[FONT="]Review of Oluf Reed Olsen ”Two eggs on my plate” © 1954 Odhams, translated from the Norwegian by F H Lyon. Hard back, 287 pages, b/w illustrations[/FONT] [FONT="]This book is a merged and abridged version of the two-volume autobiography in Norwegian “Vi kommer igjen” (= “We will be back”), 1945 and “Contact”, 1946.[/FONT] [FONT="]The title reflects the tradition for secret agents waiting in the UK for their insertion: For supper on the night when their operation had turned up on the schedule, they were served the ”Operational egg”: Two fine fresh eggs.[/FONT] [FONT="]Summary of story[/FONT] [FONT="]Oluf Reed Olsen was born in 1918, and in 1940 he was training to be a pilot with a civilian airline in Norway.[/FONT] [FONT="]During the weks following the German invasion, he and a friend performed some sabotage and intelligence-gathering actions. While trying to steal communications equipment off a Heinkel 111, after having climbed the fence, they were caught. During the transport to Oslo for interrogation they attacked their guards, doveinto an ice-cold river and managed to get away.[/FONT] [FONT="]They decided it was time to get over to the UK. In a badly leaking eighteen-foot half-decker sailing boat with a total crew of three they made a remarkable escape over the North Sea. They were within a few miles of the Scottish coast and had been spotted by an Avro Anson when a full westerly gale put them on drift eastwards for six days with a broken tiller, the seas rushing over them and the leaks constantly worsening. When they were right under the coast of Denmark the possibility of going ashore and giving themselves up, was discussed. The decision was however unanimous: “Either down to a home in the North Sea, or England!” The wind had now turned to a more northerly direction and after two more days the gale force at last diminished.After fourteen days in the sea they were approaching the Thames Estuary and were spotted by a sea plane and picked up by the destroyer HMS Bedouin. The storm they had survived in the North Sea had taken many lives. The comment from a surviving aircrew member also picked up by HMS Bedouin is quite telling: “There must have been someone holding the tiller for you in that gale!”[/FONT] [FONT="]After landing in Scotland in October 1940, Reed Olsen was sent to the Norwegian flying training camp “Little Norway” in Toronto to complete his pilot training. In1941- 42 he served with the Norwegian 330 Squadron with Northrop P-3Bs performing convoy escort out of Iceland. (Please refer to my post in the thread “RAF Reykjavik PICS” elsewhere on the forum.) This part of the story is however omitted from the English version of the book.[/FONT] [FONT="]Losses were high; due to enemy activity, weather conditions and the risk inherent in operating single-engine aircraft far out at sea. When the squadron was moved to Shetland to operate Short Sunderlands, Reed Olsen accepted an offer to be trained as an agent for the SIS. He was dropped over Norway by parachute in April 1943 tasked to gather intelligence from the south coast to pass on by radio to England. He formed the intelligence group “Aquila”, built up a comprehensive net of contacts and operated radio bases in several locations. From one of the positions they had complete surveillance of all shipping in and out of the Kristiansand harbour. Allied bombing attacks on outbound convoys relied on their position reports sent every 30 minutes. The first attack on the Tirpitz with mini-submarines was based on information on anti-submarine net barrages, obtained by Reed Olsen’s group. They also sent detailed weather observations, crucial for the planning of allied bombing operations over Norway and even the rest of Europe. In the last months of the war, Reed Olsen’s group had access to shipping information, political documents from the Department of Justice, secret plans for new fortifications, secret maritime constructions and invasion plans.[/FONT] [FONT="]On a number of occasions Reed Olsen had close calls with the Germans, who were constantly trying to get a fix on his radio stations. These had to be moved all the time. On one occasion his team was attacked and taken under fire by German Mountain Troops, but managed to hide their equipment and escape.[/FONT] [FONT="]Reed Olsen’s success depended on his skill to remain hidden and to maintain a reliable network of contacts to feed him information. This was the key success factor for many agents: Good training, meticulous preparations and a high level of readiness. He was constantly stopped at control posts, but got away by bluff, luck and nerves of steel. [/FONT] [FONT="]For his achievements he was decorated with the DSC, and the Norwegian decorations The War Cross with one sword, The War Medal, King Haakon VII’s medal and the Medal of Participation. He died in 2002.[/FONT] [FONT="]For personal reasons I am unable to provide a balanced opinion. I however feel that he would have deserved greater fame in post-war Norway than he in fact did, more on the level of national icons like Max Manus, whose operations often were spectacular, but probably more of a moral than tactical value. Reed Olsen’s work was very important to the allies and he took great risks and showed excellent skills.[/FONT] [FONT="]In January 2010 the IWM in London had a separate exhibition on Reed Olsen:[/FONT] [FONT="]Evaluation of the book[/FONT] [FONT="]The Norwegian original, which I have read a number of times, is well-written, and however full of details, the story is so exciting that it never gets boring. The constant stress of risking capture by the Nazis, ensuing torture and – at best – being shot as spies - is transmitted to the reader and adds to the suspense. The language is colourful, and written directly after the war, the author’s characteristic of Norwegian collaborators stands out as rather harsh. The English translation seems OK. It has a good pace and is easy to read. Understanding the reasons for shortening the story to press it into one volume, I nevertheless feel it’s a pity to have lost the tale of the birth of 330 (N) squadron and what it endured in Iceland.[/FONT] [FONT="]Conclusion[/FONT] [FONT="]I recommend the book to anyone who is interested in SIS in Nazi-occupied Europe. To my knowledge not many books on this kind of operations outside mainland Europe are available in English.[/FONT]
I agree, Stormbird, it is a good read (tho' I have only read the somewhat abridged English translation) on what is a niche subject & a snip at a few quid on Abebooks.
Stormbird Thanks for the review its one for the to get list, its an area thats neglected in most ww2 literature the Norwegian occupation apart from the Telmark operation.
Thank you Oldman. There is a well of literature on this in Norwegian of course but not many titles available in English. I'm currently working on a review of David Howarth: We die alone. It will either be finished and posted today or will have to wait for a week or so. I also have a few titles in English on the Oslo sabotage group but they are sitting on my bookshelf approximately a continent away from this desert...B)
