The unknown story of the liberation of Norway – the Germans first surrendered to a group of journalists

Much has been written about the liberation of Norway and the capitulation of the Germans on 8 May 1945.

A lesser-known story, which has not found a place in the history books, is about a group of journalists’ spontaneous trip to Oslo the day before.

At the airport, they got the German commander to capitulate. Then they traveled into a cheering crowd in Oslo. Later, the story is largely forgotten.

Only Norway again

In the first days of May 1945, country after country was liberated. Hitler was dead, Germany was broken.

Famous war correspondents Alan Moorehead and Alexander Clifton had covered the Second World War from start to finish. They had accompanied the Allied forces in battle, defeat and to final victory.

On 7 May 1945, the two Britons had breakfast at a hotel in Copenhagen. There they had reported on the liberation of Denmark two days before.

Now there was only Norway left, they summarized at the breakfast table. But no one they asked in Copenhagen knew anything about the plans for the liberation of Norway. Moorehead tells that in the book Eclipse.

Awaited commission from London

On this day, everyone in Norway was sure of peace and had cautiously started the celebration, but the Germans had still not capitulated. They were to do this to an allied military commission with British and Norwegian officers, which was on its way from London.

The Norwegian government in London had authorized the Home Front to act on their behalf. 40,000 men and women were in the process of taking Norway back, but there were still 350,000 German soldiers in the country.

In Copenhagen, the two journalists found out that they will get the liberation of Norway with them.

They encountered two British pilots with access to aircraft, who liked the plan. The Danish journalist Ebbe Munck and some photographers also joined.

Would the Germans shoot them down?

They took off in glorious sunshine, Moorehead writes in the book Eclipse. They had found a map of Norway and the flight route in a Russian plane.

But the trip was not well planned. Only when they were in the air did they begin to think about the situation they would get into. Had the Allied forces arrived? Had the Germans capitulated? If not, would they shoot at their plane? Would the Germans let the plane land? Would they themselves be arrested?

– It was the worst possible place and time to think about these questions, writes Moorehead, because now they saw the coast of Norway.

– Two Swedish soldiers were also on the plane. I don’t know why, but they fit right in with the craziness of this trip, writes Moorehead.

Found the airport on the third try

They looked out the window. They didn’t see any Norwegian flags flying, but there were no air strikes either.

When they flew over Oslo, they saw that people were out in the streets. After three rounds around the city, they found the airport. It was full of German planes.

– They signaled to us not to land, but the pilot decided to do it anyway, writes Moorehead.

The Germans stared at them as they got out of the plane. The pilots were in blue uniforms, the two Swedes in green, while the journalists were dressed in khaki.

While they were waiting for the airfield commander, three enthusiastic British pilots approached them. They had broken out of a prison camp that morning.

Didn’t want to shake hands with the Nazi

Eventually a German colonel and several officers approached the group of journalists and aircrew. They did the Nazi salute and the colonel wanted to shake hands with the two pilots in uniform.

But they would not greet him. The colonel nevertheless started negotiations in formal terms. Alexander Clifford knew German and took over. He demanded that the Germans surrender to them, writes Moorehead.

The colonel objected that he had been told that a commission was to arrive from London in an entirely different plane, and that the capitulation was to take place at midnight.

– Clifford insisted that they must surrender now and asked the colonel to call his high command, writes Moorehead.

Fornebu capitulated

The colonel still doubted, and he resented the photographers shouting instructions. Clifford threatened to call the High Command himself. Then the German surrendered, and Fornebu was in British, Danish and Swedish hands.

Clifford then asked for three cars. One quickly broke down, but Clifford stopped a car with two German officers and demanded that they drive them to town.

When people in the streets spotted the cars with people in non-German uniforms, they came running.

– We saw a spontaneous, explosive and contagious feeling of happiness, writes Moorehead.

The crowd quickly became difficult to control. German soldiers held people back from the cars.

– Then boys from the home front came to help. Arm in arm with their bitter enemies they managed to clear the way, writes Moorehead.

Hi-yah

They stopped at the Grand hotel. There they were showered with flags and flowers.

– Norwegians have a very special shout of joy. It sounds like hi-yah, writes Moorehead.

At the Grand, they were pushed out onto the balcony towards Karl Johan. A sea of ​​people cheered and waved flags. Then they sang the national anthem.

– The men stood straight, while the women cried, recalls Moorehead.

One of the pilots gave a speech to the people outside. Then everyone gave speeches. The national anthem was sung again, while German soldiers stood around in the crowd.

People poured into the suite at the Grand, presenting flowers and champagne. A drunk man gave his own speech from the balcony. Two from the Home Front appeared, straight from a prison camp.

Those responsible took action

The situation developed quickly, and Moorehead thought they should find some representatives of the authorities who could take the city from the Germans.

Outside, people continued to cheer and shout their weird hi-yah hi-yah. The noise only subsided when we gave speeches, writes Moorehead.

A delegation of responsible persons appeared and told that the Allied Commission was on its way to receive the German capitulation.

– The police chief offered to escort us back to the airport. One of the pilots had his last words to the crowd that we had admired their resilience, writes Moorehead.

A long day

They went back to Fornebu. The colonel had disappeared. The three British pilots were still there and jumped on board.

– Norway was out of the war. We were flying towards a Europe where there was only peace. So many liberations, so many tragedies. We sat back and fell asleep. It had been a long day, writes Moorehead.

The next day, Moorehead writes about the incident in the newspaper he worked for, the Daily Express in London.

In Norway, the journalists’ takeover of Fornebu and triumph over Karl Johan is hardly mentioned. Only Dagbladet and Moss Avis mention the incident. The Danish journalist, Ebbe Munck, says that they were surprised that their plane arrived before the Allied Military Commission. They were even more surprised that the commander at Fornebu thought they were the commission and handed the airport over to them.

Furious Chief of Police

History was perhaps too frivolous in these important days. There was also so much else going on, which was considered more important. There was also a shortage of newsprint.

Historians who have written about the liberation of Norway also do not mention that Fornebu was handed over to civilians and pilots on a spontaneous trip. With the exception of the journalist Alf R. Jacobsen in his book [1945.

He writes that the police chief was furious at the incident and that the British were chased out of Oslo. He did not want Liberation Day to end in farce.

Historian Ole Kristian Grimnes found no room for spontaneous initiatives in his great work about Norway in the Second World War.

Neat process

There, liberation is depicted as an orderly and calm process. The Germans capitulated unconditionally on the night between 8 and 9 May. Vidkun Quisling was arrested together with other leading Norwegian Nazis. The German Reich Commissioner Josef Terboven killed himself, other German officers were arrested and the soldiers were successively sent out of the country.

The government in London and the Home Front leadership in Oslo had planned the transition from war to peace very thoroughly, writes Grimnes.

In that version, Moorehead’s narrative does not fit in well.

Last, brilliant experience

Moorehead’s book Eclipse was published in autumn 1945. It is reviewed in several Norwegian newspapers. Nor is his lift trip to Norway mentioned there, other than in passing.

The end of the book “shows the final stages of Germany’s collapse, the capitulation, the horrors of the concentration camps and the contrasting effect when the author immediately afterwards experiences the liberation of Denmark and Norway,” says Aftenposten’s review on 10/12/1946.

Vårt Land also has a full review of the book. “Denmark and Norway in the frenzy of freedom will be the author’s last glorious experience,” it says.

References:

Alan Moorehead, Eclipse. Penguin Books, 1945 / 2022.

Alf R. Jacobsen, [1945 Hate, revenge, hope. Vega publishing house, 2016.

Ole Kristian Grimnes, Norway during the Second World War, 1939-1945. Aschehoug, 2018.