Half blinded by the light of the town it was no easy matter to go astern and then swing our stern between unlit reefs in order to turn. Careful forethought, a thorough knowledge of the ship, a stopwatch and a cool nerve will do much, and we were soon heading out of the fjord at high speed.
On the first morning the wife of a distinguished foreigner was wakened by a tap on her cabin door. “Steward,” she demanded, “is that the Steward?” “No mum” was the reply, “It’s a Royal Marine”. While we were at sea His Majesty and the rest of the party took a great interest in the ship and everyone in her. There were few places that were not fully explored. We did our best to fix them up with clothing and the Purser’s slop chest did a roaring trade.
One small difficulty arose in obtaining a pair of cufflinks for the King, as we knew he wouldn’t accept any of ours. However, the Commander’s servant was sent to the ship’s bookstall to see if they had any in stock. The most expensive variety cost sixpence, but with an eye to the next audit, the custodian would not hand them over on the security of several million pounds of gold and it had to be made quite clear who was actually paying for them.
The trip north was uneventful; the only stipulation about landing the party, once the approximate locality had been agreed upon, was that it should be conducted secretly. This was to avoid drawing the enemy bombers, should the King’s presence become known.
In consequence, our aircraft [Walrus] was flown into Tromso to make arrangements with the British Consul. That evening we steamed slowly into a narrow and deserted fjord. Snow was right down to the water’s edge and there wasn’t a breath of wind stirring. Then round the corner came a tiny tug to take off the King and a small party. Although late at night, it was quite light and with every officer and man lining the ship’s side, in the silence he had specially asked for, the King returned again to share the sufferings of his country.
When the King was about to depart Glasgow Captain Pegram asked the King if the Ships Company might give him three cheers. The King replied “No Captain, it is not good for a King to break down in tears at a time like this.”
Norway’s Prime Minister at the time, Johan Nygaardsvold, was also in Molde on that fateful occasion and later wrote:136
We drove through burnt-down areas … and through areas where houses were still on fire, where sparks were flying and the heat was almost unbearable. … At last we reached the quays, the whole area ablaze. The British cruiser “Glasgow”, a big one weighing 11,000 tons, had all her fire hoses working, pouring Niagara-like cascades of water over the quays. Sheltered by these cascades we boarded the cruiser. Shortly after we had boarded, but before our luggage had been loaded, German planes appeared over Molde, heading directly toward the ‘Glasgow’. We were ordered below deck, while air defence guns opened fire. The cruiser immediately cast off, heading for the open sea.
Picture postcard – photographer unknown. King Haakon and Crown Prince Olav aboard HMS Glasgow sailing north after their rescue from Molde. In the distance an escorting destroyer can be seen.
The Norwegian Foreign Secretary, Halvdan Koht had also managed to make his way to Molde and later wrote describing his experiences:137
While the fire spread across the pier, the men worked hard to bring the gold from Norges Bank on-board Glasgow. At one stage, one of the small kegs containing the gold broke open and the bullions rolled across the deck. Everybody scrambled to retrieve them, but not a single krone was lost. Soon it was impossible to continue the work, and the ship had to cast off before all the gold had been taken on-board.
Many of the sailors and marines on Glasgow also wrote of their experiences and these stories give a vivid and striking insight on the conditions and what the men witnessed. The stories describe how the bullion was loaded onto Glasgow and these accounts differ in great detail from that of Fredrik Haslund, leader of the gold transport. It is worth remembering that chaos, upheaval and disorder ruled in Molde during that dramatic period and understandably accounts vary. Many of those aboard Glasgow were ‘Boy Seamen’ and Molde was their first real experience of war and its consequences. These are their stories.
Tom Morton RN had just come off watch in the engine room:138
…the ship was at ‘general quarters’ and you could see Molde all in flames and still being bombed. When we tied up alongside the jetty everyone that wasn’t on watch or manning the guns was sent ashore to bring the King and Crown Prince and also the other people that were travelling with them. We were then busy getting the gold onboard the Germans were still bombing the town and we were very lucky not to be hit. I know we left there in a great hurry and took half of the jetty with us.
Don Edwards RN:139
At the time I was at Molde I was a 16 year old ‘Boy Seaman’ getting my first taste of real war aboard HMS Glasgow. The thing I remember most is the heat from the burning town and the sad sight of the hospital near the shore with large red crosses painted on the roof a mass of flame. I was to learn later that hospitals and hospital ships were not spared. Also the incendiary bombs on the burning jetty re-ignited after being sprayed by high-pressure hoses. Buckets of sand were more effective. We landed King Haakon at Tromso [sic] with his government. He hoped to carry on the war from the far north.
Reg Samways RN:
My most vivid memory was seeing the final moments of the church burning fiercely, it was such a sad sight and I watched it collapse, the memory of that has stayed with me.
John Kelleher RN:140
I was a ‘regular’, having joined the Royal Navy at 15 (with my mother’s permission) as an Artificer Apprentice. I finished my apprenticeship abruptly in September 1939 and went on to further training at HMS Vernon. In April 1940 I was available for sea service and drafted to HMS Glasgow, which was in Scapa Flow. We put to sea heading for Norway and came under attack from Heinkel bombers. A bugle call over the tannoy sent us to ‘Action Stations’. My rig for ‘Action Stations’ was a pair of overalls, tin hat, inflatable tube (in lieu of lifejacket), a gas mask and a bag of tools. My station was beside a main dynamo in the engine room so I had little chance of witnessing the action. All I got was hearing some thumps from time to time. It was about now at the age of twenty that it began to dawn on me that this was not some sort of game or practice. Those buggers were trying to kill me! Anyway, they missed.’
We approached Molde with our accompanying destroyer at night and saw that the town was completely engulfed in fire including the jetty. We had to put the fire out on the jetty before we could get alongside. The VIPs were some distance away to the northeast and would have to run the gauntlet of flames and constant air attack by incendiaries. Eventually, at about 9:30pm, they bundled into several cars and sped through the town. At 10:35pm King Haakon, the Crown Prince Olaf, members of the Norwegian Government, the British, Polish, Danish and French Ministers and staff embarked on HMS Glasgow. Also there were 117 survivors from 6 sunken trawlers, 17 officers and men from the Royal Artillery and most of the base staff at Molde, which included 18 injured. Shortly afterwards the gold arrived in the trucks and the loading on to the ship began. Captain Pegram was anxious to get his ship well clear before dawn so the slow and difficult task of loading was terminated after 23 tons had been stowed in the magazines and HMS Glasgow departed about 1am on April 30th. During this time there were constant air attacks by enemy aircraft and these continued on our way down the fjord. We sailed north and disembarked the ‘Royals’ and government inconspicuously near Tromso [sic].
Bill Watts RN:141
…on 28th April, a Sunday, we had arrived in Scapa Flow…hoping for a few days break, when we got a panic call to put to sea and head for Norway. Monday was a beautiful sunny day, ideal for German airplanes to attack, which they did almost all day, until we headed into the fjord for Molde. At this stage we knew we were on an important mission, but as sailors we had no idea what it was to be. From several miles down the fjord we could see a tremendous fire and as we approached Molde we realised virtually the whole tow
n was burning. We went alongside a wooden jetty that was burning at one end and noted a line of trucks and cars waiting on the dockside… the trucks contained the whole of the Norwegian Treasury gold. The moment the gangway was down we started to load the gold. It was stacked everywhere, along passages and every spare space at deck level; the King and his staff were taken on board, when, whoosh, out from the flames came a German aircraft…then just as quickly he had gone over the top [of the ship] and disappeared. That was taken as a signal to get the hell out of there, going full astern, taking half the jetty with us, we headed back down the fjord. We then headed north…
Cyril Milner RN:142
I joined HMS Glasgow along with the rest of 46 class from HMS Vincent via HMS Iron Duke on September 6th 1938. I did a couple of weeks exercising with the Mediterranean Fleet before returning home to prepare to escort the King and Queen to Canada and America. We were allowed ashore until 10:30 pm (we were still only boys). It was a very interesting time for us, but it was a rough passage and most of were seasick. Back home, war clouds were looming, all was happening in the North Sea before and after September 3rd 1939 mainly looking and searching for the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. Fortunately, we couldn’t locate them! We docked at Rosyth and embarked the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry and the Sherwood Foresters, but only got under the Forth Bridge when we turned back as the Germans invaded the very ports where we were taking the army! We set sail again and I should imagine that about 75% of the ship’s company was landed at Namsos – it was 20F, snowing and very chilly! Didn’t stay long, thankfully and was returned to HMS Glasgow via HMS Matabele. Later, we were back in the North Sea and heading for a place called Molde, although nobody below decks knew what we were up to, but it didn’t take long for us to find out as when we got to Molde the place was well on fire. We managed to get alongside and the lower deck was cleared to load the gold and silver onboard. I can still remember those boxes of gold were heavy. King Haakon, I am almost sure, was standing on the Quarter Deck. Was he encouraging us? We were all running flat out back and fore. German planes overhead, did I imagine the machine gunning? Things were heating up and with the King and the Norwegian government onboard; we proceeded stern first (no room to turn around) and out towards the North Sea transferring the King to another ship, which took him right up North Norway.
J McBride RM:143
It was Easter 1940 and we knew the Germans were going to attack Norway so we were spending a lot of time off the Norwegian coast. Norway was invaded on April 9th so a ‘Glasgow’ marine detachment was landed and spent a couple of days in the Namsos area until the British Army arrived and relieved, whereupon they rejoined the ship. HMS Glasgow was then with her sister ships off the Norwegian coast in the thick of things with incessant attacks from dive-bombers. ‘Glasgow’ was hit with one large bomb, which damaged her severely structurally, but did not impair her fighting efficiency and speed though she had a number of casualties. ‘Glasgow’ returned to Scapa Flow with her casualties and to refuel and to Rosyth, Scotland to embark a battalion of soldiers for Norway. To supplement Glasgow’s short-range protection two Oerlikons (AA guns) were issued. These were a welcome addition to the armoury. The Oerlikons were bolted to the deck each side of the ship, just forward of ‘X’ Turret. Two men manned the guns…Colour Sergeant Halford manned the Starboard gun and I was fortunate enough to man the Port gun.
HMS Glasgow was tasked with patrolling the Norwegian coast: it was a clear day, the hills and mountains clearly visible. From one of the hills a thick column of smoke was rising very much like a volcano. From the ship’s loud speakers came “Do you hear there? The Captain speaking”; the ship’s company all ears. He told us that the smoking town was Molde, which had been heavily bombed for a few days. He told us that after dark Glasgow was to enter the long fjord by which Molde was reached and that King Haakon, Crown Prince Olaf, ladies and gentlemen of the Norwegian government and the Norwegian gold reserves were to be evacuated from Molde. It was soon dark and we entered the fjord unseen. Dark though the fjord was as we crept along there was no doubt where Molde was with the sky lit up. We reached the long, high wooden jetty of Molde. Glasgow already had hoses rigged as the ship went alongside slowly. The hoses were played on the burning and smouldering jetty and soon had the fires under control. As all warships did, we carried a quantity of sturdy timber planks for damage and repair purposes. These planks were run out over the port side of the ship onto the jetty and so made a number of gangways. By now on the jetty had appeared from the shadows and smoke a number of people headed by King Haakon and Crown Prince Olaf – who wore a grey uniform shorn of any trimmings now came onboard to be greeted by the Captain and officers who escorted them to the wardroom and cabins which Glasgow officers had vacated. Orders were given for the ship’s company to fall out from action stations and for every man to make way for the improvised gangways port side. The only exception to this order was that Colour Sergeant Halford and I were to remain with the Oerlikons – Halford to Starboard and me to Port. We were told to take the magazines off and not to fire them without direct orders and so I remained a spectator.
The men were by then streaming down the gangways to the jetty, all ranks and ratings and branches. The first of them were soon making the return trip with each humping a box of bullion, some finding it easy, others making hard work of it. The boxes were quite small and white, but obviously heavy. These were dumped on Glasgow’s Quarter Deck. It all soon evolved as a couple of long queues one going in one returning. I had a bird’s eye view of the proceedings, but could not see the gold dump, what with smoke and darkness and I never got the opportunity to step ashore and see. An hour or two later I could see the clumps on the Quarter Deck as they rose higher than the intervening gun turrets etc. I must digress a moment to give my impression of the scene.
The smoke was rising to high overhead and so left the ship clear. As it rose from the ship we could see the hill, which was Molde. I believe the town was made mostly of wood every building appeared on fire including the church, which I could clearly see ablaze. I saw the church steeple topple. Outside the little town I could see snow covered hillocks and the trees on fire, all looked very much like snow lit up by the flames.
The noise was intense. We were so near the crackle of burning and the crashes as a building fell and lit up everything around it again and again so vividly, we seemed to be in a world of our own for looking to starboard was complete darkness within a few feet. The sky above us and the town was red and fortunately, as I have said, the smoke rose high above it drifted over we felt to be in a world of our own; an eerie experience and ones thoughts were however could the Germans do this to an unarmed little town and country like Norway. Early on in the proceedings a gent spoke to me (one of those I suspected were part of the Norwegian government) a group of them had asked directions. His English appeared to be very poor, but I was struck by his appearance and personality. When he passed on I asked another of the group who he was, “who was that”? He answered. “That is Professor Koht, the Foreign Secretary”.
The guests, except for one, soon settled down in their cabins and wardrooms. That one exception was King Haakon. He passed and re-passed several times and each time acknowledged me with a nod and a little smile. He was very restless and spent most of his time walking round the decks. I noticed that interspersed with the boxes were small casks, these appeared much heavier than the boxes.
Later, I was present when a discussion took place amongst some of our chaps about the weights. They came to the conclusion the boxes were approximately 80lbs and the casks 150lbs. However, the hours passed and it was now the early hours of the morning and humping had gone on without pause. Alone, I kept my vigil. Then I heard the faint noise of aircraft and started to get a little worried. It must be Germans; we didn’t see British planes over there. This was obviously a bomber. I had had strict instructions not to open fire without orders and here I am with no one around to give me orders and this plane getting nearer.
Well, I put the magazine on and manned the gun. I was now very worried as the plane was not very far away and heading for us. The magazine was on and I moved over to clip the harness belt on when Colour Sergeant Halford appears from nowhere and beats me to the belt and clips it on and I’m thinking you dirty lousy bastard, what’s wrong with your bloody gun. Bored with standing by his gun over the Starboard side of the ship he had strayed over to the Port side somewhere to watch the goings on and had been caught napping. Well, I thought it was too late for me to go over and man his gun. Indeed, I could now see the bomber against the red and smoke of the sky, but sufficiently high to be seen to be moving slowly and ponderously towards our stern and to pass from stern to bow. I could see the swastikas plainly. Halford opened up two good bursts right into his (the plane’s) belly. The third long burst emptied the magazine and the plane turned away to Starboard. Halford put a fresh magazine on the gun.
The bomber was by now lost in the darkness and nothing happened, yet I swear every round had been a hit. I saw the tracers going in and a little shower of sparks as the cannon shells struck. The seconds ticking away and all was quiet except for the fires there might never have been an enemy bomber around and then there was an almighty explosion and for a few seconds the fjord was lit as bright as daylight and there was just one large blaze and down it came to the water half a mile to a mile away perhaps, and the water was on fire.
Action Stations had just sounded; very obviously this was no place for Glasgow. The men were tumbling aboard as fast as they could and mooring lines were being slipped and engines started. Sod our makeshift gangways; get out while the going’s good, also signs of dawn breaking. I never went so fast astern in all my career when we reached the open sea we carried on full speed astern for another twenty miles before easing up to change to moving ahead.
Gold Run: The Rescue of Norway’s Gold Bullion from the Nazis, 1940 Page 17
