E
very December, Trafalgar
Square is famously
dominated by a Christmas
tree donated by Norway
in gratitude for Britain’s
help during the war. Indeed, it’s
become such a familiar sight that
the poignant and stirring story
behind it is often forgotten. Now,
the ever-prolific A N Wilson’s latest
book—aimed at “young and old
alike”—gives that story its full due.
He begins on the night of April
8-9, 1940 when Germany launched a
surprise invasion of neutral Norway,
firmly expecting that it would do the
same as other invaded countries:
agree to terms that gave the Nazis
full control. Things didn’t, however,
work out that way. King Haakon
VII and the Norwegian government
managed to escape to Britain
(Haakon’s English wife Maud was
George VI’s aunt). They took with
them not just Norway’s gold reserves
to fund anti-German resistance but,
as Wilson puts it, the idea of Norway
itself. Their country’s merchant navyhelped keep the Allies fed during
the Battle of the Atlantic. Norwegian
commandos fought on too—most
spectacularly by destroying a heavy-
water plant that threatened to lead to
a Nazi atom bomb.
Wilson tells the tales of
derring-do—including the king’sFestive Traditions
BOOKS
The origin of the famous Trafalgar Square Christmas tree
is beautifully drawn in this historical readREADER’S DIGEST RECOMMENDED READ:
124 • DECEMBER 2021