Ankomst: arrival
Tracing the story of the arrivals of the exiles from Norway is not always easy because of wartime censorship of the press which saw a prohibition on the name of specific places in any report associated with war-related reporting.
The Danish community had, more-or-less, already established itself by the end of May 1940 and remained relatively static save for a small second influx a couple of years later. The Norwegian arrivals continued for many months and that community was much more fluid than the Danish one with some people staying and others just passing through. There are many reports which mention the arrival of refugees from Norway. However, these generally only refer to a 'Northern seaport' or to a 'North-East port'. After careful investigation, it is clear that the 'northern seaport' refers to Lerwick whilst the 'north-east port' refers to Buckie. |
The boats which arrived were very similar to one shown on the right which is of a Norwegian vessel and the photograph is in the collection of Buckie Fishing Heritage Centre..
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The text below, from a report in The Press and Journal on 13 May 1940, recounts one of the earliest arrivals at Buckie. Initially, the had landed in Shetland and then came south to Buckie. In the group were sixteen members of the Norwegian Air Force, six members of the Royal Norwegian Navy, four Germans who had political asylum in Norway before the war and forty British soldiers escaping from the German invasion.
These two reports show escapes to Lerwick in Shetland. Norwegian civilian refugees were generally processed quickly and then despatched to Buckie. Many stayed in the town but others, particularly, professionals who could be of use to the Government-in-Exile, made their way south; others headed to the various bases of the Free Forces, particularly later focused around Dumfries.
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The arrivals steadily continued throughout the summer and autumn of 1940 and although some did risk a winter crossing the numbers declined. However, the spring, summer and autumn of 1941 saw more prepared to take the risk to cross the North Sea. The report to the right, from September 1941, tells of an arrival at Buckie of fourteen men and one woman in a small motor fishing boat. Four of those on-board immediately left Buckie for London. It is interesting to speculate who they and whether they had a particular 'mission' to fulfil. Or were they simply men who wanted to join the free forces. Their names are not recorded but we are continuing to investigate this arrival. |