The Heavy Water Sabotage

At the outbreak of World War II, the Vemork hydroelectric plant at Rjukan in Telemark, Southern Norway was the only facility in Europe that produced heavy water in large-scale volumes. The barrels of heavy water that were rolled out were sent to Germany, where they were used to control nuclear fission.

2The sabotage of the Vemork power plant was planned by the British secret unit called the SOE (Special Operations Executive). SOE was formed out of existing secret departments in the UK.It was established for the purpose of conducting warfare by means other than direct military engagement. The mission of the SOE was to encourage and facilitate espionage and sabotage behind enemy lines and to serve as the core of a resistance movement in Britain itself in the possible event of an Axis invasion.

3Norwegians in London assisted in the plans to sabotage the heavy water unit at the Vemork power plant, and photographs and sketches of the plant were sent to London by Norwegian contacts at the facility, in particular Jomar Brun, who was the manager of the heavy water unit at Vemork.

二戰(zhàn)爆發(fā)伊始，挪威南部泰勒馬克郡留坎的韋莫克水電站是歐洲唯一大規(guī)摸生產(chǎn)重水的設(shè)施。這里生產(chǎn)出的一桶桶重水全被運(yùn)往德國(guó)用于控制核裂變。

2摧毀韋莫克電站的計(jì)劃是由英囯秘密單位特別行動(dòng)處（SOE）制定的。SOE 由英國(guó)現(xiàn)有秘密部門中抽調(diào)人員組成，目的是以直接交戰(zhàn)以外的方式作戰(zhàn)。SOE 的任務(wù)是鼓勵(lì)和支持?jǐn)澈蟮拈g諜和破壞活動(dòng)，另外，萬(wàn)一軸心國(guó)入侵，它將作為英國(guó)國(guó)內(nèi)抵抗運(yùn)動(dòng)的核心力量。

3在倫敦的挪威人參與了破壞韋莫克電站重水組的計(jì)劃。電站里的挪威聯(lián)絡(luò)人將工廠的照片和草圖發(fā)至倫敦，其中特別要提到一位叫約馬爾·布倫的聯(lián)絡(luò)人，他是韋莫克重水組的經(jīng)理。

41942 年10 月，SOE 挑 選出4 名訓(xùn)練有素的挪威突擊隊(duì)員，空投到哈當(dāng)厄高原，該地在留坎以西，距留坎及韋莫克電站還有不短的距離。冬天這幾個(gè)月，他們一直待在海拔約1200 米的高原上，好幾個(gè)星期除了青苔什么吃的都沒(méi)有，最后總算獵到一只馴鹿。

4In October 1942, 4 SOE hand-picked trained Norwegian commandoes were dropped by parachute onto the Hardangervidda mountain plateau, a good distance to the west of Rjukan and the Vemork plants. They stayed on the plateau, some 1,200 metres above sea level,throughout several winter months, eating nothing but moss for weeks before they finally shot a reindeer.

5In February an additional six SOE Norwegian commandoes were parachuted onto Hardangervidda to join the team. 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 75 meter long suspension bridge across the deep ravine.It was only after one of the commandoes, Claus Helberg, had been out on a couple of reconnaissance missions in the area that the group decided that the seemingly impossible task of climbing across the gorge could be attempted.

6One hour before midnight on February 27, the saboteurs climbed down the gorge and went across the ice-choked river, edged up the rock face on the other side, and emerged by the railway track to the plant.

7Even before the group of commandoes had landed in Norway, SOE had a Norwegian agent, Jomar Brun, within the plant who supplied detailed plans and schedule information. The saboteurs used this information to enter the main basement by a cable tunnel and through a window. The German guards heard nothing above the powerful drone of the generators.

5轉(zhuǎn)年2 月，SOE 又空投了6 名挪威突擊隊(duì)員到哈當(dāng)厄與4 人會(huì)合。要去韋莫克電站，執(zhí)行破壞任務(wù)的突擊隊(duì)必須穿過(guò)峽谷谷底的河流，因?yàn)樗麄儾荒軓臋M跨深谷75 米長(zhǎng)的懸索橋通過(guò)。突擊隊(duì)中一名叫克勞斯·赫爾貝格的隊(duì)員幾次偵察該地區(qū)后，突擊隊(duì)認(rèn)為可以嘗試跨越這道似乎不可能跨越的峽谷。

62月27日午夜前一個(gè)小時(shí),突擊隊(duì)員們爬到谷底，渡過(guò)浮冰堵塞的河道，慢慢攀上對(duì)岸巖壁，然后沿著鐵軌前往電站。

7在突擊隊(duì)空降挪威前，SOE 早就派挪威特工約馬爾·布倫在電站臥底，他為制訂計(jì)劃和時(shí)間表提供了詳細(xì)信息。突擊隊(duì)員根據(jù)這些信息通過(guò)電纜管道從窗戶進(jìn)入了中心地下室。由于發(fā)電機(jī)的嗡嗡聲太響，德國(guó)衛(wèi)兵什么也沒(méi)聽(tīng)見(jiàn)。

8兩名突擊隊(duì)員安裝好爆炸裝置。引線約可燃兩分鐘，但被切短到可燃3 0秒后點(diǎn)燃了。一名隊(duì)員有鑰匙，所以他們能夠迅速撤離。等德國(guó)人發(fā)現(xiàn)出了事，大批德國(guó)兵開(kāi)始涌向韋莫克電站時(shí)，突擊隊(duì)員們?cè)缫蜒刂F路線往留坎方向跑遠(yuǎn)了。

8Two of the saboteurs mounted the explosive charges. The fuses were about two minutes long, but they were cut down to 30 seconds and then lit. One of the saboteurs had a key so they could get out fast. By the time the Germans realized what had happened and soldiers started streaming up to the Vemork plant,the saboteurs were already far down the railway line on their way to Rjukan.

9It was very dark and the snow was deep but they all got away. Once back on the mountain plateau, the group split up. The explosives team travelled by ski,fully armed and in their camouflage uniforms, the 400 kilometres over the high country and across the valleys of Eastern Norway to Sweden. The others spread out over the plateau, and remained in Norway to carry out other operations under SOE command.

10The Germans brought in thousands of soldiers and organized an extensive search, but were unable to find any of the saboteurs. The action destroyed the facility and large quantities of heavy water only for a period of time.

11A couple of months later, SOE intelligence agents in Rjukan discovered that the Germans planned to ship all the semi-finished products from Vemork to research centres in Germany. The Allied forces were still concerned that the Germans possibly could use heavy water to develop nuclear weapons, although that was seen as unlikely.

9天很黑，積雪很深，但隊(duì)員們都逃出來(lái)了。一回到高原，突擊隊(duì)便分頭行動(dòng)：爆破組全副武裝身穿迷彩，滑雪板穿行400 千米，滑過(guò)高海拔地區(qū)，越過(guò)挪威東部的山谷，到達(dá)瑞典；其余隊(duì)員在高原上分散開(kāi)，繼續(xù)留在挪威執(zhí)行SOE指揮的其他軍事行動(dòng)。

10德囯人調(diào)來(lái)幾千名士兵，組織了全面搜索，但未能找到一個(gè)突擊隊(duì)員。盟軍此次行動(dòng)只是暫時(shí)破壞了電站設(shè)施、銷毀了大量重水。

12Orders came by radio from London to destroy the cargo during transport. The weakest line was the journey by the train ferry ‘Hydro’ over the Tinnsjo Lake. The heavy water cargo was closely guarded at all times, but the boat that was to transport the shipment stood unwatched the night before. One of the three saboteurs had experimented with a timer and detonating mechanism, and he tried to set the explosion to go off when it would be easiest to rescue passengers.

13The ferry’s departure was Sunday morning, 20 February 1944. Fortunately there were never many passengers on Sundays. The cargo was 53 passengers,some trucks including two trucks with 600 kilos of heavy water.

14The explosion came at 11 AM, when the ferry was at the deepest area of the lake. The bow was torn off and the ferry sank in a matter of minutes. 14 Norwegian civilians and 4 German soldiers died.

15The explosion on the Tinnsjo Lake ended the last chapter in the story of heavy water sabotage in Norway during the war.

11幾個(gè)月后，SOE 駐留坎的情報(bào)人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，德國(guó)人計(jì)劃用船把所有半成品從韋莫克運(yùn)往德囯的研究中心。盟軍仍然擔(dān)心德國(guó)可能利用重水研制核武器，雖然看起來(lái)可能性不大。

12倫敦方面通過(guò)無(wú)線電發(fā)出指令：在運(yùn)輸途中將貨物炸毀。在火車渡輪“海德羅”號(hào)過(guò)廷湖的那一段路時(shí)，守衛(wèi)最為薄弱。重水受到24 小時(shí)嚴(yán)密守護(hù)，但渡輪在裝運(yùn)重水的前一晚無(wú)人看守。三名突擊隊(duì)員中的一位已經(jīng)用計(jì)時(shí)器和爆炸裝置做過(guò)試驗(yàn),他設(shè)計(jì)將爆炸定在最容易救援落水乘客的時(shí)候。

13渡輪于1944 年2 月20 日星期天的早晨離港。幸運(yùn)的是星期天乘客一向不多。船上載有53 位乘客，還有幾輛卡車，其中就包括裝有600 千克重水的兩輛。

14上午11 點(diǎn)，爆炸聲響起，當(dāng)時(shí)渡輪正處于廷湖水最深的區(qū)域。船頭被炸開(kāi)，渡船幾分鐘就沉沒(méi)了。14 位挪威平民及4 個(gè)德國(guó)士兵身亡。

15廷湖爆炸為戰(zhàn)時(shí)挪威重水破壞行動(dòng)畫上了句號(hào)。