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Joachim Roenneberg, serving behind enemy lines in his native Norway during the German occupation, in 1943 blew up a plant producing heavy water, or D2O, a hydrogen-rich substance that was key to the later development of atomic bombs.
Picked by Britain's war-time Special Operations Executive to lead the raid when he was only 23 years old, Roenneberg was the youngest member of Operation Gunnerside, which penetrated and destroyed key parts of the heavily guarded Norsk Hydro plant.
The subject of books and documentaries as well as movies and a TV drama series, the attack took place without a single shot fired.
https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/operation-gunnerside
At the very least, Operation Gunnerside should be recognized as one of the most successful SOE missions during World War II. For a mission that Rønneberg and his squad frequently imagined as a one-way trip, the operation experienced no casualties and succeeded in temporarily destroying the Germans' single source of heavy water at the time. During wartime, time is of the essence and any kind of setback has disadvantages. Rønneberg later commented that London could have suffered a different fate and ended up 'looking like Hiroshima' if his team had failed.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday October 24 2018, @02:42AM
A humorous look at a grim topic.
After they blew up the Norsk Hydro plant, British Intelligence told the commandos that the NAZIs were going to take what was left of their heavy water inventory to Germany aboard some train tanker cars, and so requested they be destroyed.
The commandos protested that their would be... I can't recall the right word, but their concern was that many civilians would be murdered if they destroyed those tank cars. British Intelligence insisted they do so anyway.
And how did the commandoes destroy all those tanks of heavy water?
They bombed a fully-loaded passenger ferry. I Am Absolutely Serious. But they realized that the children would all drown, so at the very last minute the commandos staged a Life Jacket Drill.
Shortly after the war ended, Hitler's nuclear reactor was found deep underground. It was one-third full of heavy water.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]