During the hectic meetings of Parliament and Cabinet on the night of April 8th it was decided to remove Norway’s gold reserves from the city. The gold, worth 240 million kroner, was packed into 1534 boxes and loading began early in the morning of April 9. In charge of the operation was Fredrik Haslund. One of his assistants was the poet Nordahl Grieg.
The trucks drove via Hamar and Lillehammer, through Gudbrandsdalen to Åndalsnes, often under fire from German aircraft. A British cruiser was waiting at Åndalsnes but because of German air attacks, it had to leave port when only a portion of the gold had been loaded. The remaining gold was driven to Molde and stowed away on fishing boats. Seven weeks later the makeshift fleet arrived in Tromsø, where the King, Parliament and Cabinet waited. The gold eventually arrived safely in London and New York.