Nordic noir

Anyone mildly interested in the second world war probably knows two things about our wartime alliance with Norway, following its invasion by Germany. One is the great Christmas tree that appears in Trafalgar Square every year, a gift from the Norwegian government in recognition of that alliance. The other is the daring raid to sabotage the Norwegian heavy-water plant essential to the German attempt to build an atomic bomb, an operation subsequently filmed as The Heroes of Telemark.

But few are likely to know that the idea of an annual tree gift probably originated with two Norwegians manning one of the many SIS coast-watching stations in occupied Norway from which German shipping was monitored. The men lived for months in a sheepfold, unable to wash or change their clothes. When exfiltrated to Britain, they were introduced to their exiled monarch, King Haakon, who had asked to meet them as they were, and consequently had to hold his nose while talking to them.