How a Sneak Attack By Norway’s Skiing Soldiers Deprived the Nazis of the Atomic Bomb
Seventy-five years ago, in Operation Gunnerside, a stealthy group of commandos took out a crucial Nazi chemical plant
By Timothy J. Jorgensen, The Conversation
smithsonian.com
February 27, 2018
After handing them their suicide capsules, Norwegian Royal Army Colonel Leif Tronstad informed his soldiers, “I cannot tell you why this mission is so important, but if you succeed, it will live in Norway’s memory for a hundred years.â€
These commandos did know, however, that an earlier attempt at the same mission by British soldiers had been a complete failure. Two gliders transporting the men had both crashed while en route to their target. The survivors were quickly captured by German soldiers, tortured and executed. If similarly captured, these Norwegians could expect the same fate as their British counterparts, hence the suicide pills.
Read more:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-sneak-attack-by-norways-skiing-soldiers-deprived-nazis-atomic-bomb-180968278/#1ybrrL7C01lybD4w.99
