THE HEAVY WATER OPERATION
One
segment of events that occurred during the WW Two period of history
that just might have spelled doom for the free world, was Hitler’s
quest to produce atomic weapons.
The following is a brief account of the action taken by the Allies
to deny the German war machine the use of Hitler’s secret weapon
as recorded in “Norway’s Resistance Museum.
During
the war heavy water was considered indispensable as an aid to
the production of atomic arms. The only plant in the world where
heavy water was produced continuously was situated at Vemork (Rjukan)
Norway. High priority was therefore given to the destruction of
this plant.
GROUSE 1 supplied intelligence. GROUSE II prepared the landing
area for two gliders carrying 34 British commando. Operation FRESHMAN
ended in catastrophe when the gliders crashed near the coast.
An operation, code-named GUNNERSIDE (6 men), joined GROUSE (3
men) and blew up the plant in February, 1943 On November 16, 1943,
the power station and adjacent plant were destroyed by US bombers,
putting an end to the production. On February 22, 1944, the HYDRO
ferry, carrying the remaining supplies of semi-finished heavy
water was sunk on Lake Tennisjo, thus ending the battle for heavy
water...
Next...The 15th Air Force In Italy
Continued...
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