During World War II, Nazi Germany came very close to inventing the atomic bomb. If the intelligence services of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition did not use all their strength to slow down the nuclear programs of the Third Reich, the superweapon that the Fuhrer raved about could have saved him from defeat. One of the most important targets of the Allies was the secret factory in Vemork, Norway.
German school
In the early 1930s, several important breakthroughs in physics took place at once. Science has come close to the discovery of nuclear fission, or a chain reaction. At the forefront of research was the German physics school. In December 1938, Fritz Strassmann and Otto Hahn carried out the first artificial fission of the uranium atom in the world.
At the same time, the problem of slowing down neutrons was solved in order to turn the chain reaction into a controlled process. The property of the so-called heavy water, or deuterium oxide, was discovered. It differs from ordinary water only in that instead of two atoms of the usual light isotope of hydrogen (protium), each of its molecules contains two atoms of the heavy isotope of hydrogen (deuterium).
Back in 1934, the first industrial plant in the world was built at the plant of the Norwegian company Norsk Hydro in Vemork, which produced up to 12 tons of heavy water per year. True, at first it was just a by-product of fertilizer production. However, German specialists soon became interested in the plant. Why did they need heavy water, then no one thought.
In April 1939, the leaders of Germany received a letter from the professor at the University of Hamburg Paul Harteck, which revealed the fundamental possibility of creating a new type of explosive. It said that "the country that is the first to be able to master in practice the achievements of nuclear physics will acquire absolute superiority over others."
Soon, the Ministry of Science, Education and Public Education of Germany held a meeting under the leadership of Professor of Physics Abraham Esau "on a self-propagating nuclear reaction." Among others, Erwin Schumann, head of the research department of the weapons department of the ground forces of the Third Reich, was invited there.
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Harteck's letter was forwarded to physicist Kurt Diebner of the weapons department's science department. Already in June 1939, he was relieved of all duties, except for nuclear fission. Diebner was allowed to assemble a group of scientists who were "pulled" out of their institutes without any reasoning, provided funding and placed at their complete disposal at the Kummersdorf test site near Berlin.
In July 1939, Diebner organized the construction of the first reactor assembly in Germany. The German nuclear program was then at about the same stage as modern Iran before it was frozen. A huge batch of uranium ore was purchased from the Belgian firm Union Miner from the Congo, and heavy water was supplied from Vemork.
"Black grouse" and "Stranger"
The first to worry was French intelligence, which received information about a deal with the Belgians. However, Paris did not have a nuclear program of its own, and Bureau 2's intelligence specialists simply did not understand the true "scale of the disaster."
Nevertheless, before the start of the German invasion of Norway in April 1940, the French nevertheless decided to play it safe and took out stocks of heavy water from the Norsk Hydro plant. They agreed with the Norwegians that in the event of a threat of German occupation, all equipment would be blown up, but the owners of the plant either did not want or could not do this. Thus, the Germans soon received intact production at their disposal.
However, German physicists were mired in theoretical disputes and, as a result, led the nuclear program to a dead end. They expected to slow down the neutrons with graphite reflectors, but could not obtain graphite of the proper purity. In mid-1942, the Germans decided to return to the use of heavy water when designing a reactor and fissioning nuclei. Dr. Diebner enlisted the support of the military and flew to Vemork.
All this time the plant was producing fertilizers peacefully. It was located on the ledge of the Hardanger mountain plateau, the only road leading to it. Above, there was a power plant that fed the plant and a small village near it. The Germans immediately fortified the territory, making this part of the mountain range almost impregnable. The protection of the production buildings directly was entrusted to a separate SS battalion. The outer perimeter was under the tutelage of mountain rangers. The Vemork plant was protected from air attacks by large forces of anti-aircraft artillery.
In the fall of 1942, four reconnaissance groups, consisting of Norwegian officers, were sent to the Hardanger plateau as part of Operation Grouse, to collect information about the Norsk Hydro plant and possible approaches to it. They managed to get in touch with some employees of the plant and get valuable information.
In November 1942, the anti-Hitler operation "Stranger" was planned for the strike group of British commandos. It was decided to abandon the air raid so as not to endanger the surrounding population. The British were to land on gliders near Vemork and blow up the power plant that served the plant.
The group consisted of 34 people. One bomber with a glider attached to it lost its way and turned back. The second made it to the coast of Norway, but the glider crashed during landing. All the survivors were captured by the Germans. This is how Operation Stranger failed. But there was also a plus: it was conceived and executed so clumsily that the Germans did not even understand what the real purpose of the landing was. And most importantly, all four reconnaissance groups, abandoned in Norway earlier, remained in the game.
last try
"Black grouse" and "Stranger"
Plant "Norsk Hydro", producing heavy water
The building of the secret plant "Norsk Hydro" in Vemork, which produced heavy water
The first to worry was French intelligence, which received information about a deal with the Belgians. However, Paris did not have a nuclear program of its own, and Bureau 2's intelligence specialists simply did not understand the true "scale of the disaster."
Nevertheless, before the start of the German invasion of Norway in April 1940, the French nevertheless decided to play it safe and took out stocks of heavy water from the Norsk Hydro plant. They agreed with the Norwegians that in the event of a threat of German occupation, all equipment would be blown up, but the owners of the plant either did not want or could not do this. Thus, the Germans soon received intact production at their disposal.
However, German physicists were mired in theoretical disputes and, as a result, led the nuclear program to a dead end. They expected to slow down the neutrons with graphite reflectors, but could not obtain graphite of the proper purity. In mid-1942, the Germans decided to return to the use of heavy water when designing a reactor and fissioning nuclei. Dr. Diebner enlisted the support of the military and flew to Vemork.
All this time the plant was producing fertilizers peacefully. It was located on the ledge of the Hardanger mountain plateau, the only road leading to it. Above, there was a power plant that fed the plant and a small village near it. The Germans immediately fortified the territory, making this part of the mountain range almost impregnable. The protection of the production buildings directly was entrusted to a separate SS battalion. The outer perimeter was under the tutelage of mountain rangers. The Vemork plant was protected from air attacks by large forces of anti-aircraft artillery.
In the fall of 1942, four reconnaissance groups, consisting of Norwegian officers, were sent to the Hardanger plateau as part of Operation Grouse, to collect information about the Norsk Hydro plant and possible approaches to it. They managed to get in touch with some employees of the plant and get valuable information.
In November 1942, the anti-Hitler operation "Stranger" was planned for the strike group of British commandos. It was decided to abandon the air raid so as not to endanger the surrounding population. The British were to land on gliders near Vemork and blow up the power plant that served the plant.
The group consisted of 34 people. One bomber with a glider attached to it lost its way and turned back. The second made it to the coast of Norway, but the glider crashed during landing. All the survivors were captured by the Germans. This is how Operation Stranger failed. But there was also a plus: it was conceived and executed so clumsily that the Germans did not even understand what the real purpose of the landing was. And most importantly, all four reconnaissance groups, abandoned in Norway earlier, remained in the game.
last try
Meanwhile, several high-ranking Italian officers fell into the hands of American intelligence. They provided valuable information on the German nuclear program, although they themselves did not understand the essence of the issue. Major Martin Kaspere, for example, said that the Reich's Armaments Directorate is working on the creation of a fundamentally new explosive, in its power hundreds of times higher than anything known to science.
He also said that German scientists and the military in Africa were conducting exploration work to identify deposits of some heavy metals. In addition, he was aware of the important role of heavy water in German research. The Germans tried to transfer its production from Norway to Northern Italy, but failed.
The allies were seriously alarmed, but had no idea what could be done. In principle, they could only try their luck in Vemork again - all other objects were inaccessible to them. The Americans insisted on the bombing. The British were even ready for a large-scale landing operation with the involvement of the main forces of the fleet.
However, the head of the Scandinavian department of MI6 Jens-Anton Poulsson was able to convince the command to give another chance to the saboteurs. For this purpose, the fighters of the Linge company, manned by the best soldiers and officers of the Royal Norwegian Army, were selected. They have already completed several assignments on the Scandinavian Peninsula, underwent several stages of retraining under the English commando programs and volunteered for a dangerous mission.
A group of seven military men was led by the company commander Linge Joachim Rönneberg. Some time was spent on their additional preparation. They even brought in the Norwegian physics professor Leif Tronstad, who was familiar with the Vemork plant and the peculiarities of the technological process. The operation was called "Gunnerside" - the name of the village in Yorkshire, where the developer of the sabotage plan, Commander Charles Ambro, was born.
The group was supposed to fly to Norway, parachute to land on the ice of Lake Skrikken, connect with the saboteurs waiting for them and destroy the plant. The escape routes were outlined rather tentatively - all the participants understood that this could be a one-way road. In case of failure, the saboteurs were given ampoules with potassium cyanide.
No noise and dust
On January 14, a Halifax cargo plane delivered the group to the desired location. The landing was successful, the Germans did not notice anything. After 3 days, Rönneberg's detachment met with the rest of the saboteurs, who managed to prepare an excellent base. The route was also corrected on the spot. The paths outlined in the planning of Operation Gunnerside proved impassable in winter. This made the journey nearly 300 kilometers longer.
On February 27, the group stopped near the target. All unnecessary equipment was buried in the snow, it remained to overcome the absolutely smooth slopes of the hill 150 meters high, on which the plant was located. However, the Germans were not local there and did not have time to study all communications thoroughly. And Professor Tronstad told the saboteurs about a spare ventilation manifold, from where it was possible to get just into the workshop with heavy water.
There was only one problem: the mines were too narrow, and not everyone could crawl along them. In addition, this had to be done in a 30-degree frost in some light overalls - otherwise the saboteurs risked getting stuck. They were planning to pull them back by the safety cables. By the way, the last kilometers to the plant had to be done along the bed of a mountain river, waist-deep in water, so as not to leave traces.
At about midnight, the installation of charges began. To the great luck of the saboteurs, they never ran into guards.
Only a wire with a sign on it blocked the door of the spare manifold. Explosions thundered at 01:00. The heavy water workshop was completely destroyed.
The group departed in two routes: part of it made a 400-kilometer journey to neutral Sweden, and part to the north of Norway in order to continue sabotage activities. There were no losses. The most important facility and reserves of heavy water were destroyed, as they say, without noise and dust. This slowed down the work on the creation of the atomic bomb for at least 1.5 years.
The Germans rebuilt the plant for 0.5 years. Security was strengthened, all local residents were evicted from the 15-kilometer zone. But on November 16, 155 American bombers turned the entire Hardanger Plateau into a lifeless desert. Nothing remained of the Norsk Hydro plant.
In February 1945, German physicists in the Haigerloch laboratory were as close to creating an atomic bomb as ever. Their experiments yielded brilliant results, but there was not enough heavy water to make a working prototype. On April 23, American troops entered Haigerloch, ending the German nuclear program.
The true hero of this story, Joachim Rönneberg, passed away on October 21, 2018 at the age of 99.
Boris SHAROV