Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/09/09
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]br wrote: > I recall reading that British commandos knocked out the heavy water plant in > Norway, which put a real dent into the Nazi nuclear bomb project. It is true that a British raid was attempted in late 1942, but it was aborted. This is from "Norway 1940-45: The Resistance Movement" by Riste and Nokleby: "...together they prepared to receive two glider plane loads of British Royal Engineers who were to carry out the actual sabotage operation. They never met. Because of bad weather one glider became detached from its tug plane and crash-landed. Those who survived the crash had no reason to praise their luck: they were killed by the Germans. The other plane with its glider in tow crashed against a mountain, and no one survived." Although security at the plant was tightened, a few months later there was a successful attempt, described in somewhat melodramatic terms: "In the evening of 27 February 1943, nine uniformed Norwegians climbed down an ice-covered precipice near Rjukan, crossed a small river, and crawled up the equally steep other side of the valley, to a heavily guarded industrial plant on the mountain side. The armed German guards taken care of, some of the men entered the factory and placed their explosive charges in carefully selected spots. After midnight, a muffled explosion echoed through the narrow valley ... 500 kilogrammes of heavy water had been destroyed, along with several vital parts of the production plant." All escaped, some skiing 250 miles to Sweden. Eventually production at the plant was resumed, and it became the target of bombing raids. A decision was made to transfer the new supply of deuterium and all production machinery to Germany, but the ferry attempting to carry the heavy water across a lake was sunk by another act of sabotage. John Evensta - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html