JOACHIM ROENNENBERG, A NORWAEIGN BRITSH SPECIAL OPERATIONS AGENT , WW II WHO DESTROYED GERMAN HEAVY WATER PLANT
Joachim Holmboe Rønneberg, DSO (30 August 1919 – 21 October 2018) was a Norwegian Army officer and broadcaster. He was known for his resistance work during World War II, most notably commanding Operation Gunnerside, and his post-war war information work.World War II broke out when Rønneberg was a young adult, and Norway was occupied by Germany from April 1940. He joined Norwegian Independent Company 1 (NOR.I.C.1) (Norwegian: Kompani Linge) in 1941,having escaped Norway with eight friends by boat to Scotland the same year.He received military training in the United Kingdom and held the rank of Second Lieutenant.
Rønneberg, now a First Lieutenant and put in charge of training, selected and led the six-man Operation Gunnerside team, reinforcing the five-man team Grouse sent in earlier, during the heavy water sabotage action.[11] After landing at a location 45 kilometres (28 mi) from the other team Gunnerside spent five days waiting out an intense blizzard in an uninhabited hunting cabin before meeting up with Grouse.[13] The combined Norwegian team went into action against the Norsk Hydro heavy water production plant in Vemork in 1943, parachuting into the Hardangervidda plateau on 16 February.[10] Rønneberg led the demolition team when the saboteurs, on the night of 27–28 February 1943, entered the Norsk Hydro plant and set explosive charges. The team then escaped from the factory as the explosives went off, without the German guards discovering the saboteurs or indeed noticing that there had been an attack on the plant, probably believing that the heavy snow had set off one of their own land mines. Rønneberg recalled the dawn as they escaped: "It was a mackerel sky, it was a marvellous sunrise. We sat there very tired, very happy. Nobody said anything. That was a very special moment. Although chased by 2,800 German troopsfive of the saboteurs, led by Rønneberg, escaped safely to neutral Sweden by way of a 14-day march over a distance of 400 kilometres (250 mi)after the successful completion of their mission.The six other members of the sabotage team hid out in various locations in Norway without being caught by the GermansEighteen heavy water cells and around 500 kilograms (1,100 lb) of heavy water were destroyed during the attack,as well as a loss of production of 400 kilograms (880 lb) of heavy water.
After the war he began a career in broadcasting. He was hired in NRK Ålesund in 1948, was promoted to programme secretary in 1954 and sub-editor in 1977. He retired in 1988.[1] In the 1970s, from 1971, Rønneberg was governor of Rotary International's 128th district.He also participated in the rebuilding of Fieldfare Cabin in the valley Veltedalen in the summer of 1990, where he had hidden out the last year of the war with two other officers from NOR.I.C.1. Fieldfare Cabin today gives an image of Norwegian resistance during the war.
Joachim Holmboe Rønneberg, DSO (30 August 1919 – 21 October 2018) was a Norwegian Army officer and broadcaster. He was known for his resistance work during World War II, most notably commanding Operation Gunnerside, and his post-war war information work.World War II broke out when Rønneberg was a young adult, and Norway was occupied by Germany from April 1940. He joined Norwegian Independent Company 1 (NOR.I.C.1) (Norwegian: Kompani Linge) in 1941,having escaped Norway with eight friends by boat to Scotland the same year.He received military training in the United Kingdom and held the rank of Second Lieutenant.
Rønneberg, now a First Lieutenant and put in charge of training, selected and led the six-man Operation Gunnerside team, reinforcing the five-man team Grouse sent in earlier, during the heavy water sabotage action.[11] After landing at a location 45 kilometres (28 mi) from the other team Gunnerside spent five days waiting out an intense blizzard in an uninhabited hunting cabin before meeting up with Grouse.[13] The combined Norwegian team went into action against the Norsk Hydro heavy water production plant in Vemork in 1943, parachuting into the Hardangervidda plateau on 16 February.[10] Rønneberg led the demolition team when the saboteurs, on the night of 27–28 February 1943, entered the Norsk Hydro plant and set explosive charges. The team then escaped from the factory as the explosives went off, without the German guards discovering the saboteurs or indeed noticing that there had been an attack on the plant, probably believing that the heavy snow had set off one of their own land mines. Rønneberg recalled the dawn as they escaped: "It was a mackerel sky, it was a marvellous sunrise. We sat there very tired, very happy. Nobody said anything. That was a very special moment. Although chased by 2,800 German troopsfive of the saboteurs, led by Rønneberg, escaped safely to neutral Sweden by way of a 14-day march over a distance of 400 kilometres (250 mi)after the successful completion of their mission.The six other members of the sabotage team hid out in various locations in Norway without being caught by the GermansEighteen heavy water cells and around 500 kilograms (1,100 lb) of heavy water were destroyed during the attack,as well as a loss of production of 400 kilograms (880 lb) of heavy water.
After the war he began a career in broadcasting. He was hired in NRK Ålesund in 1948, was promoted to programme secretary in 1954 and sub-editor in 1977. He retired in 1988.[1] In the 1970s, from 1971, Rønneberg was governor of Rotary International's 128th district.He also participated in the rebuilding of Fieldfare Cabin in the valley Veltedalen in the summer of 1990, where he had hidden out the last year of the war with two other officers from NOR.I.C.1. Fieldfare Cabin today gives an image of Norwegian resistance during the war.
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