Scandinavian Reading Room
When the Norwegian Government in Exile began to acquire properties in Buckie, Kintrae at 39 East Church Street was one of the first to be taken. It was rented on a long-term release from Mrs Nellie Clark (the widow of Clark the Photographer in Low Street).
The initial intention was for Kintrae to serve as the Norwegian Consulate and, indeed, the house served this purpose through until 1946 under first Gustav Puntervold and then Sverre Brosvik. It also served as the Norwegian Fisheries Office under Thor Iversen. In due course one of the front rooms was turned into the Scandinavian Reading Room and then this later moved across the road to the same building as the Norwegian Seaman's Mission (where Hydro Electric later had its store). The facility open to all Danish, Norwegian and Swedish people in the town, whether resident or just passing through. |
Kintrae, 39 East Church Street, as it looks now.
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Norwegians outside the Leseværelse on East Church Street. The signwriter, in common with most of Buckie, could not do the Æ character which was rendered universally as E in Buckie.
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Books, newspapers and periodicals were sought from all kinds of sources with the Government in Exile making efforts to obtain materials from an allied shipping coming to British ports. The library services in Banffshire and Aberdeenshire also played their part.
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The Scandinavian Reading Room and Social Club in Broad Street, Aberdeen, run by the Swedish Pastor Gösta Nordin was an important source of materials and a circulation system existed between the Buckie and Aberdeen reading rooms.
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Crowds of Norwegians and locals gather outside the Consulate awaiting the arrival of King Haakon and Crown Prince Olav, 10 July 1943.
Norsk Tidend
Norsk Tidend var under andre verdenskrig informasjonsavisa til den norske eksilregjeringa i London. Avisa ble utgitt to ganger i uka fra 30. august 1940 til 23. mai 1945, bare med et opphold da trykkeriet ble bombet. Avisa ble først utgitt av Utenriksdepartementet, men ble overført til regjeringas informasjonskontor i oktober 1940. Redaktører var først Jacob Vidnes (august-oktober 1940), så Sigvard Andreas Friid (1940–1942) og til sist Jonas Schanche Jonasen (1942–1945). Blant andre Arne Skouen bidro under navnet Bjørn Stallare med skildringer fra det okkuperte Oslo. Blant andre var Albert Henrik Mohn journalist. Og Pedro (Salo Grenning) var avistegner i avisen i perioden 1944-45.
Norsk Tidend was the official information digest and newspaper of the Norwegian Government-in-Exile in London during the Second World War. It was produced twice week between August 1940 and May 1945 and was widely distributed across the country to exiled Norwegians. It drew heavily on material and information smuggled out but also, crucially, on the press in neutral Sweden. The reading room in Buckie would always be busy on days when Norsk Tidend was delivered.
Norsk Tidend was the official information digest and newspaper of the Norwegian Government-in-Exile in London during the Second World War. It was produced twice week between August 1940 and May 1945 and was widely distributed across the country to exiled Norwegians. It drew heavily on material and information smuggled out but also, crucially, on the press in neutral Sweden. The reading room in Buckie would always be busy on days when Norsk Tidend was delivered.
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Download the first edition of Norsk Tidend here
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Much of the material came from Sweden because of its neutral status but publications smuggled out of either Denmark or Norway were highly prized.
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HM King Haakon VII with Norwegian children in the Reading Room on 10 July 1943.
Books and magazines, periodicals and newspapers were sought from every conceivable place and location and they soon came pouring in. Enough arrived for a manager of the reading room to be appointed. 
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De Frie Danske, published by the Danish Council in London, was another important publication. Its arrival was as eagerly anticipated by Danes in Buckie as Norsk Tidend's arrival was by the Norwegian community.
And finally....
DANMARK ER FRIT | NORGE ER FRITT
