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The Few

"Never before have so few done so much to so many" were the words of Winston Churchill in the fall of 1940. Insprired, proud and forever grateful for what a few hundred boys, with the average age of 20 years, did in defence of Britain against the Luftwaffe and Nazi Germany. Without the boys of the RAF, Great Britain would had been wide open for an invasion. Now, 70 years later, few groups of people are put higher than "The few" in the UK. Norway has it's "few" as well. The boys that met the German invasion over Norway on the 9th of april 1940. To a much larger extent, they have been forgotten by the people of Norway.

During the early morning of 9th of April, six Norwegian pilots met a far superior invasion fleet of German aeroplanes. They encountered them west of Nesoddlandet, and threw themselves bravely into the fight.

Norways boys isn't named Douglas Bader, Robert Stanford Tuck or "Sailor" Malan. Their names are Rolf Torbjørn Tradin, Per Waaler, Finn Thorsager, Kristian Fredrik Schye, Dag Krohn and Arve Braathen. All of them fought Norways first aerial battle in out-dated Gloster Gladiators.

Rolf Torbjørn Tradin

Tradin was a lieutenant and second in command at Jagervingen (Fighter Wing) at Fornebu, Oslo in 1940. Tradin was born in Kragerø in 1913. After his fathers bank went bankrupt during the crack of 1929, 16-year old Rolf left Norway in favour of the wide and open seas. Back from his time with Norways big merchant fleet, he took a job as a police officer in Oslo - before getting his wings at Hærens Flyveskole (Army flying school) at Kjeller. He then graduated from Krigsskolen (war school) in 1939. Tradins hobby mainly consisted of the boy scout organization, but he was also a keen sailer and skier. He was also a very talented diver, especially from big heights.

 

 

Per Waaler

Waaler was born in 1917 in Oslo. During his childhood years he lived in Møre and Romsdal, but arrived in Stabekk (Oslo) with his family as a five year old. Shortly after, they moved to Fredrikstad and then finally to Østre Aker. In 1936, Per took Examen Artium at Aker College. After his artium, Per started to study social economics at the University of Oslo. In 1937 he got into Hærens Flyveskole at Kjeller. In 1939 he joined the "neutrality guard" of keeping Norways stand as a neutral country in the war. Of hobbies, Waaler especially enjoyed orienteering.

 

 

Finn Thorsager

Finn was born in 1916 in Bergen. As an eight year old, his family moved to Oslo. When he was just nine years old, he was lucky enough to sit on the floats of Roald Amundsens flying-boat N-25. In Oslo hes tudied at Bestum elementary school and Ullern middle school. He then took a job as an apprentice at a car mechanic shop. Thorsager never graduated with examen artium, but decided in 1936 to send in his mid-term grades to Hærens Flyveskole instead. He was accepted as the last reserve. After graduating, Finn wanted to join DNL (fore-runner to SAS airlines), but was told that he needed experience and education in telegraphy. He then took the course, and went with a whaling boat to thesouth-pole region to gain experience. In 1939 he joined the "neutrality guard" at Fornebu. Thorsager enjoyed the out-doors, skiing and model airplanes planes on his spare time.

 

Kristian Fredrik Schye

Schye, born in 1917, was raised in Skøyen, Oslo. At four years of age, his family moved to Jar in Oslo. As a young lad, he started school at Stabekk College. He graduated with examen artium in 1937. After this, he decided to start study medicine, even if several summer holidays at Horgen farm in Slagen had given him a good taste of farming. While waiting to start studying medicine, Schye got his wings at Kjeller in 1939. Among hobbies, the boy scouts were of big interest. He was also a good skier, played lots of bandy and participated in the creation of Jar sporting club.

 

 

Dag Krohn

Krohn was born in 1912 in Oslo. He grew up at Frogner and at Vinderen. After graduating, he took education in radio telegraphy. After the exams, he got in at Hærens Flyveskole in 1933/34. Dag was also a keen and experienced swimmer. He was also in the boy scout organization and took all the marks. He was also interested in sailing, fishing and shooting.

 

 

 

 

 

Arve Braathen

Braathen was born in 1913 at Eidsvold. He grew up at Lysaker where he graduated from middle school. After Examen Artium, he was accepted for Hærens Flyveskole in 1934. From 1937 he was employed with a car import firm. In the begininng he was a handyman, but got bigger tasks as time went by. He too, was called in for neutrality guard at Fornebu. Arne was an active athlete and especially good in tennis where he was Norwegian champion for juniors. He also liked bandy and shooting. He also became a skilled brige-player.

 

 

 

 

The big fight

First Norwegian in combat

9th of April starts with chaos for most of the pilots at Fornebu. Around 1am, they are awakened from their sleep on the floor at the restaurant. They get ready for take off, and hears unknown engine sounds over the airport. The message is given to spread out all the Gladiators around the airport, in case of a bomb attack. There has already been coming in messages that Oslofjords outer positions are in battle with an unknown enemy. A misunderstanding takes place when a lot of personell thinks it has to do with a battle between British and German naval ships. They believe that some of the German ships have drifted into Norwegian territory and is therefore being fired upon. At 2am message is recieved that all is well and that the pilots may return to bed.

Just three ours later, Finn Thorsager is awakened by Tradin. At 04:21, Oscarsborg fortress fires its first shots against the German ship Blucher. The cannon-thunder can be heard all the way to Fornebu. Soldiers can spot several unknown airplanes passing overhead, inbetween the broken layers of cloud. Another alarm takes place.

Thorsager is the first pilot into the air togheter with Braathen. Because of startup problems and wrong frequency tuned in between Thorsagers Gladiator and Braathens, they fly south on their own and not togheter as planned. Braathen spots a big, dark aeroplane quite a distance ahead, but isn't able to get close enough. Thorsager is more "lucky". Over the layer of low fog, Thorsager spots an unknown two engined aeroplane with twin rudders. He releases the safety of his guns, and attacks. The unknown aeroplane dives into the fog below, but shows up again in short time. Thorsager does another attack, but the same thing happens. With a slight feeling of guilt of shooting at human beings, Thorsager goes in for a third attack once the stranger appears again. After several of these attacks, the aeroplane disappears in the fog for good. Norways first aerial combat is over. Thorsager then flies back to Fornebu and reports that Norways neutrality has been broken. The ground personell finds bullet holes in one of the Gladiators wings.

Half an hour after Thorsager and Braatens departure, Schye, Waaler and Krohn takes off from Fornebu. They observe nothing of interest, and returns to refuel. After all the boys have returned, the discussion goes among them about the happenings taking place.

Seven Gladiators airborne

A message is then recieved that 15 aeroplanes have been spotted passing Malmø of the cost of Sweden, going north. In the case of Oslo being their destination, it is decided to send all Gladiators up to meet them.

Captain Erling Munte-Dahl is convinced the planes are not going to Oslo, but decides to send them up, just in case.

Five Gladiators takes off with Tradin as the leader. The others form up in a V-formation behind him. Waaler takes off as number two, followed by Thorsager, Schye and Krohn. Left at Fornebu is Braathen, still waiting for his Gladiator to be ready for another sortie. A seventh pilot, Oscar Albert Lutken, is also waiting for his Gladiator to be ready. Braathen takes off shortly after the five others, and remarks before he takes off: "If anyone wants my car, it's over there". Braathen is not sure he will get out of this alive. Just after 07:30, the last one, Lutken, takes off.

20 minutes after take off, Tradin gets his first order. An attack by air is expected against Oslo, and the Norwegians are to be patrolling Nesoddlandet. 15 minutes pas before the first Germans shows up. Underneath the Norwegians, several Messerschmitt 110 appears. Then all of a sudden so many enemy airplanes pops up that the boys give up counting them all. Tradin gives the order to attack. Each man for himself.

Tradin attacks a German bomber which dives off to the left and disappears. He assumes the bomber has been shot down. He picks another target, not very difficoult as the heavens are swarming of Heinkel 111's, Me 110's and Dornier Do17's. Tradin goes in for several attacks, but many of the German invaders dive into the clouds below. The Germans are firing with tracers, and Tradin feels he can turn away from the attacks easily. Sadly, his machine gun jams, and Tradin aborts the fight and lands at Steinsfjord.

Dag Krohn goes into the fight at the same time as the others, and makes several attacks. Unfortunately, the Gladiators speed is poor, and he's having problems following the invaders in level flying. Krohn manages to shoot down two Heinkel 111's. He sees one of them going vertically down, just south of Fornebu. When he tries to follow the aircraft to see where it ends up, he's attacked by two Me 110's. He makes the move the Germans have done before him, diving into the cover of clouds below. He goes up again minutes later, and spots another German. He makes yet an attack and hits the gunner of the Heinkel. The machine gun is suddenly left quiet, pointing upwards. The Heinkel 111 then disappears into the fog after Krohn fires everything he got at the cockpit section and the wings. Krohn, too, lands at Steinsfjord.

Finn Thorsager also sees the massive formations of Germans coming from the south. In accordance with the orders given by Tradin, Thorsager puts his Gladiator into a diving turn towards a Heinkel 111. Now with experience from his first combat that morning, he waits longer before he fires his machine guns. The result is instant. Thick, black smoke gushes out of it's engines and it disappears into the clouds. Suddenly, Thorsagers machine guns stops working. The only sound left is that of the pressured air. Thorsager is overwhelmed with disappointment, but he continues on firing at several airplanes, but with the same result. The machine guns ain't working. He decides to go back to Fornebu to fix the problem. Over Fornebu, there's several fires on the ground after Luftwaffe attacks. Thorsager barely gets away after two Me 110's attacks him from the rear. After the escape, he sets course for Kjeller. At Kjeller there's more of the same. Fires and chaos on the ground. He tries to fly back to Fornebu again, but with no luck, the airport is too unsafe. He then decides to put his Gladiator down at Mjærvann lake in Enebakk.

Per Waaler is also in the thick of things in his Gladiator. He picks out his invader for an attack. At 150 meters range he opens fire at the Heinkel 111. The gunner of the Heinkel returns fire, but Waaler keps going until he's at 50 meters, still firing. One of the engines blasts into flames, and suddenly the airplane goes into a terrifying spin over Steilene. Waalers Gladiator has recieved several direct hits from the Heinkel, and he returns to Fornebu to re-arm. Waaler lands with no drama, and have plans to keep the engine running while the ground crew arms his plane. Sadly, the engine stops and several men arrives to get it started again. They have to abort their task when several Me 110's comes low over the airport. Waaler runs away from his Gladiator and from the scene. Just 20 meters behind him, he hears projectiles hitting the ground. The Gladiator is set on fire by the attackers.

Kristian Fredrik Schye is the only one who crashlands his Gladiator. He goes into the fight over Nesoddlandet with the rest of the boys, attacking several Luftwaffe planes while keeping an eye out behind. Because of poor visibility in his cockpit, he goes lower and pumps up fuel to the windscreen to clear his vision. After suceeding with creating a better sight, he spots two Me 110's just 400 meters behind him. Schye pulls the throttle back and puts his Gladiator into a half-roll downwards to the German. Schye opens fire and keeps firing until he's at 50 meters of the 110. It proceeds to roll over and spiral down towards Earth. Schye pulls his stick back and is trying to gain height when he sees tracers fly past him. Two more 110's have joined the battle. While trying to avoid the attack, his wing is hit by one of the 110's. He's then hit himself and feels pain in his arm and in his bottom. His arm starts feeling heavy and numb and he can't control the throttle stick anymore. He contemplates jumping out, but decides to try to land his Gladiator at a frozen lake. Approaching the lake, he's having trouble getting the flaps out and he overshoots the lake, crashing in a field close by. Still in the cockpit when the Gladiator comes to halt, the engine starts smoking. Schye manages to get out and away from the smoking plane.

Arve Braathen, delayed at take off, flies alone trying to catch up with the others. He spots a German airplane over Brønnøya. His Gladiator isn't working well, and the engine is misfiring. Despite the issues, Braathen decides to press on and attack the German. Braathen dives down towards the bomber while it's unloading it's bombs over the airport. Luckily, they all land in Koksas bay. While firing at the German, the anti-aircraft batteries are also firing, so Braathen pulls away not wanting to risk his plane to friendly fire. Over Høvik he sees another invader and dives down on him. Braathen hits the engine, catching fire. Another Heinkel 111 appears, and starts firing at Braathen from behind. He gets away from the attacker and turns sharply to get behind the German. However, when he has completed the turn, the German is too far away. Braathen lands his airplane at Bogstad lake, after seeing several burning airplanes at Fornebu.

The last of the Gladiators in the air, flown by Oscar Albert Lutken, have to turn back just after take off due to a bad engine. He gets a flat tire on landing, and have to leave the Gladiator. The airplane is then attacked by 110's.

With all Gladiators now out of the fight, no more planes at their disposal, and poor ground coverage, the Germans can now easily land at the airport and take it from fleeding Norwegians.

Norway is at war.

What happened to the few?

The next five years would split up the Gladiator pilots. Faith would smile on some and leave others behind.

Rolf Torbjørn Tradin, the leader of the Gladiator attack, escapes occupied Norway and arrives in Sweden in November of 1940. He then continues on to Little Norway trainingbase in Toronto. At Little Norway he's serving as an instructor. In 1942 he travels to England for active duty in a fighter squadron. He joins the legendary 611 squadron at Biggin Hill. Tradin is in November 1943 in combat with several FW190. Tradin shoots down one of the Germans, but is then attacked by another 190. Both Tradin and the attacker crashes into the ocean. Neither survives.

Dag Krohn flees Norway togheter with Finn Thorsager in the fall of 1940. Through Sweden, the Sovietunion, Japan and USA he arrives at Little Norway in January 41. There he acts as an instructor before he joins the RAF Ferry Command. He flies several top secret transport missions, and flies in 1945 Winston Churchill himself to Teheran. After the war he takes a job in SAS as an airline captain. Dag Krohn dies in 1989.

Finn Thorsager arrives at Little Norway with Dag Krohn, and like Krohn and Tradin takes up a role as an instructor. In the summer of 1941 he travels to England for service with Norwegian 331 squadron. In February 1942 he's a flight commander with Norwegian 332 squadron flying Spitfires. In February of 1943 he is appointed squadron leader. After his time with 332, he joins Transport Command and flies two engines bombers from America to Great Britain. In the fall of 44, he is transfered to "Stockholmsroute". This job consists of flying top secret passenger and cargo between Scotland and Sweden. After the war he finally gets his wish to join DNL fullfilled. He continues with DNL/SAS until 1976, retiring at the age of 60. Finn Thorsager dies in the fall of 2000.

Per Waaler participates in the defense of Norway until thecapitulation in June 1940, and then escapes to England. He proceeds to Toronto and Little Norway. Here, he is involved in a serious accident which makes him recovering in bed for an entire nine months. After a period with Ferry Command, he is transferred to Bomber Command in 1943. As co-pilot/observer on his first mission, the Halifax is shot down over Dortumund. Waaler spends the last years of the war as a prisoner. After the war he works as an accountant in Oslo. Waaler is in 2010 the only survivor Gladiator pilot of 9 april 1940.

Kristian Fredrik Schye returns to his studies of medicine after the battle.. He gets involved in work for the homefront in Bærum shortly after. In 1943 he barely escapes an arrest and escape to Sweden. From Sweden he travels to Canada and enters a position as an instructor at Muskoka. After the war he works as a doctor in Oslo. He retires in 1986 and dies in the fall of 2003.

Arve Braathen first tries to escape to England in the summer of 1940, togheter with his family by sea. Due to strong winds, they have to abort. After the attempt, he takes up a job with his father in laws fishing industry, but contines working with illegal projects for the home front. In 1941, he and his family manages to get onboard a British ship after their raid at Lofoten. Braathen enters the RAF and No. 8 Operational Training Unit, flying Mosqitos. Braathen is posted missing after a practice mission. The airplane disappears without a trace, most likely shot down by a long range German fighter.

Written by Tor Idar Larsen

Made by © Tor Idar Larsen