Flight of the Norwegian National Treasury The National Treasury of Norway consisted of 50 tons of gold worth in 1940 ( approximately in 1940 , or in 2007 . ) When the German invasion began , the gold was evacuated from Oslo first overland to Åndalsnes and then by ship to Tromsø . From Tromsø , evacuating Allied forces took the last of the gold to Britain . All of the gold arrived safely in Britain despite German ground and air attacks . The gold was ultimately shipped to North America . Evacuation from Oslo . The gold was stored in the main vault of the Norges Bank ' s headquarters in Oslo . During the increasing tension of the 1930s , plans were made to make the gold more mobile . When the Second World War broke out , these plans were accelerated and the gold was packed into 818 crates of 40 kg , 685 crates of 25 kg and 39 barrels of gold coins , weighing 80 kg each : a total of 53 tons . When news reached the government in the early hours of 9 April 1940 that the patrol boat " Pol III " had been attacked and that enemy ships were approaching Oslo , orders went out to evacuate the gold to the vault in Lillehammer . Heavies from local businesses were used to load the gold onto 26 civilian lorries . The last lorries left Oslo hours before the Wehrmacht arrived . By train to Åndalsnes . The gold stayed at Lillehammer for a few days before having to move again due to the German advance . It was loaded onto the train carrying the Norwegian government and King Haakon VII . Fallschirmjäger attempted to reach the town in buses and capture the dignitaries and gold , but were stopped by an improvised defence at Midtskogen . Norwegian troops from Jørstadmoen , including poet Nordahl Grieg , deployed to Lillehammer to guard the train . Grieg was the only private travelling with the gold who knew of its presence ; civilians were typically told the crates contained ammunition . The crates were marked only with the letters ' NB ' . The train left Lillehammer on Friday , April 19 , and arrived in Åndalsnes on April 20 , where British expeditionary troops had landed a few days before . The Germans realised that there was something special about the train , and Åndalsnes was bombed several times . The train was undamaged and moved to Romsdalshorn station , outside of Åndalsnes ; the Germans continued to bomb the town . The British were informed of the gold , and agreed to evacuate it to Britain and then perhaps onwards to America . The gold was to be split between three ships . The first , the British cruiser HMS " Galatea " departed from Åndalsnes on Thursday , 25 April , with 200 crates . By ship to Tromsø . No further loading was done at Åndalsnes due to the approach of German troops from Gudbrandsdalen and further air raids . The gold was moved on 23 - 28 lorries to Molde , to be embarked on the British cruiser HMS " Glasgow " with the King and the government , and taken to Tromsø and then to Britain . The city was being bombed when they arrived . 756 crates and all 39 barrels were loaded onto " Glasgow " before , late on Monday April 29 , Captain Pegram judged they could wait no longer and ordered the ship north to Tromsø . 18 tons of gold , in 301 large and 246 smaller crates , were left behind . The coastal steamer took on most of the remainder before bombing suspended loading . The 30 crates left by " Driva " were moved by lorries to Gjemnes , to be picked up by the steamer on its way north to Tromsø . " Driva " was attacked by German aircraft several times and beached to avoid sinking . The gold was transferred to five fishing vessels from Bud and Hustad . These were " Heimdal " , " Barden " , " Svanen " , " Leif " and " Gudrun " , captained by Hans M . Inderhaug , Harald Tungehaug , Engvald Sunde , Emil Skottheim and Alfred Skottheim respectively . As hoped , the fishing vessels did not draw attention and they arrived at Gjemnes without incident , and the 30 crates brought north by road were picked up . The five boats continued north to Titran , arriving at the island of Frøya in Trøndelag on Saturday , 3 May . The soldiers from Jørstadmoen were sent home , and the gold was transferred to two larger fishing vessels . The two ships left on May 4 and arrived in Tromsø four days later . Evacuation overseas . In Tromsø , the gold was loaded onto the British cruiser HMS " Enterprise " . The cruiser sailed south to Harstad , before departing on May 25 . " Enterprise " survived two German air attacks en route to Scapa Flow . From there , she sailed to Greenock , where the gold was brought ashore . The gold was taken by train to Bank of England ' s vault in London . Finally , the gold was shipped in instalments across the Atlantic Ocean to Canada . Of the 50 tons from Oslo , the only loses were 297 gold coins from a barrel damaged during transit aboard a British vessel . The gold was gradually sold in America - partly to fund the government in exile . Ten tons of gold coins returned to Norway in 1987 .