Operation Gunnerside

The 1943 sabotage of the Vemork heavy water plant in Norway

Overview

In February 1943 a team of Norwegian commandos trained by the Special Operations Executive parachuted onto the Hardangervidda plateau, joined an advance party already hiding in the mountains, and infiltrated the Vemork hydroelectric plant at Rjukan, which produced heavy water for German nuclear research. They destroyed the heavy water electrolysis cells without a shot fired, and all escaped, several skiing to Sweden. The raid followed the disastrous glider borne Operation Freshman of 1942. In 1944 the Norwegian resistance sank a ferry carrying the remaining heavy water stocks across Lake Tinn.