Article: 'Daring war-time escapes recorded'

The Shetland Times, 8th November 2024

Brave voyages of Norwegians who fled to Scotland during Second World War

The Sunday Post

As featured in the article: 'Book launched telling Scottish-Norwegian wartime stories

The Courier and Advertiser

‘These remarkable stories of bravery and resilience in the face of Nazi oppression are brought to life on the pages of Andrew Orr's book. The Norwegians who crossed the North Sea in small boats to join the Allied cause remind us of the Viking spirit, invoked in the cause of freedom, and we would do well to celebrate that today.’

Magnus Linklater CBE, FRSE, columnist and former Scotland Editor of The Times

Viking voyages of Norwegians who fled the Nazis

The Times

‘This is a fascinating read with true stories and attention to detail that show utter respect for known and so many unknown heroes. The fleeing Vikings were warmly welcomed by the Scottish people, with a Scottish-Norwegian Society being formed in Dumfries as early as 1941. These strong bonds of friendship are still celebrated
every year’.

Garry Irvine BSc., President of the Scottish Norwegian Society, Glasgow

‘Andrew Orr has collected a vast amount of information on civilians who escaped the Nazi occupation of Norway in often dangerous voyages across the North Sea.These inspiring events deserve to be known more widely, and many of the stories are told together for the first time in English here. The bravery shown by these refugees will now be remembered even more vividly on the western shores of the North Sea in a book that is both gripping and full of poignancy’.

Dr Guy Puzey, Senior Lecturer in Scandinavian Studies, University of Edinburgh

‘This is an important work in several ways. Gathering all the information about individual civilians who crossed the North Sea in small boats is a great achievement in itself and there is much to learn in how this story is seen from a British perspective. It shows the importance of having a friendly and welcoming nation across the sea and how civilians risked their lives to secure the freedom which most of us take for granted today.’

Dr Bjørn Tore Rosendahl and Simen Zernichow, The Centre for the History of Seafarers at War, ARKIVET Peace and Human Rights Centre, Norway

‘The Flight of the Vikings gives exciting new life to the history of this important episode of Norwegian history and the extraordinary bravery of its young people.'

Siri Holm Lawson, Royal Norwegian Order of Merit, founder and editor of Warsailors.com

‘In this meticulous and fascinating book Andrew Orr has captured such an important slice of both Scottish and Norwegian history. These aren’t just stories of Nordic bravery and incredible survival; they are stories of the importance of a Scottish welcome on a pebbly beach or in a chilly harbour.’

Fi Glover, award-winning radio presenter, writer & journalist

‘Andrew Orr's superbly researched account evokes the spirit of the Vikings as Nazi Germany tightened its grip on war-torn Norway during WW2.’

Paul Murton, historian, author, TV writer and presenter

‘The Flight of the Vikings is beautifully written. It is also a detective story. Andrew Orr has tracked down hundreds of forgotten stories of escape from occupied Norway, and tells them with brio and an empathy born of his own experience of the North Sea’

Professor Sir Hew Strachan CVO, FRSE, FRHistS, FBA, professor of international relations at the University of St Andrews

‘Norway and Scotland are separated by 400 miles of the grey North Sea and it is across its desolate wastes that Andrew Orr has set this fascinating story of an enduring friendship between seafaring folk who refused to be dominated by the hateful oppression of Nazism during World War Two. The result is at once a triumph and a tribute to the unconquerable strength of the human spirit.’

Trevor Royle FRSE, historian, author, columnist and broadcaster