three bus drivers drove themselves over a precipice one after the other, taking 40 Nazi victims each. The Germans drove their own lorries after that. We have been well informed in this country of the progress of the campaign. The Government was forced to flee: acting on the advice of Parliament, hastily summoned at Elverum. All I (Continued on next page) °

(Continued from previous page) need do is corroborate the official news, which, after all, is also British "Propaganda." It coincides with the views of the Norwegian Government and people. Norway to a man, desires a British victory, a German defeat. The Fleet That Escaped But more than that, Norway is still contributing to that victory. And the figures proving this are sufficiently startling to merit circulation. Let» me quote Benjamin Vogt, for 30 years Ambassador to England, and at present Resident Manager for the Norwegian Shipping and Trade Mission in Canada. "The Norwegian ocean-going fleet ' consisted of 1230 ships of 4.6 million tons gross, a much larger fleet than either the French or German, and half that of the U.S.A. No less than 59 per cent were modern motor vessels, as against 22 per cent and under eight per cent for Great Britain and the US." This is the fleet which Hitler failed to capture! Its administration was carried on by some 500 individual owners and companies with a total staff of nearly 6000 employees, less than one per cent of whom escaped in the blitz capture of the motherland. And this is the fleet which to-day operates as one concern, directly under the Government abroad. To quote further from the same source: "Among the Allies, Norwegian shipsnext to the British themselves-play a preponderating part. It is estimated that up to the end of 1940, Norwegian losses were not far short of half a million tons, which is more than 50 per cent. higher than the aggregate losses of all the other Allies-Holland, Free France, Greece, etc., added together. These losses bear witness not only to the size of the Norwegian fleet-and the Norwegian flag is seen more often in the ports of Great Britain to-day than that of any other foreign nation-but they testify also to the dangers and hazards undertaken wiflingly by Norwegian officers and men." With England avowedly depending on supplies from America, the aid rendered by this fleet and its crew of 30,000 is incalculable. But that isn’t all. In Canada and in Britain thousands of young Norwegians are training in special camps: for the army, the navy and the air force. The photos I have seen, the articles I have read, the seamen I have spoken to, have convinced me beyond doubt that the organised resistance of refugee Governments is not a myth, but something Hitler will one day rue. At home, too, the resistance is stiff and bitter. Sarcasm and sabotage infuriate and embarrass the tyrant. The people are like ice. And I, who have doubted all isms, and especially nationalism, am grown proud that I was once Norwegian and am now British. * e..\a For most of the factual data given, I am indebted to "NORWAY," an illustrated pub+ lication issued by the Norwegian Government Press representatives in the U.S.-A.V.