Viking Magazine - Jan/Feb 2024 - 14

On Feb. 27, after months of planning, training,
intelligence gathering and a reconnaissance of
their infi ltration route earlier that day, nine future
legends made their way down from the plateau on
skis heading toward their target. Two stayed back,
ready to send results of the mission, good or bad,
back to London via Morse code.
Remarkably, the nine men made it into the
hydroelectric plant undetected and undertook
their tasks of watching the guards and placing
demolition charges.
Throughout their time
inside, no German became
aware of their presence.
Even when the explosives
detonated deep in the
basement and destroyed
the heavy water and its
means of production, the
saboteurs went undiscovered.
It was not until the
men were well on their
way across and up the
Måna River Gorge that
the fi rst alarms sounded.
By then, their head start
was unassailable.
They hid and rested in a hut back on the
Hardangervidda while a violent storm blew
outside, covering their ski tracks and denying
pursuit by the enemy. On March 4, they dispersed.
Several of them remained in Norway
to continue resistance work against
the Germans, while fi ve of the
Gunnerside men began a marathon
ski trek to safety in neutral Sweden.
It was the Operation Gunnerside
escape route to Sweden that I and
the others in my group were in
Norway to follow, to share some of
those same hardships, as our way of
honoring their service and sacrifi ce.
The Scottish adventure travel company, SOE
The Gunnerside fi ve back in England after their escape
to Sweden (clockwise from above left): Fredrik Kayser,
Kaspar Idland, Birger Strømsheim, Joachim Rønneberg
and Hans Storhaug.
the saboteurs, 80 years later to the minute, was an
emotional experience, fi lled with deep appreciation
and respect for what those young men did for
their king, their country and the world.
That evening, our team participated in the
national observations of the 80th anniversary of
the mission. Military
honors outdoors at the
saboteur monument were
followed by a moving
indoor ceremony in the
turbine hall, also part of
the industrial museum.
When the program concluded,
we stepped into
the clear, cold night and
began our climb up to
the Hardangervidda,
following the route of
the saboteurs along the
switchback road under
the Rjukan cable car.
We barely got to our fi rst hut before a storm
" A man is he
who walks until
he can walk no
longer, and then
walks twice as
far again. "
hit, and like the saboteurs, we sheltered inside and
rested all the next day. I sipped coffee and read
about their mission as the wind rattled the walls,
and ice crystals pelted the windows. My teammates
laughed, told stories of their military
service around the world and
enjoyed the camaraderie of a small
team with a shared goal, in service to
a cause greater than themselves.
After the storm passed, we skied
deeper into the frozen wilderness,
navigating by map and compass
heading north, then east, with Tank
occasionally pointing his ski pole at
a distant peak and telling us to pass
Expeditions-founded by a special operations
veteran of the British military-had organized
our Operation Gunnerside commemoration.
Americans, Scots, Brits, an Aussie and Tank
comprised our 12-man team. All but two of us
were military veterans. One was a documentary
fi lmmaker. Everyone was an experienced winter
warrior or athlete. Our ages ranged from 28 to 62.
After midnight on Feb. 28, 2023, we were granted
special access and toured the heavy water room,
now part of the Norwegian Industrial Workers
Museum in Vemork. To stand in the same spot as
14
Jan/Feb 2024
left or right of it. We swapped our rucksacks for
cargo sleds known as " pulks, " and found towing
them to be a more comfortable and effi cient way
to transport our gear. All day we labored up and
over rolling terrain in a single fi le, like a human
" Polar Express. " Each evening, we attained our
goal of a hut and were able to start a fi re, melt
snow for water, make dinner, dry clothes and plan
the next leg of the trek. Nights indoors were the
reward for the day's exertions and risks. We all
slept deeply and well.
After 10 days underway, we stopped just short of
the border. Our objective was Swedish boundary
sonsofnorway.com
PHOTO NORWEGIAN INDUSTRIAL WORKERS MUSEUM OPPOSITE (FROM ABOVE) SCOTICA FILM, MITCH UTTERBACK (2)

http://www.sonsofnorway.com

Viking Magazine - Jan/Feb 2024

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