Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaeger
Kai do you have anything more on that bit? My grandfather was a Hegra and they had a few Winter War veterans there (including a Swede), I was wondering what route the Brits would have had through Norway. It would have been easier to have gotten through from Sweden.
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The men wishing to return home via Norway left Lapua on 7th April.
They were to embark on SS Bessheim at Oslo. There were 64 of them.
Everything went well until April 9th at Charlottenburg , Sweden,when they heard rumours of a German invasion of Norway.
When the train was 10km from Olso a German bomber flew over it but didn't attack.
After 1/2 hour the train moved on to Oslo. The men went to the City Hotel.
Had a meal and went for a walk. They found the Germans had taken the Post Office, opposite the Hotel.
They consulted the Finnish Legation in oslo who bought them tickets to Stockholm.
On 10th April , 45 of the volunteers arrived back at Charlottenburg, Sweden.
Ten men remained in Oslo, hoping to meet up with the British Armed Forces.
A further head count and the amount of Volunteers in Norway was 19.
The ten in Oslo were taken prison by the Germans who acused them of being British soldiers waiting to commit sabotage and were only pretending to be volunteers for Finland.
The other nine got away.
Three men hitch-hiked to Andalsnes and got on a British Warship.
Another fought his way past a german patrol and got a ship at Alesund.
Five others were able to slip into Sweden.
By June 1942 there were no British Volunteers left in Finland.