The Real Heroes Of Telemark

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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. The film is set in the region of Telemark (Norway) in 1942, when the allies found a document that irrefutably proved that German scientists were making progress in the search for atomic fission at the Vemork heavy water plant, situated next to the small town of Rjukan, and were in the middle of making an atomic bomb that would change the course of the war. 'Heavy water' is a chemical compound with a molecular formula equivalent to water, in which hydrogen atoms are replaced with deuterium, a heavy hydrogen isotope. After victory in North Africa, the Allies needed an ingenious ruse to disguise the true target of their next invasion. Meet the officer of Britain's top-secret Double-Cross Committee who devised the brilliant solution -- "The Man Who Never Was." Find out how a notorious German spy ring unknowingly helped to hatch the devious plan. And, for the first time, learn the true identity and tragic story of the man, who in death, was able to save many thousands of lives.

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.

Ebb and Flow, Evacuations and Landings by Merchant Ships in World War Two, Roy Martin ISBN 0955744121

The same story was also covered in the 1948 Franco-Norwegian film Kampen om tungtvannet ( La bataille de l'eau lourde — "The battle for heavy water"). Quite faithful to the real events, it even had many of the original Norwegian commandos starring as themselves. 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. In 1943 as the Germans were producing 'heavy water' to build their atomic bomb, the Norwegian resistance launched a daring raid against the Norsk Hydro plant. In July 1941, five months before the United States officially entered the war, a band of American pilots arrived in the Far East to fly against the Japanese in China. Known as the Flying Tigers, their superior flighting skills - and the distinctive shark-teeth markings on the noses of their aircraft - terrified enemy pilots. Discover how a tiny, hell-raising collection of U.S. flyers became one of the war's most successful fighting units... in "They Flew for China." The other two films mentioned above tell fictitious stories, but this one is based on a true story. It tells of the sabotage by the Norwegian Resistance of the Vemork Norsk Hydro plant, which the Nazis were using to produce heavy water, a substance used in nuclear fission. (Telemark is the name of the Norwegian county in which the plant is situated). Richard Harris, who also appeared in "The Guns of Navarone, stars as Knut Straud, the local resistance leader who leads the saboteurs; Douglas plays Dr Rolf Pedersen, a leading physicist.

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The unsuccessful raid alerted the Germans to Allied interest in their heavy-water production. [12] The surviving Norwegian Grouse team had a long wait in their mountain hideaway, subsisting on moss and lichen until they captured a reindeer just before Christmas. [12] Operation Gunnerside [ edit ] Reconstruction of the Operation Gunnerside team planting explosives to destroy the cascade of electrolysis chambers

BBC.Secrets.of.World.War.II.Set.1.13of14.The.Real.Heroes.of.Telemark.x264.AC3.MVGroup.org.mkv (792.53Mb) I have just completed the HOT Expedition and as I am sure you have seen from the blog we had a great time. Entering the plant was just as challenging. Rønneberg, who led the explosives team, relates that the group first tried to get in through a basement door, without success. The brief from London had told them to climb a stairway to a hole in the wall for the cable, and to follow the cable tunnel running below the ceiling of the ground floor of the plant. On 18 October 1942, a four-man team of Special Operations Executive (SOE)-trained Norwegian commandos parachuted into Norway. Since they had to ski a long distance to the plant from their drop point in the wilderness, considerable time was allotted for Operation Grouse. Unlike previous failed plans, Grouse required the team to memorize blueprints. [12] Powers, Thomas (1993). Heisenberg's War: the secret history of the German bomb. Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-394-51411-4.The Heroes of Telemark" is a 1965 film telling the story of the great bravery of people in the Norwegian resistance during World War II as they attempt to keep material for the atom bomb out of the hands of the Nazis. It stars Kirk Douglas, Richard Harris, Michael Redgrave and Ulla Jacobsen. Many thanks to Brian, Mat, Chris and Diane for all of their hard work and attention to detail, not to mention Ray's drive and vision for offering the course in the first place. When France was invaded, French nuclear scientist Frédéric Joliot-Curie took charge of the material and hid it in a Banque de France vault and then in a prison. Joliot-Curie moved it to Bordeaux, where it, research papers and most of the scientists (Joliot-Curie remained in France) boarded the British tramp steamer Broompark (one of the many merchant ships involved in saving over 200,000 troops and civilians in the three weeks after the Dunkirk evacuation). [10]

a b Rhodes, Richard (1995). The making of the atomic bomb. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9780684813783 . Retrieved 12 July 2009. 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 hear they are spending five million dollars, so it's got to be spectacular and that means more fiction and less fact", said Haukelid during filming. [1] The underwater war saw many innovations and a rapid increase in electronic technology, which eventually enabled the Allies to achieve ultimate victory. The Germans would have needed a total of about 5t (5.5 short tons) of heavy water to operate a nuclear reactor, and the manifest indicated that there was only 500kg (0.55 short tons) of heavy water being transported to Germany. The Hydro was carrying too little heavy water to supply one reactor, let alone the 10 or more tons of heavy water needed to make enough plutonium for a nuclear weapon. [28]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. Nazis and the Bomb". PBS. Archived from the original on 24 September 2017 . Retrieved 6 September 2017. Based on real events, the film tells the story of Norwegian resistance efforts to blow up the German heavy water factory high in the Norwegian mountains. When the attempt fails to be completely effective, the resistance finds themselves debating whether or not to sink a ferry on which the precious heavy water is being transported to Germany on – a ferry which also carries several dozen innocent civilians.