What’s in Mrs. Hale’s Receipts for the Million 1857?

326. To destroy Rats.  —  Cut a number of corks or a piece of sponge as thin as sixpences; stew them in grease and place them in the way of the rats. They will greedily devour this delicacy, and will die of indigestion.

There are a number of anniversaries coming up, but sadly one seems to have missed the American consciousness: the 70th anniversary of the invasion of Norway.  It was just a week ago on April 9th. I became heavily involved in this history when I decided to write a novel that took place in WW II occupied Norway, The Jossing Affair. Don’t ask me why. It must have been the movie Edge of Darkness that I saw as a teenager on TV. Errol Flynn, resistance fighters, etc. Or maybe The Moon is Down. I saw that movie too and read the book. Whatever, like most Americans I was clueless.  But I had a story arch and I had the protags in mind. All I needed to know were the where, what, why and how of this WW II story. The occupation of Norway, however,  turns out to a much more compelling story.

In the next couple of posts, I’ll write about this research and where it took me.  For now take a look at this site. And remember. WW II is more than a Band of  Brothers, France  and Poland. There were other countries wounded by it.  And they remember.