Assault in Norway: Sabotaging The Nazi Nuclear Program

While teaching chemistry this year, I came across the word deuterium, which stands for what is called 'heavy water.' I was browsing around looking for more information on the difference between regular hydrogen, deuterium, and tritium, for my class...as I have found that the more history given in chemistry classes, the more the students are likely to remember technical information if they understand what it was used for.During WWII there was a perceived race between the Allies and Germany to be the first to come up with an atomic bomb. The Allies were right to be worried because most of the work on nuclear energy had been done in Germany prior to the war, by people like Einstein and Fermi. These men were quickly moved out of Germany, and into Britain and the U.S., as their minds were worth their weight in gold.One of the ways to cause a nuclear reaction is to use heavy water. Hydrogen under normal conditions has a proton and an electron, but no neutron within its nucleus. In order to start a nuclear reaction, a nucleus has to bombard uranium or plutonium, and regular water cannot supply that neutron. Deuterium is an isotope of hydrogen that has a neutron in its nucleus, and so can start a reaction.The Germans did not have access to heavy water, and this was part of the reason that they invaded Norway early, as Norway had an outstanding heavy water facility. Those involved in the production of the atomic bomb in this country were very concerned that the Nazis were about 2 years ahead of us in creating a bomb. This threat was enough to be of importance to Franklin Deleanor Roosevelt and winston Churchill, and to General Groves who was the military arm of the Los Alamos group creating the bomb in the U.S. Groves made it clear that the Norsk Hydra plant needed to be taken out of commission immediately.Both British and Norwegian loyalists were involved in this joint effort. Luckily the men who created the Norsk plant were in England and could give detailed instruction to the men who were to sabotage the plant. the first attempt at gliding British into Norway ended in disaster, when the gliders crashed, and those who survived the crash were murdered by theGermans. The second attempt, made up of all Norwegians, was more successful, and they not only blew up important parts of the plant, but made it home to Britain in safety.Unfortunately, the Germans were able to get the plant up and running sooner than expected, and were sending heavy water to Germany for safekeeping. This meant that another sabotage needed to be planned, one that would sink the barrels of heavy water in the deep part of a fjord. and this time the lives of innocent Norwegians were lost as they could not take the chance of alerting civilians and having the Germans suspect something.I wish the book had explained more about the chemistry of the heavy water, but the book was an enjoyable historical read, as so much of the information came first hand from those Norwegians involved. I found enough information on the Internet to explain the process using heavy water, and it is still used today in Canada.The Norwegians should be proud of the part they played in defeating the Germans...as someone of Norwegian ancestry, I am proud of what they sacrificed.Karen Sadler,Science Education

The story is essentially how a group of Norwegian saboteurs end the Nazi’s attempt of creating a nuclear bomb by raiding this Heavy Water plant in Norway. The author interviewed each of the operatives while they were still living so it includes first-hand accounts of events prior to, during, and after the main operation occurs. Also, it features quite a bit of details about cross country skiing which I absolutely loved. My grandpa taught me how to xc ski growing up and I love doing it every winter. He no longer skis because he’s much older now and he knows one fall could put him in bed for the rest of his life so its not worth the risk. I bought him a copy of this book for his 90th birthday and he loved it! Im reading it for the third time at the moment! Such an amazing story and expertly written!

A genuinely interesting work of history which tells the true story of amazing heroism of the Norwegian resistance in World War II. The Nazi government made many mistakes in their attempt to develop a nuclear program in general and atom bomb in particular. They miscalculated their calculation of the efficacy of graphite as a reaction modifier and concentrated all their efforts ondeuterium oxide known commonly as 'heavy water.' Prior to the start of World War II the only facility for heavy water production was the Norsk Hydro plant in the Telemark region Norway.Germany invaded Norway in 1940 and immediately demanded production of heavy water be increased dramatically, exclusively for German use.British SOE attempted to land two teams of combat engineers for the purpose of destroying the hydrogen plant in late 1942, but both teams crashed and several dozen British Army soldiers in uniform either died in the crashes or were summarily murdered by the Nazi under normal protocols. In February 1943 a small team of Norwegian Resistance fighters trained in England parachuted into the region and succeeded in destroying the final critical stage of deuterium production equipment. Later, following the bombing of the plant by the U S 8th Air Force, the Germans decided to send all accumulated heavy water to Germany. The train-ferry carrying the entire stock of heavy water was sunk by a 3-man Norwegian team, effectively ending the Nazi atomic program.Gallager tells this fascinating story in detail, yet the book is suspenseful and fast-paced.Norwegians are a people to be admired, now and then. An excellent book, highly recommended.

An excellent book I have nothing but praise for the way it was described and delivered as well as content.

Each book written about this story adds to the others. I learn something new about the mission from each one. The other 3 are “Skis against the atom”, “The real heroes of Telemark”, and “The winter fortress”. All excellent

Great read

An amazing account of how close the world as we know it may have been so very different. A few people took responsibility to to practically halt the Nazi race for the Nuclear bomb.