Wilhelm Mohr

PART IV –9April –From
Past to the Future
How can I really do justice to a subject such as this
To the situation we faced on 9 April 1940
To the final result that brought us our freedom back
To the many who did not get to experience this freedom
To those lessons that prevailed, or which perhaps have not prevailed
clearly enough
Of course, I cannot. But then again, I am not a historian. Of course,
I will be subjective. I choose to be subjective.
I need to place myself and provide an overall picture. In the winter
of 1939/1940 I was Deputy Commander of the Reconnaissance Wing
of Trøndelag Air Unit, a lieutenant, 22 years old, and had just finished
basic Flying School and the Army Academy. We were at Værnes.
The Wing numbered nine Fokker aircraft, a model dating from 1924.
Poland had been occupied, and we were patrolling along the Norwegian
coast and territorial waters – in many ways a demanding job
with a single engine and the instruments of those days, and given local
Norwegian winter conditions. However, controlling the shipping was
important and we were a determined crew. The situation in Europe
became gradually worse and involved repercussions for us as well –
brought into focus by the Altmark case.
Were we scared Not really. Fearful, perhaps, if our thoughts went
in that direction. The thought of actual war seemed too unreal. Yet
the war did come, on the night of 9 April 1940. The first task was to
change our aircraft wheels to skis, and then we flew up to Selbu and
thereafter to Aursunden near Røros, while German aircraft flew over
us in a steady stream to where we had come from. The Fokkers were
not much to put up a fight with. The Gladiators at Fornebu were different
– they were fighter aircraft, and the Wing there put up a good
fight.
The flood of rumours was enormous, and already during the same
night Quisling broadcasted his recommendation on the radio. We
heard little from our own side and it was difficult to receive meaningful
contact. I had to take over the Wing as early as the third day. We did
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