NORWAY BASIC HANDBOOK
SECRET
COPY No. 408, September 1943
MINISTRY OF ECONOMIC WARFARE, London, 1943
Norway Basic Handbook is an extremely rare WW2 British Ministry of Economic Warfare intelligence handbook, produced in September 1943. A secret document with a restricted circulation, each copy was individually numbered - this is copy number 408. It includes detailed contemporary intelligence material on Norway during WW2, both before and after the Nazi occupation. In two parts, subjects covered in Part I - Pre-Invasion Norway, include: geography, constitution, political parties, administration, armed forces, police, judiciary, culture, customs, agriculture and fisheries, fuel and power, shipping, etc. Part II - Post-Invasion Norway includes: constitutional changes, police, military, judiciary, propaganda, opposition to Nazi rule, cultural conflicts, economy, fuel and power, trade, industry, etc. There are also sections on 'Who's Who' in Norway, and place names.
Parts I and II have an accompanying map section, including 6 large (58cm x 65cm) fold-out maps: 1 - General Map of Northern Europe, E1 - Gridded Map, E2 - Communications, E3 -Industries, E4 - Electric Power Distribution A, E5 - Electric Power Distribution B.
In addition to Parts I and II, the manual comes with two Zone Handbooks: Norway Zone Handbook No.1 (Fylke Series) Finmark (October 1944), 64 pages, plus separate accompanying map supplement - a very large (96cm x 125cm) 1/300,000 scale folding map of Finmark; and Norway Zone Handbook No.2 (Fylke Series) North and South Trondelag (October 1944), 68 pages, plus separate accompanying map supplement - a very large (95cm x 109cm) 1/207,500 scale folding map of North Trondelag. These zone handbooks were intended to be 'inserted in the cover boards of the Norway Basic Handbook, with which it is to be read' to 'provide a background and general survey useful to the three services and attached civilian agencies'. They included details of government, police under the occupation, prisons, German police, concentration camps, political prisoners, the press, towns, routes, etc.
There are also a further 7 additional large folding maps which were in a pocket at the rear of the manual. These include five road maps of South Norway: No.1 - 57cm x 112cm, 1/250,000, No.2 - 70cm x 109cm, 1/200,000, No.3 - 70 x 109cm, 1/200,000, No.4 - 70cm x 102cm, 1/200,000, No.5 - 70cm x 102cm, 1/500,000.
The other two maps are:
Aandalsnes (Battle of Andalsnes) - GSGS Map No. 4090, War office, printed 1941, 56cm x 68cm, 1/100,000,
Meloy (Operation Musketoon) - GSGS Map No. 4090, War Office, printed 1942, 45cm x 61cm, 1/100,000.
The Battle of Andalsnes took place in April 1940. British expeditionary forces landed at the Norwegian port in an attempt to recapture Trondheim from the German invaders. German air superiority and their use of heavy armour led to the under-equipped Allies suffering a decisive defeat, followed by the evacuation of the remnants of the BEF force.
Operation Musketoon was a Commando raid on an electricity generating station at Glomfjord in German occupied Norway. Ten Commandos and two Norwegian corporals working for SOE took part in the raid. Leaving Scotland on the 11th September 1942, they were taken by submarine to a remote Fjord, completed a difficult overland route, before approaching their target from the rear and successfully destroying it. Seven of the raiders were captured and later executed at Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp under Hitler's infamous Commando Order.
This exceptionally rare handbook, complete with zone handbooks, supplements, and additional maps, is a fascinating primary source and invaluable insight into Norway under German occupation in the last years the second world war.
Ministry of Economic Warfare Basic Handbooks: This series of handbooks covered enemy and occupied countries and was compiled from April 1943 onwards, at the request of the Joint Intelligence Committee. Classified as secret, this comprehensive collection of numerous highly detailed volumes was intended to reflect official British understanding and thinking, rather than being an exercise in propaganda. This included an indication of the state of contemporary knowledge of the persecution of Jewish people, concentration camps, the extent of collaboration and resistance in occupied countries, and other aspects of Nazi programmes and methods. Countries and regions were also provided with historical and political introductions, often covering the period from antiquity to recent 20th century politics. Discussions of recent events such as the Anschluss were more sophisticated than anything which would have been publicly permissible during the war. MEW’s links with SOE are also highlighted in the anecdotal nature of some of the information, which would have been based on agents’ reports, intercepts, and captured documents. The Basic Handbooks were being continuously amended and updated until the end of the war.
Condition:
In very good condition. The hardback binder boards are in very good condition, with minor signs of wear and use. The laced binding is good and secure. The text, illustrations, and maps are in very good condition, with a few marks. There are a couple of 'withdrawn' ink stamps of the FCO Library (Foreign and Commonwealth Office). The Zone Handbooks and their map supplements are in very good condition. The seven additional maps are in very good condition.
Published: 1943
Khaki loose leaf binder boards, with laced binding
Illustrated with fold-out maps
Dimensions: 215mm x 335mm
Pages: 162, plus Zone Handbook No.1 - 64pp with Map Supplement, Zone Handbook No.2 - 68pp with Map Supplement, and 7 additional large folding maps
