Tony Insall on Norway and Secret Ops
Today, former British Foreign and Commonwealth officer Tony Insall discussed Norwegian-British intelligence operations. After learning Norway was essentially part of Denmark for 300 years, we accelerated to May 1945. During Norway's five years of German occupation beginning April 9, 1940, British (SIS) and Norwegian intelligence agencies worked closely together. Such covert operations allowed Norwegians to maintain allegiance to non-German influences despite occupation.
During German occupation, Norway lost access to regular shipping routes but still managed to remove and transport nearly 50 tonnes of its gold, almost all of it to Britain. Most of that gold was shipped again to Canada and USA for safekeeping.
Other than gold, how did Norway fund its resistance? Naval importance and concomitant trade agreements clearly played outsized roles, as Britain's wartime shipping needs aligned with Norway's merchant fleet availability. While exiled in Britain, Norway's pre-occupation government/royalty assigned a large part of their merchant fleet to the British in April 1940. In contrast to most other exiled governments, receipts from these charters gave the Norwegian government a considerable degree of independence, though about half of Norway's fleet was eventually lost to German submarine and other attacks. Consequently, Norway was never truly independent until the end of WWII, but its government-in-exile still managed to negotiate shipping deals that provided funding and thus a measure of loyalty.
Interested in more information on WWII Norwegian-British relations? Insall's book, Secret Alliances (2020), may be your best bet.
© Matthew Mehdi Rafat (July 13, 2021)
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