The saboteurs then placed explosive charges on the heavy-water electrolysis chambers, and attached a fuse which allowed sufficient time for their escape. In an attempt to prevent reprisals, a Thompson submachine gun [17] [18] [19] was purposely left behind to indicate that this was the work of British forces and not the local resistance. When the fuses were about to be lit, the caretaker was worried about his spectacles (which were somewhere in the room; during the war, new eyeglasses were nearly impossible to obtain). A frantic search ensued; the spectacles were found, and the fuses lit. The explosive charges detonated, destroying the electrolysis chambers. [12] The end to end process was brilliant. Your team in the UK were always able to help in preparation and promotion of our blogging and charity fundraising efforts. Your team in Norway are professional, passionate and fun to work with. Kirk Douglas, Richard Harris, Ulla Jacobbson, and their fellow Norwegians certainly look good in those dazzling Scandinavian sweaters, as they go about destroying Germany's supply of the atomic-bomb facilitating element called heavy water. Douglas is certainly right, if that's the only explanation he's going to offer us. And the screenwriters were correct too. The point of this movie isn't to explain nuclear fission. They don't even bother to show us the mousetraps going off seriatim. The point is to show us an action movie in which the heroes win, though not without sacrifice. Objective achieved.

To reach the Vemork plant, the group of saboteurs had to cross the river right at the bottom of the gorge, as they could not use the suspension bridge. Joachim Rønneberg, the group leader, explains that all they had to go on was an aerial photo, taken at a height of 4,000 meters, that suggested that this was viable.Weintraub, Bob. Lise Meitner (1878–1968): Protactinium, Fission, and Meitnerium. Retrieved on 8 June 2009. As it turned out, in the early summer of 1942, Albert Speerdecided the Germans were notgoing to invest in a Manhattan-style nuclear program. But KurtDiebner, who once headed the program, was told very clearly by his boss, “You get a heavy water reactor going, you prove to us you can do it, and we will shower you with money.”

Perhaps it's stating the obvious considering Mann and Krasker's reputations as quality visualists, but The Heroes of Telemark is a splendid looking war movie. It's solidly performed by the cast, the story, which is based on a real and crucial incident in the war, is gripping, while some of the tech flourishes shown by Mann for the more pacy scenes are impressive. Find out how a tool originally designed for business became the world's most sophisticated military coding machine. Meet the mathematicians, chess masters and eccentrics of Britain's top-secret Bletchley Park -- and see how they overcame incredible odds to break Enigma. Examine a re-creation of the first electronic programmable computer and find out how it was able to read Hitler's most closely guarded commands. And learn how Allied code-breakers were crucial to victories in the Pacific, North Africa and on the beaches at Normandy. Although often caned for not being truer to the event it presumes to depict, taken as a war movie in its own right, 'Heroes Of Telemark' has plenty to offer. The ferry's departure was unfortunately delayed. However, far more lives would have been lost if the explosion had been set off on a weekday. There was never many passengers on Sundays.Chris, the secondary instructor was also a wonderful addition to the team. His skillset was obviously very broad and his knowledge of Norway and Nordic skiing was great to dip into. A very interesting chap who was both helpful and supportive whenever necessary. The plant's managing director agreed to lend France the heavy water for the duration of the war. The French transported it secretly to Oslo, then to Perth, Scotland, and then to France. The plant was still capable of producing heavy water, however, [1] and the Allies were concerned that the Germans would use the facility to produce more heavy water.

I have just completed the HOT Expedition and as I am sure you have seen from the blog we had a great time. Heroes of Telemark accompany heavy water barrel to USA". Norsk Hydro ASA. 23 November 2006. Archived from the original on 19 August 2008 . Retrieved 15 July 2009. ) If you are reading this and are undecided if you should do this - then do it, an amazing allround experience.In 1941, British intelligence received an ominous message from operatives in Nazi-occupied Norway: The Norsk Hydro electric plant in Telemark had stepped up production of "heavy water," a vital componet in the manufacture of an atomic bomb. The threat of German nuclear capability triggered a daring secret operation to destroy the plant and the enemy's supply of heavy water. Discover how a courageous band of commandos prevented Hitler from building the ultimate weapon, in "The Real Heroes of Telemark." While Kennedy and his companions have been advised to eat more than 6,000 calories a day, the remnants of the disastrous raid, holed up in a deserted hunting cabin, faced starvation as they subsisted on lichen and then, once a rifle had been chanced upon, every single part of a reindeer apart from the hooves. The animal’s lichen-filled stomach sac was deemed the most nutritious. The hotels we stayed at were wonderful, especially the first hotel (the Revsnes) which was extremely welcoming and well presented. The food was excellent and I made a point of thanking the chef personally for his hard and very much appreciated efforts. In 1944 as Hitler faced defeat he tried one last gamble of an offensive on the Western Front. The result was the 'Battle of the Bulge'. But what the Germans did not know was the Allies were decoding their radio messages. With access to Eva Braun's personal photograph album, this programme reconstructs the final days in the Dictator's underground lair, and in particular it examines the possibility of escape for the selected few.

Join Norwegian recruits at a classified British training camp to learn infiltration and sabotage techniques. Witness a disastrous attempt to reach Telemark by glider and see why the plan nearly shut down the entire operation. Parachute onto a frozen lake, then take part in an exciting nighttime raid on the heavy water plant. And relive a thrilling, cross-country escape on skis...as a determined Nazi search party closes in. Then watch in horror as a controversial sabotage mission sends Hitler's last chance for an atomic weapon-along with innocent civilians- to the bottom of a cold Norwegian fjord. WESTERN EUROPE 1939-1945: RESISTANCE & SOE (HS 2/185)". The National Archives . Retrieved 17 February 2021. On April 30, 1943. a British submarine surfaced off the coast of Spain and dropped a body into the sea. The corpse was to play a central role in one of the most elaborate deceptions in military history. How did one decomposed body cause an uproar in the German High Command, dupe Adolf Hitler and ensure the success of an Allied invasion? And who, exactly, was the mysterious body? Discover the fascinating secrets of "The Corpse that Fooled the Axis." The historical consensus about the German nuclear weapons program is that it was a long way from producing a bomb, [29] even if the Norwegian heavy water had been produced and shipped at the maximum rate. However, the unsuccessful Operation Freshman and the efforts of the saboteurs in Swallow, Grouse and Gunnerside made the secret war on heavy-water production internationally known. Haukelid, Knut (1989). Skis against the atom. Minot, North Dakota: North American Heritage Press. ISBN 0-942323-07-6.

The hero of your book is a Norwegian whose code name was The Mailman. Tell us about Leif Tronstad.

The film is quite good, but it might have been better still. For much of the running time, it seems curiously subdued, with lots of scenes which don't quite screw home the tension as far as they could. The sequence in which the resistance fighters infiltrate the factory and attempt to destroy the German's heavy water supply should have been unbearably tense, but it kind of comes and goes without generating the necessary atmosphere. The closing sequence aboard a boat full of children is very well done, though, and there's another taut bit where Douglas and Jacobsen are almost caught snooping around the factory but manage to convince a passing guard that they are merely young lovebirds trying to find a quiet spot for a bit of private love-making. It was known in London and Washington that two German atomic physicists were working on nuclear fission, and it was assumed that heavy water had something to do with Hitler's threat of a secret weapon.