Norway was invaded by Germany in 1940, and occupied for the following five years. Erling Sandberg was eventually appointed to Josef Terboven's Council of State, and Harald Damsleth began receiving assignments for public service announcements in April 1940, shortly after the German invasion of Norway. From October the same year "Herolden" was given a monopoly on state announcements. Damsleth also designed nearly all stamps issued in Norway between 1940 and 1945. Among the stamps designed by Damsleth were the three stamps of the shipwreck series commemorating civilian Norwegian passenger ships lost to allied attack. The ships portrayed on the stamps were SS "Barøy", SS "Irma" and SS "Sanct Svithun". His monopoly was not only caused by the Nazi sympathies nurtured by employees in "Herolden", but also because other advertising agencies boycotted the occupant regime. At the same time, Damsleth lost his professional contact with publishing houses.