“What is it, Ainsworth?” he called, raising his eyebrows as Rob waved his arms to get him to hurry.
“They’ve invaded Denmark and Norway!” Rob called back. “The Germans are finally on the move!”
The amusement disappeared and Miles stared at him, dumbfounded.
“What?”
“Denmark and Norway,” Rob repeated as Miles drew closer. “Jerry invaded them this morning! It’s all over the wireless.”
Miles quickened his pace. “When?”
“At dawn.” Rob turned and went towards the dispersal hut, increasing his pace to match Miles’ long stride. “They hit both Denmark and Norway. Denmark surrendered immediately.”
“And Norway?”
“The news is just coming on now. Come and hear for yourself.”
Miles nodded and pulled off his flying gloves as he followed Rob into the hut. The rest of the squadron was there already, sprawled in the available chairs. Someone had brought in a wireless radio and hooked it up at the back, turning the volume up loud enough for them all to hear. Miles nodded in greeting to the dispersal sergeant and leaned against the wall just inside the door as the BBC news program began.
“This is a special broadcast of the BBC Home Service. German forces invaded Denmark and Norway early this morning, taking the northern countries by surprise. At 5:20 this morning, German envoys in Oslo and Copenhagen presented the Norwegian and Danish governments with an ultimatum, demanding that they immediately accept the protection of the Reich or be prepared to go to war with Germany. The ultimatum was accompanied by an invasion force of German troops. Denmark agreed to surrender immediately, allowing German forces to proceed into the country unopposed. In Oslo, Norwegian Foreign Affairs Minister Halvdan Koht returned the following reply: “We will not submit voluntarily. The struggle is already underway.” An hour before the ultimatum was handed to the Norwegian government, a German cruiser carrying invasion troops was hit and sunk in the Oslofjord by Norwegian defenses. German troops are landing in Norway, while the Luftwaffe is bombing strategic targets ahead of the advancing troops. The harbor towns of Stavanger, Bergen, Trondheim and Narvik are all involved in the fighting, in addition to Oslo. Norwegian King Haakon and his entire government has escaped Oslo while Norwegian forces try to repel the invading forces.”
Miles glanced at Rob to find him staring at the floor while he listened, his lips pressed together.
“So that’s that, then,” said Slippy, one of the pilots closest to the wireless set, when the news had ended. “Hitler went after Norway. Here we all thought he was going to go into Belgium and Holland.”
“Oh, he will, don’t worry,” Rob said, lifting his head. “This is just the beginning.”
“What’s Jerry want with Norway?” Hampton drawled from near the window. “Aside from snow, what have the Norwegians got?”
“A way to get iron,” Miles said. “Jerry gets his iron from Sweden, and trains carry it through Norway when the ports in Sweden freeze over in the winter.”
Slippy tilted his head and looked at Miles. “How do you know that?”
“I pay attention to world affairs.”
“Rotten luck for the Norwegians,” Slippy muttered. “All of that for some iron that’s not even theirs?”
“Why is everyone crammed in here?” An American voice interrupted and Miles turned to watch Chris step into the hut. “What’s going on?”
“Germany’s gone and invaded Denmark and Norway,” Miles told him, turning to leave the overcrowded hut. “The others will fill you in.”
He stepped outside and looked up at the clear blue sky, exhaling.
“Strange to think that while it’s such a peaceful, perfect day here, the Germans are overrunning Norway further north,” Rob said, joining him outside. “It doesn’t seem real, somehow.”
“Just as it didn’t seem real when they did it to Poland?”
“Exactly.” Rob shrugged. “Even though that’s what started all this off, Poland seemed very far away. So does Norway.”
“I don’t suppose it feels far away to them,” Miles said, turning to start the long walk back to the main buildings of the airfield. Rob fell into step beside him and they trudged through the grass together, their hands in their pockets. “Just yesterday they were making a fuss over us dropping mines in their neutral waters. Perhaps if we’d done it sooner, they wouldn’t be facing the Germans right now.”
“Hitler really doesn’t give a fig for international laws or neutrality, does he?” Rob said disgustedly after a moment. “Both Denmark and Norway had no intention of getting drawn into this war. Why not just let them be?”
Miles glanced at him. “Do you really think he ever had any intention of stopping with Poland?” he demanded. “Hitler has always wanted only one thing: to dominate Europe. Poland was only the beginning.”
“I suppose so. I did rather hope that it would all fizzle out, to be honest. Of course, I knew it was unlikely, but there you are.” Rob threw his head back and looked up at the sky. “At least now all this damn waiting will be over. I don’t know which is worse, waiting for the storm to break or the storm itself.”
“We won’t have to wait long for the storm,” Miles predicted. “Hitler will move towards Belgium and Holland. Norway does surprise me, but only because of the timing. I really expected him to attack the west first.”
“Obviously so did the Norwegians. Do you think they can win?”
“I have no idea. I know if they don’t, it will give Hitler a huge advantage in the Atlantic, as well as uninterrupted access to supplies and materials that Germany can’t produce itself.” He shook his head. “We’ll have to send troops to help them. I just hope they’re not too late.”
“You think Chamberlain will commit to fighting in Norway?” Rob asked skeptically. “He didn’t commit to helping Finland.”
“Finland wasn’t as strategically important. I don’t doubt that Chamberlain would love to simply ignore Norway, but he won’t be able to. There’s too much at stake. He
