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Merchant Navies of WW II

Discussion in 'The War at Sea' started by Mutant Poodle, Sep 28, 2004.

  1. corpcasselbury

    corpcasselbury New Member

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    An impressive record. The Dutch merchant fleet did the same thing, IIRC. In fact, a Dutch freighter was at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and being armed, her gunners opened fire on the Japanese planes. I wish I could remember her name.
     
  2. Varyag

    Varyag New Member

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    The Dutch were at war with Japan, Norway wasn't. Quite a few Norwegian sailors ended up in Japanese POW camps as they served the Allied war effort but I don't think they ever opened fire at Japanese ships.
     
  3. Ome_Joop

    Ome_Joop New Member

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    This is only because Norway didn't have colony's in the "far east" like the Dutch Indies....that's the difference!
    We were just as Neutral before Germany invaded!
     
  4. corpcasselbury

    corpcasselbury New Member

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    Actually, Holland was not officially at war with Japan on December 7th. Perhaps the merchantman's crew figured that they would be, so they might as well get in the first lick. :)
     
  5. redcoat

    redcoat Ace

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    Bit off topic, but on the same lines.
    A Norwegian air force pilot who escaped the fall of Norway, and saw service in the RAF as a night fighter pilot, shot down a Italian CANT bomber in the Med theater. However some bright spark in the British War Office realised that Norway wasn't at war with Italy, so they reclassified his victory as over a Luftwaffe JU 88. ;)
     
  6. corpcasselbury

    corpcasselbury New Member

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    Ah, bureaucracy... ;)
     

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