A ceremony commemorating the actions of a Norwegian commando group known as Kompani Linge was recently held in Scotland.
When the Germans occupied Norway in World War II a number of Norwegian military personnel and members of the Norwegian resistance fled to Great Britain. Many of them were reconstituted into various Norwegian units that would re-enter the war against the Nazis. Some became members of the Kompani Linge and took part in a clandestine mission in 1943 to destroy a heavy water plant (to be used by the Germans for an atomic bomb).
The training was conducted by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and was known as Special Training School SPS26. The Norwegians were trained in their fighting and sabotage skills at a training camp named Glenmore near Aviemore, Scotland. Their mission was to attack the heavy water plant at Rjukan in Telemark in southern Norway.
Upon completion of training the Norwegians parachuted into Norway and prepared for and executed their difficult mission – known by some as Operation Gunnerside. The heavy water plant was later rebuilt and destroyed again by US bombers later in the war. There is a visitor center at Glenmore that is dedicated to the Norwegian unit and their mission.
Read more in:
“Scottish tribute to soldiers who foiled Nazis’ A-bomb”, BBC News, November 11, 2016.
“Norwegian heavy water sabotage”, Wikipedia.
