French refugee WWII Paris > Oslo > England?

Question

I'm trying to find information a relative of my late mother. She was living in Paris or nearby when the Nazis invaded. She took a boat to Oslo but fled to England when the Germans took over that city. Later she was killed in an explosion, I'm speculating by a bomb because apparently no remains were found. Sorry to be vague and gruesome at the same time, but I'm going on third-hand information, at best.

Would she have arrived in England at the time of the Blitz or afterwards? I have read that the Germans bombed England until late in the war. What kind of bomb could practically vaporize a human?

Did many refugees travel the France > Norway > England route in the early days of the war? If anyone can suggest where I can learn information about refugee ships between these countries, I'd appreciate it.

I wasn't sure if I should post this question under Military (WWII) or History. Thanks.

Answer 1

Norway was invaded beginning April 9, 1940. They finally surrendered to the Germans some 69 days later. I only know of one "civilian" vessel which carried people out of the country. That was King Haakon VII's royal yacht. German bombing of England began on August 25,1940, so your realtive would have arrived in England before the Germans started the blitz. The Germans continued to bomb england, including London until May 10, 1941. Two separate bombings, in April of that year and on the last day, were ferocious and involved over 500 bombs being dropped. Later in the war the Germans used the V-1 "buzz bomb" rockets against England which were fired from launch sites in France. Later they used the V-2, an early type of intermediate range rocket to strike England from launch sites in northeast Germany near the Baltic Sea.
There were several hundred refugees who tried to escape from France and other sites on the continent to Norway in 1940. Many of them, just like the British High Command, thought a German invasion of Norway was impossible.

Answer 2

The Nazi's invaded Norway in the Spring of 1940. If she left Oslo and went to England then, that would place her at the end of the "Phony War" and the beginning of the heavy bombardment of London. She would have been there when the blitz started in August of 1940.

High explosive bombs (weighing 1,100 lbs or more) could easily completely destroy a human being if they were close to the center of the explosion.

You might find some useful information on Norwegian refugees going to Shetland and on to England here: http://www.shetland-heritage.co.uk/shetlandbus/

Good luck.