Every December in London a magnificent Christmas tree is unveiled in Trafalgar Square. The Norwegian spruce is cut from the forests surrounding the Norwegian capital of Oslo and is sent to Britain as a gift of friendship and thanks.
The tradition has lasted 75 years, and the cutting of the tree is attended by the British Ambassador to Norway, the Mayor of Oslo and the Lord Mayor of Westminster among other dignitaries. Each tree is specially selected, one of two selected each year from a cluster of individually marked and protected trees.
How this Christmas tradition came to pass is a story that began more than 100 years ago, but how it continues requires the care and attention of a dedicated team of foresters.
In this article we will look tell the story of the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree, and we will look at the journey each spruce makes from the forests of Oslo to the pavement of Central London. It is a story that leads from a war hero to a modern forester continuing a tradition of goodwill.
The soldier
Donald Buller was born, fittingly, in December 1907. He was the son of jewellery merchant George Cecil Buller and Winifred Buller, who held the women’s record for cross-country flying in England.
Donald grew up and went to school at Harrow and became a keen sailor and joined the naval reserve. At the outbreak of war in 1939 he was called up, first commanding a harbour defence patrol vessel, then an anti-submarine flotilla in West Africa. But he is most famous for a single mission he carried out to the Norwegian island of Batalden.
At night-time on 8 April 1940, Nazi Germany launched a stunning surprise attack against Denmark and Norway with the same key objective in each country: capture the king. The kings were brothers and Hitler was convinced that by capturing them, he could control each nation. In that, he seems to have been right. The Danish king was captured and Denmark surrendered within a few hours… but the Norwegian king escaped.
The royal family at this time consisted of King Haakon VII, Crown Prince Olav, Crown Princess Martha and their three young children Prince Harald, Princess Astrid and Princess Ragnhild.
Princess Martha took the children to safety in her home country of Sweden, which was not at war. While King Haakon and Prince Olav were taken to London to establish a government in exile.
To coordinate with the Norwegian resistance, it was necessary to deliver radio equipment to Norwegian agents from London. The audacious boatsman, Lieutenant-Commander Buller was selected to take his small motor torpedo boat across the North Sea to rendezvous with these agents.
These were 35m-long plywood boats powered by four supercharged petrol engines and armed to the teeth with heavy weapons. For more stories involving Buller and men like him, check out ‘Dog Boats of War by Leonard Reynolds.
Back in 1943, Buller successfully evaded German patrol boats and braved the seas to reach the island safely, camouflaging the boat under netting and foliage for 24 hours while he completed his mission. He returned safely to London with two trees lashed to his boat. They were gifts from the Norwegian resistance, one was for King Haakon, and the other was for the British princesses: Elizabeth and Margaret.
The latter was placed in Trafalgar Square, and inspired the post-war tradition of the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree, which began in 1947.
Lieutenant Buller returned to the war at sea, until his boat was destroyed by enemy action in July 1944. He was pulled from the sea and spent the remainder of the war at the Marlag POW camp in northwest Germany. After the war, Buller had a successful career on the stock exchange. On his retirement, he and his wife sailed a 75-foot motor cruiser around the Mediterranean. He died on 11 November 1993.
But his legacy is lit up every year at the start of December to this day.
The forester
Eivind Birkeland is the forest manager for the Municipality of Oslo, working for the Agency of Urban Environment. He manages the forest to the east of the city, an area of about 1,000 hectares. He manages a team of 12.
“We do all kinds silviculture logging, planting, thinning, and so on, and they also do manage the forest roads,” says Eivind. “We also manage the ski tracks in winter, and even have a small school farm to show local children how to grow food.”
All of the trees bound for London come from the forest close to the city of Oslo.
“They’re all naturally grown forest trees, we have a list of 300-400 potential trees that look good,” says Birkeland. “We try to maintain them by clearing the area around them, and we fertilise them a bit. They’re huge trees when we send them, over 20 or 21 metres, so they are usually over 60 years old.”
Most spruce trees do not have an even canopy at that age. They often lose branches towards the bottom due to brittleness and lack of sunlight. So a lot of trees end up being unsuitable for such a prestigious role.
But each September they head out into the woods, select the nicest tree they can, and prepare it to be sent to London. They also select one other to be sent to Oslo University.
“But the best tree gets sent to London, the second best goes to Oslo,” promises Birkeland, solemnly.
One of his team cuts the tree, and Birkeland normally climbs the tree to attach a strap for the crane. For a tree of this size and importance, it needs to be lowered gently. So a crane needs to be used to help lower it. For the past few years this has been provided by Nordic Crane.
“We [try to] choose trees that are within about 40 metres of the road. Otherwise, we have to build an access road. Which we sometimes do,” adds Birkeland.
The lowering is probably the most difficult part of the operation. If the tree has weakened with age more than expected, it could collapse on the spot. And then there is transporting it by truck to the port at Breivik – a journey of 150km.
“If you don’t go slow enough, you could have the top breaking off. Or if you go too fast, you could dry out the needles so that it dries out and fall off before Christmas. It could be a disaster,” he says.
The tree lies in a wooden cradle on the truck and steel wire keeps the broadest branches from scraping on the sides of tunnels on the way to the port. There are over 1,000 road tunnels in Norway, due to its aggressive topography. So this is a real risk, and a number of years ago they hit the lights in a tunnel, so subsequently all trees were tied down to make sure they are less than 4.5m high and 3m wide during transportation
So tied down, secured in a wooden cradle, and with the driver instructed not to exceed 35 miles an hour, the tree eventually arrives in Breivik, where a trolley takes it onto a ship. The method has not changed much over the years, but larger, modern trucks mean that less tree sticks out. This makes the driving less risky.
Advent
The ship leaves Breivik and arrives at Immingham in the UK. The Norwegians hand over responsibility to the British, who then have to hide the tree until it is ready to be taken to Trafalgar Square. And the beginning of Advent.
The story behind the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree is a 75-year tale of peace and goodwill between two peoples, that began after one of the worst moments in history. Long may it continue.
