Norway (one), 1944 by Barbara Wace

Written by Barbara in April 1995:

After the surrender of the Germans in Norway, the Norwegian Government, which had been in exile in Britain during the War, returned home in a liner – I think the Andorra Star. The King and his immediate family went by air and arrived early in the morning after our ship had landed – or perhaps a few days later.

It was a cheerful, friendly voyage with excellent food and service on the ship. The journalists and Norwegian MPs had a good social time and lots to eat and drink. When we landed and the MPs started to walk down the gang plank, they were puzzled by the fact that they were greeted with a good deal of ribald laughter.

When I asked why the Norwegians who had come to meet them were sniggering so, they replied because all the MPs looked so fat.

The Norwegians had been very short of food during the war, and most of them were very thin. Beside them, the MPs and their staff looked comically fat – for British rations, though dull, had been filling and full of starch.