In March 2022, FWC will become the World’s First Female Team to retrace the mission of the Heroes of Telemark. It was a mission that was considered impossible at the time and it was a mission that changed the course of history…
In 1940, the Nazi’s gained a significant advantage in the war by taking over the Vemork plant in Telemark, Norway. Vemork was the only plant in the world that produced heavy water, which was the key ingredient in the German atomic bomb research program. The occupation of the Vemork plant gave Hitler a significant advantage over the allies in the race to develop the weapon that would potentially decide the outcome of the war.
A Mission Impossible
Vemork is a natural fortress on the edge of an ice-bound precipice 100 miles west of Oslo, and could only be reached by a single-lane suspension bridge. The key part of the heavy water plant was in the basement of an enormous fortress of steel and stone – bombing was unlikely to hit the essential parts of the plant, and could have caused high civilian deaths, so it was decided to mount a mission, using two small groups of Special Operations Executive (SOE) agents, to destroy the supply of heavy water.
In October 1942, an advance party of four SOE Norwegians were parachuted onto the Hardangervidda, in what was originally planned as a 4 week reconnaissance exercise (Operation Grouse). Despite numerous setbacks and extreme conditions, the team managed to transmit intelligence back to the UK, and enable a highly dangerous mission to be mounted, using 2 gliders and the first British Airborne Division. Operation Freshman was a gallant attempt but sadly failed, with airplane and glider crashes - all the survivors were caught by the Germans, tortured and executed.
The failure of Freshman was a hard blow for the Grouse men. They had remained undetected and despite the severe conditions, Grouse ‘continued their watch and signals amid snow and ice, short of food and with failing power and their W.T. set’ They were forced to eat moss and hunt wild reindeer, and survived, unseen, for four months in the harshest winter conditions.
Sending in the Saboteurs
In February 1943, Operation Gunnerside parachuted six specially trained SOE Norwegian personnel into the area – unfortunately, they landed 30km away from their intended location. As the weather deteriorated, they took refuge in a hut where they were stranded for 6 days, until they were finally able to leave and rendezvous with Grouse. On 25th of February, they started travelling across the Hardangervidda towards Vemork plant. Skiing and walking carrying uniforms, weapons, explosives, food an all of their kit, it was an arduous journey - the terrain was difficult and at times they found themselves sinking into the snow up to their waist.
On the final part of the journey, there were 3 options to come down from the mountains above the plant – to cross an area littered with minefields; to cross the single-lane suspension bridge, which was closely guarded; or to descend to the bottom of the valley across a half-frozen river and climb a 500-foot-high cliff. They decide to climb the cliff, in the middle of the night, in the middle of winter. They finally attacked the Vemork plant during the night of the 28th of February. For the assault, the combined Grouse / Gunnerside force had been divided into two units: a support unit which would neutralise the German security guards, and a demolition unit which would place explosive charges in the basement to destroy the production facilities.
They were all wearing British uniforms because they thought that if Britain, rather than the Norwegian resistance, was blamed for the attack then the local population may perhaps escape German retaliation. The assault on the plant was complex and took incredible courage, as was the escape following the sabotage….
The Escape
After fleeing the plant and reconnecting with their cover squad, the group began to ski toward the mountain plateau, in uniform and fully armed. They then split up - the explosives team travelled more than 200 miles to Sweden on skis whilst the cover group spread out throughout the plateau. Despite the Germans’ search and pursuit of the group, none of the members were killed or captured. The operation was a success – the team worked together to evade Nazi security, break into the Vemork power plant, locate the cells of heavy water, bomb the supply and escape alive. Ten Norwegian commandoes had succeeded in doing more damage than an entire aerial squadron armed with hundreds of bombs. The SOE deemed Operation Gunnerside to be its most successful sabotage mission in WWII.
‘You have to fight for your freedom and for peace. You have to fight for it every day, to keep it. It’s like a glass boat; it’s easy to break; it’s easy to lose’
JOACHIM RONNEBERGLAST - MEMBER OF OPERATION GUNNERSIDE
Read more about The Heroes of Telemark Journey and The FWC World’s First Female Team to retrace their steps.