The Winter Fortress
Page 39
A work of history is often only as good as the primary sources available to the author. In this case, they were plentiful and rich. One of these was the Norges Hjemmefrontmuseum (NHM). It is a gem of an archive, and its staff are first-rate experts on the Norwegian homefront resistance. My appreciation to my guides there: Frode Faerøy, Ivar Kragland, Benjamin Geissert, and Arfinn Moland (who provided me with an unpublished interview with Gunnerside leader Rønneberg that ran over a hundred pages of pure gold). Rjukan’s Norsk Industriarbeidermuseum (VM) also held great treasure, and I would have been lost without its director, Kjetil Djuve, and Ingelinn Kårvand. Also a big thanks to the staffs at the National Archives (UK) who fielded innumerable requests on my behalf, as well as those at the Imperial War Museum, Niels Bohr Library, and Rensselaer Institute, among others. Without my translators, Carl Stoll and Mark McNaught, much of this material would have been indecipherable.
Once the research is done—and the first draft complete, another community comes to my side. A shoutout to my early readers, Carl Bartoli, Henry Bartoli, John Tuohy, and Mike Faley, who clarified atomic physics as well as the intricacies of B-17 bombing runs. As always, my first-line editor, Liz O’Donnell of the Little Red Pen, shaped and shifted and refined almost every paragraph in the book. I can never sing her praises enough. Thanks to my literary agent—and consigliere in all things publishing—Eric Lupfer at William Morris Endeavor, and his colleagues Ashley Fox, Simon Trewin, and Raffaella De Angelis. Eric brought me home to my longtime publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and my superb editor there, Susan Canavan. She’s a great champion for my work—and a friend. Kudos also to the always wonderful Megan Wilson, the marketing wizard Carla Gray, Jenny Xu, and Melissa Dobson.
And finally, thanks to Diane and our precious girls Charlotte and Julia, who live through the ups, downs, and in-betweens of the life of an author. You make it all worth it.
Notes
* * *
ABBREVIATIONS
National Archives, Kew, UK (TNA)
National Archives, College Park, MD (NA)
Niels Bohr Library and Archives, College Park, MD (NB)
Norges Hjemmefrontmuseum, Oslo (NHM)
Norsk Industriarbeidermuseum, Rjukan (VM)
Leif Tronstad Archive, NTNU, Dorabiblioteket, Trondheim (DORA)
Bundesarchiv-Militärchiv, Freiburg (Barch-MA)
Papers of Dan Kurzman, Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University (KA)
Imperial War Museum (IWM)
Papers of David Irving, German Atomic Bomb, British Online Archives (DIA)
Papers of Leif Tronstad, courtesy of Leif Tronstad Jr. (LTP)
Diary of Leif Tronstad, Papers of Leif Tronstad, courtesy of Leif Tronstad Jr. (LTD)
Papers of Einar Skinnarland, courtesy of Skinnarland Family (ESP)
Diary of Einar Skinnarland, courtesy of Skinnarland Family (ESD)
Interview with Joachim Rønneberg by Arfinn Moland, NHM (Rønneberg Interview, Moland)
Poulsson, Jens, “General Report on Work of Advance Party by Swallow,” NHM: Box 25 (Poulsson Report)
Haugland, Knut, “Wireless Service in the Grouse Group,” NHM: SOE, Box 23 (Haugland Report)
Rønneberg, Joachim, “Operation Gunnerside Report,” NHM: FOIV, Box D17 (Rønneberg Report)
Sørlie, Rolf, Unpublished Memoir, courtesy of Sørlie Family (Sørlie Memoir)
Brun, Jomar, Some Impressions from my work with Z, November 30, 1942, TNA: HS 8/955/DISR (Brun Report)
PROLOGUE
In a staggered line: Draft BBC Talk by Lieutenant Rønneberg, TNA: HS 7/181; Haukelid, 105–8; Rostøl and Amdal, 86; Rønneberg Report; Lunde, 99–101; Gallagher, 96–97.
Despite the distance: Report: Vemork Power Station and Electrolysis Plant, October 30, 1942, TNA: DEFE 2/219; Adamson and Klem, 138; Draft BBC Talk by Lieutenant Rønneberg, TNA: HS 7/181.
Standing at the edge: Interview with Haukelid, DIA: DJ 31; Berg, 128; Interview with Poulsson, IWM: Oral History 27189.
“to blow up a good”: Interview with Poulsson, IWM: 26625; Myklebust, 108.
“went west”: Ragnar Ulstein, Author Interview.
Back in England: Speech at the Imperial War Museum, 1978, DORA: L-0001.
1. THE WATER
On February 14, 1940: Biographical Note, Papiers de Jacques Allier. Archives Nationales, Paris; Goldsmith, 84–88.
Startled by the: Letter from Rjukan, Vedr. Tungt Vann, January 11, 1940, VM: Box 4F-D17-98; Norsk Hydro Heavy Water Discussion with Bjarne Eriksen, May 24, 1945, TNA: CAB 126/171.
Short of the false: Top Secret Report by J.C.W., March 6, 1946, TNA: CAB 126/171.
“At any price”: Goldsmith, 86.
For thousands of years: Norsk Hydro, Promotional Pamphlet, TNA: DEFE 2/221.
The river’s flow: Vemork Power Station and Electrolysis Plant, NHM: FOIV, Box 78; Norsk Hydro Report, September 14, 1942, TNA: HS 2/184.
The Amerian chemist: Rhodes, 270; Brun, 9; Report by D. R. Augood, December 1954, VM: JBrun, Box 17.
“50 tons of”: Per Dahl, Heavy Water, 41.
In 1933 Leif Tronstad: P. M. fra konferanse i Trondheim julen 1933, VM: Box 4F-D17-99; Brun, 10–13.
“Technology first, then”: Tronstad Family, Author Interview.
An early working: Brun, 14–20; “Interrogation of G. Syverstad,” TNA: HS 2/188; Per Dahl, Heavy Water, 41–48.
Researchers found: Njølstad, 60–61, 77–79; Brun, 9.
Vemork shipped: Olsen, 399; Advertisement for “Schweres Wasser,” VM: JBrun, Box 2.
In June 1939: Brun, 15.
“atoms and void”: Rhodes, 29.
“Could a proper detonator”: Ibid., 44.
Then, in 1932: Interview with Dr. Alan Morton, IWM: 26662; Per Dahl, Heavy Water, 62; Bertrand Goldschmidt, “The Supplies of Norwegian Heavy Water to France and the Early Development of Atomic Energy,” in Ole Grimnes, “The Allied Heavy Water Operations at Rjukan,” (IFS Info, 1995).
In December 1938: Rhodes, 251–54.
Springboarding off an: Ibid., 256–60.
One physicist calculated: Karlsch, 32.
“A little bomb”: Rhodes, 275.
By annexing Austria: Hargreaves, 11; Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, 599.
“This is not a question”: Langworth, 270.
“It’s about bombs”: Karlsch, 34.
Thirty-four years of: “Notes on Captured German Reports on Nuclear Physics,” TNA: AB 1/356; Bagge and Diebner, 157; Karlsch, 32.
“malarkey”: Bagge and Diebner, 21.
When those among: Ibid., 23; Powers, 15.
“possibility for the”: Letter from Harteck to Reich Ministry of War, April 24, 1939, Papers of Paul Harteck, Rensselaer Institute.
Otto Hahn, on: Interview with Heisenberg, DIA: DJ 31.
“If there is”: Bagge and Diebner, 23; Powers, 16.
Ten days later: Powers, 14.
Heisenberg made: Heisenberg Report, “Die Möglichkeiten der technischen Energiegewinnung aus der Uranspaltung,” NB: G-39 (German Reports on Atomic Energy); Cassidy, 422; Interview with Heisenberg, DIA: DJ 31; Per Dahl, Heavy Water, 52–54.
“greater than the”: Heisenberg Report, NB: G-39.
On the subject: Ibid.; Cassidy, 422.
In recognition of: Interview with C. F. von Weizsäcker, Oral History, NB; Rosbaud Report, NB: Goudsmit Papers, III, B27, F42.
By year’s end: Schaaf, 108; Letter from Heisenberg to Harteck, January 18, 1939, DIA: DJ 29; Letter to Rjukan Saltpeterfabriker, January 11, 1940, VM: Box 4F-D17-98; Letter from Harteck to Heisenberg, January 15, 1940, DIA: DJ 29; Walker, German National Socialism, 18–27.
By January 1940: Olsen, 399–400.
When Allier visited: Letter from Jomar Brun to Erik Lunde, October 28, 1968, VM: JBrun, Box 4; Brun, 16–18.
After settling these: Goldsmith, 87.
On March 9: Letter from Jomar Brun to Erik Lunde, October 28, 1968, VM: JBrun, Box 4; Per Dahl, Heavy Water, 108.
/> To smuggle out: Goldsmith, 86–89; Top Secret Report by J.C.W., March 6, 1946, TNA: CAB 126/145.
2. THE PROFESSOR
To Trondheim they: Haarr, 290–97; Fen, 34.
“proceed toward Trondheim”: Haarr, 294.
In an auditorium: Tronstad Family, Author Interview; Njølstad, 15–17. The author is deeply indebted to Olav Njølstad, whose wonderful and informative biography informs much of what we know about Leif Tronstad.
One among them: Interview with Haukelid, DIA: DJ 31.
Tronstad informed: N. A. Sørensen, “Minnetale over Professor Leif Tronstad,” LTP; Njølstad, 15–17.
“sleeping government”: Njølstad, 15.
Only a few days: Haarr, 64.
“What kind of”: Tronstad Family, Author Interview.
The day after: Petrow, 70–80.
Pockets of resistance: Fen, 50–51.
He was charged: N. A. Sørensen, “Minnetale over Professor Leif Tronstad,” LTP; Njølstad, 18–19.
On May 1: Njølstad, 18–20.
“We have cows there”: Tronstad Family, Author Interview.
Three months before: N. A. Sørensen, “Minnetale over Professor Leif Tronstad,” LTP; Jomar Brun, “Leif Tronstad,” Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskab, DORA: L-0001.
“I work as a slave”: Letter from Tronstad to Josefine Larsen, November 8, 1924, LTP.
“little angel”: Letter from Tronstad to Bassa, October 27, 1925, LTP.
“to wait until”: Letter from Tronstad to Bassa, May 10, 1928, LTP.
Emblazoned across the: Tronstad Family, Author Interview.
“A great day today”: July 23, 1943, LTD.
Talented not just: Njølstad, 55.
“If you like”: Tronstad Family, Author Interview.
He was soon: Ibid.; Håkon Flood, “Falt for Sitt Land,” DORA: L-0001; “Professor Leif Tronstad” (Nature, 1945), LTP.
On November 11: Report—“P. M. fra konferanse på Rjukan November 11, 1940 angående kapaciteten av tungtvannsanlegget,” November 11, 1940, VM: Box 4F-D17-98; Letter from A. Enger to Aktieselskabet Rjukanfos, November 19, 1940, VM: Box 4F-D17-98.
Shortly after Rjukan: Letter to Aktieselskabet Rjukanfos, June 11, 1940, VM: Box 4F-D17-99; Brun Report.
over the course: Report—“P. M. fra konferanse på Rjukan November 11, 1940 angående kapaciteten av tungtvannsanlegget.” Report—“P. M. fra konferanse på Rjukan November 11, 1940 angående kapaciteten av tungtvannsanlegget.”
In private: Jan Reimers, “Leif Tronstad slik jeg kjente ham,” NHM: Box 10B; Brun, 19–21; Njølstad, 30–32.
As for Brun: Brun Report.
In March 1941: Brun, 21–23; Letter to Aktieselskabet Rjukanfos, February 27, 1941, VM: Box 4F-D17-98.
“personally responsible”: Brun Report.
Soon after, Alf: Letter from Bjorn Rørholt to Jomar Brun, March 3, 1985, VM: JBrun, Box 17; Jan Reimers, “Leif Tronstad slik jeg kjente ham,” NHM: Box 10B.
Around this time: Brun, 22.
Realizing the importance: Njølstad, 36–40; Jan Reimers, “Leif Tronstad slik jeg kjente ham,” NHM: Box 10B.
On the morning: Letter from Bjorn Rørholt to Jomar Brun, March 3, 1985, VM: JBrun, Box 17; Interview with Bjorn Rørholt. NHM: Box 16.
“The Mailman must disappear”: Interview with Haakon Sørbye, NHM: Box 16.
“We must go”: “Fortalt av Hans Kone, Edla Tronstad,” February 1992, DORA: L-0001; Tronstad Family, Author Interview.
“Family, house and”: September 22, 1941, LTD.
At 10:15 a.m.: September 23, 1941, LTD; Njølstad, 41.
“I’m not afraid”: Tronstad Family, Author Interview.
In Oslo he: September 23–24, 1941, LTD.
“preferential treatment”: Letter from Tronstad to Bassa, September 22, 1941, LTP.
“Good for a single journey”: Leif Tronstad Passport, DORA: L-0001.
Aboard a bomber: October 19–21, 1941, LTD.
As arranged by SIS: Letter from Bjorn Rørholt to Jomar Brun, May 3, 1985, VM, JBrun, Box 17.
London, a city: October 21, 1941, LTD.
On his first Sunday: October 26, 1941, LTD.
The spy was: Kramish, 91–96; Powers, 282; Dorril, 134.
In fact, Tronstad soon: Powers, 53, 94.
Tronstad was open: Handwritten note, TNA: AB 1/355.
One day he met: October 21–December 1, 1941, LTD.
“acquainted with the particular”: Unsigned Letter, October 23, 1941, TNA: AB 1/355.
He was introduced: Urey Report, December 1, 1941, NA: Bush-Conant Papers.
During these weeks: Meeting of the Technical Committee, Tube Alloys, December 11, 1941, TNA: CAB 126/46; Rjukan Report, December 20, 1941, TNA: HS 2/184; Memorandum on Operation Clairvoyant, January 1, 1942, TNA: HS 2/218; Letter from Tronstad to Perrin, November 30, 1943, LTP.
“I want to be close”: November 6, 1941, LTD.
3. BONZO
Before dawn: TNA: HS 8/435, 14–17, 163–73; Jensen, 37–45; Lunde, 55–57.
At first glance: Personnel File of Haukelid, TNA: HS 9/676/4.
“siren of the fjords”: Life, April 18, 1938.
“Never give your”: Drummond, 56.
From the time he: Haukelid Family, Author Interview.
“This is your”: Haukelid, 43.
“Aim low. A bullet”: Jensen, 41.
“We killed so many”: Bailey, 44.
“Never smoke while”: Jensen, 42.
They blew up: History of the Training Section of SOE 1940–45, TNA: HS 8/435.
day after day: Ibid.
“One can go”: Myklebust, 54.
“He is a cool and calculating”: Personnel File of Haukelid, TNA: HS 9/676/4.
That same year: Haukelid Family, Author Interview.
One night, when: Letter to Dan Kurzman, KA.
At last, he returned: Haukelid Family, Author Interview.
In early April: Haukelid, 16–20.
“What are you doing?”: Haukelid Family, Author Interview.
“Remain true”: Johnson, 47.
Then he got word: Haukelid, 21–25.
Reichskommissar Terboven: Fen, 63; Johnson, 129–34, 285–87; Petrow, 99–124; Ivar Kragland Interview, IWM: 26660.
Then, in September 1941: Nøkleby, Gestapo, 49–53, 165–69; Kjelstadli, 118–24.
“to their knees”: Nøkleby, Josef Terboven, 171–72.
At the same time: Kjelstadli, 124–26.
Haukelid fled: Haukelid Family, Author Interview.
The former lawyer: Fehmer Report/Interrogation, NHM: FII, Fehmer.
Blond, six feet tall, intelligent: Resume of Interrogation of Tor Gulbrandsen, October 10, 1942, TNA: HS 2/129.
“He is in”: Haukelid Family, Author Interview; Haukelid, 31.
In fact, Haukelid: Haukelid, 42.
There, in an attic-floor: Ibid., 40–41; Ragnar Ulstein, Author Interview; Myklebust, 46–48; Rostøl and Amdal, 50–53; Lunde, 54–56. In his memoir, Haukelid sparingly details his meeting with Linge, primarily recounting how impressed he was with the Army captain. Memoirs of Kompani Linge recruits have, almost to a man, a similar recollection of the initial meeting with the officer.
“Are you married”: Myklebust, 46–48.
Marches through Stodham Park: History of the Training Section of SOE 1940–45, TNA: HS 8/435; TNA: HS 2/188; Jensen, 48–71; Haukelid, 43–44; Foot, 80.
“This is war, not”: Rigden, 362.
It was a merciless: Haukelid, 44.
“a really sound man”: Personnel File of Haugland, TNA: HS 9/676/2. Some of the personnel file of Haukelid was mistakenly inserted into Haugland’s file; thus the reference.
“We must organize”: Dalton, 368.
Culling staff and methods: Foot, 4–9; Stafford, 11–13.
On January 14: Personnel File of Haugland, TNA: HS 9/676/2.
Roughly 150 Norwegians: Jensen, 47; Myklebust, 66–67.
While Haukelid: Norwegian Section History,
TNA: HS 7/174, p. 27; John Wilson, “Great Britain and the Norwegian Resistance,” NHM: Box 50A; Petrow, 127–29.
The Lofoten debacle: Rønneberg Interview, Moland; “Minute to Minister,” February 1942, TNA: HS 8/321.
A dozen members: Progress Report of SOE for week ending January 28, 1942, TNA: HS 8/220.
Others, like Jens-Anton: Personnel File of Poulsson, TNA: HS 9/1205/1; Poulsson, 59.
For two weeks: Haukelid, 44–45.
The company showed: January 31–February 3, 1942, LTD; Njølstad, 102–3; Kjelstadli, 176–81.
Wilson told them: Sæter, 41; “Special Confidential Report,” TNA: HS 9/1605/3.
Wilson, who was: Wilson, 1–76.
“We want a country”: February 1, 1942, LTD; Njølstad, 103.
4. THE DAM-KEEPER’S SON
On Thursday, March: March 1–17, 1942, ESD; Hauge, 82–83.
For centuries: ESP.
In the sixteenth: Sagasfos, 24.
“shameless bodies of”: Nøkleby, Josef Terboven, 38.