Hunting Hitler's Nukes
The Secret Race to Stop the Nazi Bomb
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Off the winter coast of Northern Europe a sleek grey submarine releases a lone operator into the teeth of Hitler's Reich. Across the North Sea a ship seized by desperados steams hell-for-leather for Britain, on a mission of untold daring. In Scotland saboteurs board wooden gliders, aiming to strike further and harder than ever before. On night-dark Norwegian waters commandos paddle a dinghy laden with explosives, intent on devastation and murder. And inland a warplane swoops low, dropping six operators on a mission that may change the course of history. This is the story of how Churchill's secret warriors waged a brutal war in the shadows, to stop Hitler from building an atom bomb and conquering humankind. Intent on showering London with radiological warheads, had Hitler won the race for nuclear supremacy he would have won the world.
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Damien Lewis's book lays out how close Hitler came to developing nuclear weapons. Even now, this prospect makes me shudder.
The action in this book focuses on Operation Freshman, Grouse and Gunnerside. These bring home the sacrifices and the incredible bravery shown by the men involved.
The production of heavy water was judged to be a serious enough threat that at least five separate attacks were launched during World War II.
:: On 18 October 1942, four Norwegian SOE (Special Operations Executive) agents were parachuted in on a reconnaissance operation code-named ‘Grouse'.
:: On 19 November 1942, Operation Freshman was conducted by the British as a Combined Operation involving the RAF and the Army. This used two Halifax bombers, each towing a glider. Three of these aircraft crashed. The survivors were captured and executed by the Germans.
:: In February 1943, SOE's Operation ‘Gunnerside' parachuted another six Norwegian agents into the area. They joined forces with the four from ‘Grouse'. They successfully attacked the Rjukan electrolysis plant on the night of 28 February-1 March 1943. This resulted in the loss of 500kg of heavy water and destruction of the heavy-water section of the plant.
:: On 16 November 1943, an American air raid took place, but there was minimal damage to the electrolysis building.
:: On 20 February 1944, a successful attack by Norwegian resistance sank the ferry “D/F Hydro” that was taking a shipment of heavy water to Germany.
Damien Lewis has an easy writing style. This means that it never feels like you're reading a textbook . One complaint is that sometimes Damien tries to overbuild the tension. But that's a minor issue and does not detract from enjoying the book.
All in all an incredible story of the bravery of a handful of men who may well have saved the world. Brilliantly told with amazing detail. You can almost feel the cold and the deprivation they suffered while preparing for their raids. Describing the harsh and harrowing reality of war too, when men are sent on desperate missions with little or no chance of survival.
We salute them.
