1 00:00:01,160 --> 00:00:04,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to steph you missed in history Class from how 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:13,480 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:17,160 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. Uh. This 4 00:00:17,239 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 1: is a continuation of our episode on the Ministry of 5 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:24,960 Speaker 1: Ungentlemanly Warfare. Just like part one, this episode, Part two 6 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:28,360 Speaker 1: is also sponsored by Focus Features. There is a new 7 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:31,840 Speaker 1: movie that is out called Darkest Hour, which features a 8 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:35,440 Speaker 1: very critical point in World War Two as seen through 9 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:38,640 Speaker 1: the lens of watching Winston Churchill deal with all of 10 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:40,839 Speaker 1: that and the pressures and really what he had to 11 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:43,440 Speaker 1: go through. Gary Oldman stars in it. He has gotten 12 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:48,319 Speaker 1: lauded for his amazing performance. It looks absolutely beautiful. I 13 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:50,760 Speaker 1: really think if you're into our show you might enjoy it. 14 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:53,120 Speaker 1: It's not a Winston Churchill biopic. It is literally just 15 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 1: about how he dealt with the pressures of suddenly having 16 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 1: to confront war as a new prime minister. But hey, 17 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:01,440 Speaker 1: if you have not listen to part one of this 18 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:03,840 Speaker 1: two parter, you're probably going to be a little bit 19 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:05,600 Speaker 1: lost if you just jump in right here, So go 20 00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:08,640 Speaker 1: back and listen to that first one. And as a 21 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:10,920 Speaker 1: quick recap for those of you who did listen to 22 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:14,000 Speaker 1: part one. We're we covered in that one the founding 23 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 1: of the Special Operations Executive, which is nicknamed the Ministry 24 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:20,440 Speaker 1: of Ungentlemanly Warfare, and we discussed two of its missions, 25 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:23,520 Speaker 1: and today we're going to delve into the stories of 26 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 1: two other missions and then talk about what became of 27 00:01:26,319 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 1: this super secret war effort after World War Two ended. 28 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:33,800 Speaker 1: So not long after Operation Anthropoid, which was something we 29 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:37,200 Speaker 1: talked about last episode, plans were underway to try to 30 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:42,360 Speaker 1: disable Raml's forces in North Africa. So cutting the supply 31 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:45,040 Speaker 1: lines to the Nazi forces in Africa was the most 32 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:48,120 Speaker 1: efficient way to impact them, and it wasn't long before 33 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:51,880 Speaker 1: the Gorgon Potamos railway viaduct, which was located in central Greece, 34 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:54,640 Speaker 1: was identified as a crucial point on the route that 35 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:59,559 Speaker 1: connected Athens with the port city of Thessaloniki. Two other 36 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:03,360 Speaker 1: had also been considered for destruction. In all of this, 37 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:07,200 Speaker 1: the plan was for a twelve man s o E 38 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:10,360 Speaker 1: team which was made up of British, New Zealander and 39 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:13,079 Speaker 1: Greek operators. There was actually only one Greek operator to 40 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:17,200 Speaker 1: parachute in make contact with the Greek resistance movement that 41 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:21,120 Speaker 1: was already in Greece, sabotage the bridge and then evacuate. 42 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 1: The twelve men were parted out into three groups, each 43 00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:29,120 Speaker 1: of its own leader, interpreter, combat engineer, and radio operator. 44 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:31,920 Speaker 1: They had a bit of a false start on the 45 00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:34,480 Speaker 1: initial drop attempt, which was on the night of September 46 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 1: to the they were supposed to be signal fires to 47 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:42,240 Speaker 1: guide them, but no fires had been lit in the 48 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:44,959 Speaker 1: three aircraft, each of them carrying a team, all returned 49 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:48,280 Speaker 1: to Cairo with the crews still on board. The drop 50 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:51,080 Speaker 1: was rescheduled for the next night, and this time it 51 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:54,079 Speaker 1: was a success, although the third group never saw their 52 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:56,640 Speaker 1: signal fire and ended up jumping close to an area 53 00:02:56,680 --> 00:02:59,760 Speaker 1: that was occupied by Italian troops. Yeah, after the first 54 00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:02,000 Speaker 1: night they were like, okay, even without the fires, we 55 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 1: were just going to aim for where we think it 56 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:06,000 Speaker 1: is and we're going anyway. So even though they didn't 57 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 1: have the fire, they were like, well, let's drop. And 58 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:10,600 Speaker 1: it was only after the s O S men were 59 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:13,600 Speaker 1: on the ground in Greece that the Gorgopotamus Viaduct was 60 00:03:13,639 --> 00:03:17,680 Speaker 1: selected as the best possible target. It had fewer Italian 61 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:20,280 Speaker 1: troops guarding it and better cover surrounding it than the 62 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:22,880 Speaker 1: other two bridges that had been looked at, and the 63 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:26,000 Speaker 1: sabotage of the bridge was finally scheduled almost two months 64 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:31,440 Speaker 1: after the drop into grease on November. The combined forces 65 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:34,800 Speaker 1: were separated into the groups with specific tasks. The railway 66 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 1: and telephone lines had to be cut on each end 67 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:39,680 Speaker 1: of the bridge had to be covered. A hundred men 68 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:42,400 Speaker 1: from the Greek guerrilla forces were ready to neutralize the 69 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:45,200 Speaker 1: access forces that were stationed at either end of the bridge, 70 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:47,840 Speaker 1: and then the demolitions teams had to travel into the 71 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:51,560 Speaker 1: gorge with mules to attach the explosives to the bridges 72 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: girders underneath. After the team split up, it initially seemed 73 00:03:56,480 --> 00:04:00,200 Speaker 1: as though something was wrong. The expected gunfire that would 74 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:02,400 Speaker 1: have started at either end of the bridge didn't begin 75 00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 1: on schedule, but it did finally start at each end 76 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:09,360 Speaker 1: after a short delay, but things went very differently on 77 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: the two ends. The south end of the viaduct was 78 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:15,480 Speaker 1: quickly won by the guerrillas and the Italian soldiers that 79 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:19,040 Speaker 1: were stationed there ran for their lives, but the Italian 80 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:22,680 Speaker 1: garrison on the north end was not so easily dispatched 81 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:26,000 Speaker 1: uh and after more than an hour of gunfire, the 82 00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:30,279 Speaker 1: mission commander, Colonel Eddie Meyers, the Royal Engineers, was given 83 00:04:30,279 --> 00:04:33,080 Speaker 1: word that the Italians actually had the upper hand. Even 84 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:36,800 Speaker 1: though this had been a sneak attack, Myers wisely had 85 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:39,440 Speaker 1: kept a small fighting force in reserve, and he sent 86 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:42,799 Speaker 1: those men to reinforce the guerrillas, and after a short 87 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:46,000 Speaker 1: but intense second wave of gunfire, the north end of 88 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:49,200 Speaker 1: the bridge was taken by the s OE forces. It 89 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:51,880 Speaker 1: was only after the garrisons on either end of the 90 00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:54,840 Speaker 1: bridge had been dealt with the explosives team could move 91 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:57,480 Speaker 1: into position without any worry that they'd be fired upon. 92 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:01,159 Speaker 1: They paid place to their explosives, struck the fuse caps, 93 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:03,599 Speaker 1: lit them, and then ran to get the safety. The 94 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:06,280 Speaker 1: blast was intense and it destroyed the viaduct, and then 95 00:05:06,279 --> 00:05:09,200 Speaker 1: a second round of charges was set to just really 96 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:13,839 Speaker 1: destroy it beyond all possible recovery. There were injuries to 97 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:16,159 Speaker 1: some of the attacking forces from the shrapnel, but no 98 00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:20,640 Speaker 1: one was killed, and once again, unfortunately, the Germans retaliated 99 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:25,240 Speaker 1: against the locals. Six team villagers were taken into custody 100 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:27,919 Speaker 1: and they were brought to the ruins of this bridge 101 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 1: and shot. After the mission, plans changed for Colonel Myers 102 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:35,760 Speaker 1: and his team. Instead of being evacuated, they were tasked 103 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:39,120 Speaker 1: with staying in Greece and organizing the guerrilla forces into 104 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:42,240 Speaker 1: a unified army. This was no small feat. There was 105 00:05:42,279 --> 00:05:45,159 Speaker 1: a lot of infighting and rivalry among the various Greek 106 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 1: resistance groups, but Myers was able to bring a five 107 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:51,960 Speaker 1: thousand man army together, and that army continued to perform 108 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:57,680 Speaker 1: acts of sabotage all around Greece. The last se operation 109 00:05:57,720 --> 00:05:59,960 Speaker 1: that we're going to cover in this episode is credit 110 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:02,440 Speaker 1: did with putting a stop to the Nazi development of 111 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:07,560 Speaker 1: an atomic bomb. Germany had occupied Norway in nineteen forty 112 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:10,760 Speaker 1: and had captured the Norse hydro heavy water factory called 113 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:14,800 Speaker 1: the Mark just outside Kruken in Norway, and the location 114 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:17,720 Speaker 1: of this plant was and continues to be roughly one 115 00:06:17,839 --> 00:06:21,280 Speaker 1: hundred miles to the west of Oslo. The Nazis had 116 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:24,440 Speaker 1: ordered an increase in the production of deuterium oxide, which 117 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:27,000 Speaker 1: is more commonly known as heavy water, which was an 118 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:30,360 Speaker 1: indicator that they were working on an atomic bomb. The 119 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:33,719 Speaker 1: Germans had actually had an atomic bomb in nuclear research 120 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:38,000 Speaker 1: program since nineteen thirty nine. Business Kurt Deepner led the 121 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:43,080 Speaker 1: project called Uranium Club and it included Werner Heisenberg among 122 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 1: its scientists. The Nazis had made that increase request almost 123 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:51,600 Speaker 1: immediately after taking the plant, and the Allies at that 124 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:54,880 Speaker 1: point had no idea how far along a Nazi project 125 00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:58,680 Speaker 1: in atomic bombs might be. But in ninety two, the 126 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:02,320 Speaker 1: Nazis increased production heavy water from the Vermorgue plant again, 127 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:05,440 Speaker 1: this time from a production rate of three hundred pounds 128 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:07,920 Speaker 1: a year, which had been the level after the first increase, 129 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:11,760 Speaker 1: to ten thousand pounds a year. So clearly this was 130 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:14,600 Speaker 1: perceived as a massive threat and thus became a target 131 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:18,720 Speaker 1: of the s o S efforts. Churchill's friend and science advisor, 132 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:23,280 Speaker 1: the British physicist Frederick Lindemann, informed Churchill that the Germans 133 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:26,240 Speaker 1: were stockpiling heavy water that they had accumulated one and 134 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:29,520 Speaker 1: a half tons. They could potentially create a weapon more 135 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:32,320 Speaker 1: powerful than anything that had been seen before once they 136 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:36,080 Speaker 1: had five tons to work with. So a multi stage 137 00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:39,720 Speaker 1: mission was planned to take down the plant. The first stage, 138 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:45,480 Speaker 1: called Operation Grouse, was planned to drop Norwegian guerrillas into Norway, 139 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:49,600 Speaker 1: and this was successfully executed in October of n So 140 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:51,600 Speaker 1: those were people that had fled, and then we're dropped 141 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:55,400 Speaker 1: back in the second stage, which was codenamed Operation Freshman 142 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:59,680 Speaker 1: and intended to land British commandos in Norway to rendezvous 143 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:04,440 Speaker 1: with that initial group. Went terribly awry. The aircraft carrying 144 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:08,160 Speaker 1: the British men into Norway crashed and fifteen people were killed. 145 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:12,720 Speaker 1: The survivors were all captured, some killed immediately, some tortured 146 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:17,280 Speaker 1: before being executed. The failure of Operation Freshman cast doubt 147 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:21,000 Speaker 1: on the entire mission, but the possibility of Nazis creating 148 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:23,960 Speaker 1: an atomic bomb was so great a danger that something 149 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:26,600 Speaker 1: had to be done. So to complete this mission, the 150 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:31,120 Speaker 1: s OE needed Norwegian saboteurs. Yeah, there were actually two 151 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:35,240 Speaker 1: different aircraft and it was a one crashed and those 152 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:37,120 Speaker 1: are the people that were killed immediately, and the other 153 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:39,200 Speaker 1: had a crash landing, and those are the men that 154 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:43,240 Speaker 1: were taken into captivity. Um, we're gonna talk about the 155 00:08:43,240 --> 00:08:48,480 Speaker 1: sources of some of the Special Operation executives best information 156 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:51,200 Speaker 1: about the North Chydro plant in just a moment, But 157 00:08:51,240 --> 00:09:00,000 Speaker 1: first we're gonna pause for a sponsor break. A professor 158 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:04,120 Speaker 1: chemistry at the University of Trondheim, Life Transtad had been 159 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:06,640 Speaker 1: the mastermind behind the work of the Vermorque plant in 160 00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:10,520 Speaker 1: the nineteen thirties. Transtad had fought against the Germans when 161 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:13,480 Speaker 1: they invaded Norway, and when his home country was defeated, 162 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:16,560 Speaker 1: he went back to his job, but he also began 163 00:09:16,679 --> 00:09:20,760 Speaker 1: feeding the Allies information anonymously about the Vermorgue plant in 164 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:25,480 Speaker 1: Germany's interest in it. Transtad had attempted to foul the 165 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:28,760 Speaker 1: existing stock pile of heavy water at the plant once 166 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:31,760 Speaker 1: the Germans had occupied it by adding cod liver oil. 167 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:35,040 Speaker 1: He fell under some suspicion and he fled Norway, leaving 168 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:38,560 Speaker 1: his family behind, going first to Sweden and then to England. 169 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:41,360 Speaker 1: It was only after he arrived in England that he 170 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:44,600 Speaker 1: went back and revealed himself as the anonymous source who 171 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:47,160 Speaker 1: had been sending intel to the Allies from within the 172 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:53,079 Speaker 1: hydro facility. Transtad convinced Allied forces that bombing Vemork, something 173 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:56,400 Speaker 1: that was considered after the failure of Operation Freshman, was 174 00:09:56,440 --> 00:09:58,480 Speaker 1: a really bad idea and that it would lead to 175 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:01,320 Speaker 1: a lot of civilian casualty, and that all that effort 176 00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:03,760 Speaker 1: would likely not even touch the key components they were 177 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:07,439 Speaker 1: targeting because those were kept in a highly reinforced underground 178 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:11,080 Speaker 1: part of the facility, so Trum's dad offered up all 179 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:13,200 Speaker 1: of the info that he possibly could to the s 180 00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:17,080 Speaker 1: o E to assist in planning an alternate approach. He 181 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:20,520 Speaker 1: described the entire layout of the facility to the s 182 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:24,040 Speaker 1: o E and then another employee from North kidro on 183 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:27,240 Speaker 1: Our skinner Land, also made an escape from Norway aboard 184 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:30,360 Speaker 1: a commandeered steamer with five other men. He had gone 185 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:33,520 Speaker 1: to London to tell the authorities about the latest increase 186 00:10:33,559 --> 00:10:37,400 Speaker 1: in heavy water production. Additionally, the man who had replaced 187 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:41,480 Speaker 1: tron Stat at the plant, Yomar Bruin, also wanted to 188 00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:44,840 Speaker 1: sabotage the Germans and started taking micro photographs of the 189 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:49,320 Speaker 1: plant and sending them to London in toothpaste tubes. Yeah, 190 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:51,839 Speaker 1: all of these Norwegian physicists were like, we were working 191 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:54,640 Speaker 1: on something really cool and you ruined it, and we're 192 00:10:54,679 --> 00:10:56,480 Speaker 1: gonna do at everything we can to fight you, which 193 00:10:56,520 --> 00:10:59,640 Speaker 1: I love. The Norwegian team was trained by the s 194 00:10:59,679 --> 00:11:02,920 Speaker 1: o E, first in their general training facility in Scotland 195 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:06,480 Speaker 1: and then for mission specific training at a hurt Forshire 196 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:10,600 Speaker 1: mansion called Brigdenbury Manor, and there they practiced their mission 197 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:13,240 Speaker 1: plan in a replica of the heavy water room at 198 00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:15,959 Speaker 1: the Vermort plant, which had been built in an outbuilding 199 00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:18,880 Speaker 1: on the property. Using the photographs from Bruin and the 200 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:23,160 Speaker 1: descriptions from Transtad for reference. One of the interesting aspects 201 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:25,080 Speaker 1: of the mission was a step taken to try to 202 00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:28,880 Speaker 1: protect the locals from violent retribution that the Nazis said 203 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:32,240 Speaker 1: at this point become known for to offset the odds 204 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:35,079 Speaker 1: that Norwegians who were living near the North Chydro plant 205 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:38,040 Speaker 1: would take the blame if the s OE operatives are captured. 206 00:11:38,559 --> 00:11:42,280 Speaker 1: They all had on British uniforms under their snowsuits. This 207 00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:45,080 Speaker 1: is a good example of how Churchill's Secret Force was 208 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:48,320 Speaker 1: trying to mitigate the collateral damage that was being caused 209 00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:51,760 Speaker 1: by their missions. Yeah, that was actually really important to 210 00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:56,239 Speaker 1: the people that were working in the ministry, Like they 211 00:11:56,800 --> 00:11:59,280 Speaker 1: you recognize that there's collateral damage in war, but they 212 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:02,400 Speaker 1: worked really hard to try to minimize it. The team 213 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:05,200 Speaker 1: rehearsed their plan over and over, even in the dark, 214 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:07,440 Speaker 1: so that they would be able to execute the mission 215 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:12,280 Speaker 1: quietly and efficiently when the time came. So precise was 216 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:15,280 Speaker 1: the information supplied by Transtad, even down to where the 217 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:18,240 Speaker 1: bathroom keys were kept, that the men who had never 218 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:20,440 Speaker 1: been in the building, felt as though they knew it 219 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:22,600 Speaker 1: as well as if they had worked there for years 220 00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:26,520 Speaker 1: and years. While the saboteurs chosen for the mission didn't 221 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:29,640 Speaker 1: know exactly what the significance of this plant was, they 222 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:32,679 Speaker 1: understood that it was incredibly important and that the whole 223 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:36,120 Speaker 1: thing was risky. They were given sanide death pills to 224 00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:39,080 Speaker 1: take in the event of capture. It was made really 225 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:41,320 Speaker 1: clear to them that there was a high likelihood that 226 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:44,640 Speaker 1: they were not going to survive. Transtad told one of 227 00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:46,680 Speaker 1: the men, for the sake of those who have gone 228 00:12:46,679 --> 00:12:49,240 Speaker 1: before you and are now dead, I urge you to 229 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:52,439 Speaker 1: make this operation a success. You have no idea how 230 00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:54,680 Speaker 1: important this mission is, but what you were going to 231 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:57,240 Speaker 1: do will live in Norway's history for hundreds of years 232 00:12:57,280 --> 00:13:02,640 Speaker 1: to come. On February steenth three, the group was finally 233 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:06,120 Speaker 1: dropped into the Norwegian wilderness. They were dropped with so 234 00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:09,520 Speaker 1: many supplies to survive the freezing cold that even though 235 00:13:09,559 --> 00:13:12,960 Speaker 1: they landed almost perfectly, it took them in four hours 236 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:15,600 Speaker 1: to gather up everything, in part because one of a 237 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:18,920 Speaker 1: dozen containers filled with supplies had been blown off course 238 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:22,560 Speaker 1: by a gust of wind. But after they got everything together, 239 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:25,720 Speaker 1: a blizzard set in, and the men who were attempting 240 00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:27,720 Speaker 1: to rendezvous with the group that had been dropped in 241 00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:32,760 Speaker 1: October during Operation Grouse were fortunate enough to literally stumble 242 00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:35,640 Speaker 1: upon a hut that was normally used by hunters, and 243 00:13:35,679 --> 00:13:38,880 Speaker 1: so that accidental discovery of shelter in this blizzard almost 244 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:42,840 Speaker 1: certainly saved their lives and the mission. They sheltered in 245 00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:46,480 Speaker 1: the hut until February, and that day they were located 246 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:49,040 Speaker 1: by the Grouse team, who had been surviving the harsh 247 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:53,280 Speaker 1: winter conditions by eating the occasional reindeer, but more consistently 248 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:56,760 Speaker 1: eating moss. After the capture of the survivors of the 249 00:13:56,800 --> 00:13:59,560 Speaker 1: Operation Freshman team, the Grouse group had needed to stay 250 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:03,200 Speaker 1: hidden in the wilderness to avoid capture themselves. So after 251 00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:06,040 Speaker 1: months of living in these grueling conditions, they were not 252 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:08,920 Speaker 1: in great shape, but they were ready to complete the mission. 253 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:13,120 Speaker 1: That mission, codenamed Operation Gunner Side, was carried out just 254 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:19,960 Speaker 1: five days later on February. The only direct access to 255 00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:22,800 Speaker 1: the plant was a suspension bridge, and there was of 256 00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:26,600 Speaker 1: course constant surveillance of that bridge because it sat on 257 00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:29,520 Speaker 1: the precipice of a cliff. The only other options to 258 00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:32,080 Speaker 1: reach the mark were to come at it from above, 259 00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:35,680 Speaker 1: which include which involved traversing a very steep slope littered 260 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:39,320 Speaker 1: with mines, or to scale the cliff wall and approach 261 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:42,640 Speaker 1: it from below. And the team that had parachuted in 262 00:14:42,680 --> 00:14:46,160 Speaker 1: and surveilled the situation opted to climb the five hundred 263 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:49,520 Speaker 1: foot that's a hundred fifty two cliff in the freezing 264 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:52,240 Speaker 1: cold of winter and in the dead of night, and 265 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:54,480 Speaker 1: that meant that they first had to climb down into 266 00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:56,880 Speaker 1: a gorge and then make their way across the river 267 00:14:57,000 --> 00:14:59,880 Speaker 1: there via ice bridge, which they could only hope was 268 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,240 Speaker 1: going to hold their weight. After they crossed the river, 269 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:05,680 Speaker 1: the men still had to climb the cliff wall so 270 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:08,400 Speaker 1: that they could follow a single track railway onto the 271 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:11,520 Speaker 1: plant property. The group was carrying a lot of gear, 272 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:13,960 Speaker 1: which made this trek and the climb even more of 273 00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:17,640 Speaker 1: a challenge. Each man had a pistol, a knife, and grenades, 274 00:15:17,880 --> 00:15:20,960 Speaker 1: and they also collectively carried two sniper rifles and five 275 00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:24,280 Speaker 1: Tommy guns. On top of that, they had the explosive 276 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:28,160 Speaker 1: that were intended for the plant. Climbing up the face 277 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:32,880 Speaker 1: of a frozen cliff wall that high sounds utterly terrifying 278 00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:36,200 Speaker 1: to me, and then to add like full kit to it, 279 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:40,040 Speaker 1: I have so much respect for these people. Briefly, once 280 00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:42,440 Speaker 1: they had finished scaling that cliff, the men paused in 281 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:45,160 Speaker 1: the shadow of an outbuilding so that they could rest 282 00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:48,200 Speaker 1: and to prepare for the next steps. They ate some 283 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:52,000 Speaker 1: chocolate and they all sat very calm and ready, and 284 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:55,720 Speaker 1: several of the group would later describe feeling very confident 285 00:15:55,760 --> 00:15:58,480 Speaker 1: in that moment and thankful for the training that had 286 00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:01,760 Speaker 1: readied them for the job ahead. Once they got to 287 00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:04,680 Speaker 1: the fence outside the facility, a pair of bolt cutters 288 00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:06,880 Speaker 1: were used to cut an opening that the team could 289 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:10,800 Speaker 1: pass through. The British military supplied a hacks off for 290 00:16:10,920 --> 00:16:14,920 Speaker 1: these kinds of instances, but the team lead, walk him Runeberg, 291 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:17,440 Speaker 1: had purchased the cutters himself for the trip. He was 292 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:19,600 Speaker 1: afraid that a hack saw would take too long and 293 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:22,840 Speaker 1: attract attention. The centuries on guard at the gates were 294 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:25,720 Speaker 1: completely oblivious, so the bolt cutters seemed to have been 295 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:29,680 Speaker 1: the perfect choice. And before we jump into the final 296 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:32,640 Speaker 1: phase of this incredibly daring mission, we're going to catch 297 00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:40,520 Speaker 1: our breath with a short little sponsor break. There were 298 00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:44,160 Speaker 1: two squads that split apart. Once they were inside, four 299 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:47,240 Speaker 1: men to handle the explosives and the rest to provide cover. 300 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:50,520 Speaker 1: The cover party headed into the plant into an upper 301 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:54,240 Speaker 1: platform where they can watch the guards. The explosives group 302 00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:57,880 Speaker 1: then sort of accidentally, it seems like, subdivided into team 303 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:00,360 Speaker 1: into two teams. So the pair that was led by 304 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:03,760 Speaker 1: Roneberg made their way to a door that was supposed 305 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:06,040 Speaker 1: to have been unlocked, but it was not. It turned 306 00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:08,679 Speaker 1: out that one of their accomplices that was supposed to 307 00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:11,240 Speaker 1: prepare that door and make sure it was unlocked had 308 00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:13,520 Speaker 1: gotten sick and did not get into work that day. 309 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:16,560 Speaker 1: And this is actually when all of that time familiarizing 310 00:17:16,560 --> 00:17:19,240 Speaker 1: themselves with the floor plans of the facility really paid off, 311 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:22,760 Speaker 1: because Ronneberg knew that there was an alternate route, an 312 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:25,760 Speaker 1: access tunnel. It was like a cable passed through that 313 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:28,200 Speaker 1: was large enough for a man to crawl through, which 314 00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:31,840 Speaker 1: led straight to the target area. They got through their crawl, 315 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:34,639 Speaker 1: still carrying their explosives, and made their way to a 316 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:38,000 Speaker 1: high concentration room and subdued the guard there, who had 317 00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:40,840 Speaker 1: no idea they were there until they had a gun 318 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:44,119 Speaker 1: to his head. As the explosive charges are being placed 319 00:17:44,119 --> 00:17:47,879 Speaker 1: on metal cylinder water production cells. The second two man group, 320 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:50,760 Speaker 1: which also had to improvise their entry into the room, 321 00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:54,560 Speaker 1: got there. Ronaberg had expected the second pair to follow 322 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:56,800 Speaker 1: his lead through this tunnel, but they had missed it 323 00:17:56,840 --> 00:17:59,439 Speaker 1: and had come in an alternate way from above and 324 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:02,760 Speaker 1: through a w indo. The group checked all of their 325 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:05,760 Speaker 1: charges once they were placed, and they felt so confident, 326 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:08,119 Speaker 1: and they were so worried that their otherwise perfect mission 327 00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:11,000 Speaker 1: to be ruined if the time delays on the explosives 328 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:13,879 Speaker 1: took too long, that they actually reset them from the 329 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:17,760 Speaker 1: planned two minutes to thirty seconds, and in an odd 330 00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:21,439 Speaker 1: moment of levity that's described in their accounts, the guard 331 00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:24,200 Speaker 1: that they had captured actually asked if he could please 332 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:27,800 Speaker 1: retrieve his glasses before the charges were blown, because apparently 333 00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:29,399 Speaker 1: they weren't kind he loved and they were going to 334 00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:32,639 Speaker 1: be hard to replace. And Runeberg's team obliged, and then 335 00:18:32,680 --> 00:18:35,359 Speaker 1: they told him that he needed to take cover the 336 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:37,520 Speaker 1: team with the fuses, and they made their way out 337 00:18:37,520 --> 00:18:40,200 Speaker 1: of the building, clearing it by about twenty yards, which 338 00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:43,800 Speaker 1: is about eighteen meters. Before they heard the explosion, it 339 00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:46,640 Speaker 1: was a quieter and a more muffled sound than they 340 00:18:46,640 --> 00:18:49,359 Speaker 1: had expected, and the men were disappointed that they didn't 341 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:52,760 Speaker 1: get the satisfaction of a massive bang, but the charges 342 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:57,160 Speaker 1: had worked exactly as they were designed to. The men 343 00:18:57,280 --> 00:19:00,000 Speaker 1: who had made up the cover party rejoined the explosive 344 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:02,960 Speaker 1: group on the railway tracks and they made their way 345 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:05,920 Speaker 1: back across the ice bridge, and they had a few 346 00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:08,480 Speaker 1: near misses as the man hunt began. It actually took 347 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:11,000 Speaker 1: a little while for the guards at the plant to 348 00:19:11,119 --> 00:19:13,719 Speaker 1: realize what had happened, because they had been so stealthy 349 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:17,320 Speaker 1: about the whole thing. But then once they realized that 350 00:19:17,359 --> 00:19:20,040 Speaker 1: there had been sabotage, everyone scrambled and there were a 351 00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:23,560 Speaker 1: couple of instances where Germans passed literally right by the 352 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:26,400 Speaker 1: s o E team as they made their way back 353 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:29,080 Speaker 1: into the woods, but they managed to avoid being seen, 354 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:31,440 Speaker 1: and then they recovered the skis that they had hidden 355 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:34,360 Speaker 1: in the woods and continued their escape, getting as far 356 00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:37,040 Speaker 1: away from the plant as possible as quickly as they could. 357 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:41,280 Speaker 1: They actually covered more than ten miles on skis before sunrise, 358 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:44,000 Speaker 1: which was when they first paused to eat and kind 359 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:47,160 Speaker 1: of take a breath. Not a single gun had been 360 00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:51,560 Speaker 1: fired during the mission. There were no casualties from there, 361 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:54,840 Speaker 1: the cover party spread out into the wilderness. The explosives 362 00:19:54,840 --> 00:19:57,800 Speaker 1: group traveled to Sweden on skis. It was a journey 363 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:01,240 Speaker 1: of more than two hundred miles just three twenty two kilometers. 364 00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:04,359 Speaker 1: A tiny band of men had achieved the level of 365 00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:07,120 Speaker 1: damage that a group of bombers couldn't have done. They 366 00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:11,200 Speaker 1: successfully sabotaged the heavy water production that was being supplied 367 00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:13,080 Speaker 1: to the Nazis, and there was no loss of life 368 00:20:13,119 --> 00:20:16,240 Speaker 1: in the process. All of the men who participated in 369 00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:19,639 Speaker 1: the mission were given awards, either the Military Cross, the 370 00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:23,600 Speaker 1: Distinguished Service Order, or the Military Medal. The men who 371 00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:27,000 Speaker 1: planned the mission and trained those operatives were also awarded. 372 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:31,879 Speaker 1: As for the German reaction to the attack, it was 373 00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:35,040 Speaker 1: a little different than that that followed the other events 374 00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:38,359 Speaker 1: that we've talked about. Reports indicated that the commander of 375 00:20:38,359 --> 00:20:42,320 Speaker 1: the occupying German forces, General von falcon Horse, actually had 376 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:45,640 Speaker 1: a level of admiration for what the Allies had accomplished. 377 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:49,360 Speaker 1: Some of the local Norwegian citizens had been taken into custody, 378 00:20:49,359 --> 00:20:52,160 Speaker 1: but he ordered their release and instead had the guards 379 00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:55,919 Speaker 1: that had been on duty arrested. What ultimately happened to 380 00:20:55,920 --> 00:21:00,520 Speaker 1: those men is not known. Yeah, probably not good um, 381 00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:02,840 Speaker 1: But basically he was so fed up that these people 382 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:06,399 Speaker 1: managed to sneak right past a guard house do all 383 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:09,679 Speaker 1: of this without anyone realizing there was even an intruder 384 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:12,960 Speaker 1: on the property and get out cleanly before it exploded. 385 00:21:13,359 --> 00:21:16,520 Speaker 1: Made him very angry at those guards. While the destruction 386 00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:19,399 Speaker 1: of the Norse Hydro heavy water production operation was a 387 00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:23,239 Speaker 1: huge blow to the Germans, it didn't stop things forever. Then. 388 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:26,119 Speaker 1: Nazis did manage to get the facility online again just 389 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:29,160 Speaker 1: several months later, and at the end of nineteen forty three, 390 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:32,280 Speaker 1: Allied forces took the step that they had abandoned earlier. 391 00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:36,679 Speaker 1: The US bombed the plant, as had been predicted by 392 00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:39,879 Speaker 1: Life Tronstad. The bombing had little effect on the facility, 393 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:43,760 Speaker 1: and almost two dozen civilians were killed. The bombing did 394 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:46,760 Speaker 1: catalyze a decision on the part of German leadership to 395 00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:50,080 Speaker 1: move their heavy water production out of Norway, though, as 396 00:21:50,119 --> 00:21:53,560 Speaker 1: a ferry carrying the existing supply of heavy heavy water 397 00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:55,959 Speaker 1: product and equipment that would be used to set up 398 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:59,680 Speaker 1: new facilities in Germany made its way along Lake ten 399 00:22:00,119 --> 00:22:06,840 Speaker 1: on February, a Norwegian Sabotaur group once again moved into action. 400 00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:11,200 Speaker 1: This ferry, the s F hydro sank when explosion went 401 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:14,760 Speaker 1: off on the Bow and Germany lost its last assets 402 00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:19,400 Speaker 1: for atomic bomb production, and the actual level of import 403 00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:22,200 Speaker 1: of the success of Operation Gunner Side has been debated 404 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:26,440 Speaker 1: in the decades since the war. It actually appears, based 405 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:30,479 Speaker 1: on some documentation, that Germany's fervor for atomic weaponry had 406 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:33,480 Speaker 1: actually cooled by the time the strike at Remark was 407 00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:36,359 Speaker 1: carried out. But as the Allies had no way of 408 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:39,480 Speaker 1: knowing the status of Nazi projects involving heavy water and 409 00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:43,560 Speaker 1: they had remember ordered a much higher production rate, it 410 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:47,080 Speaker 1: is still considered crucial in having stamped out the possibility 411 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:50,840 Speaker 1: of a German developed atomic bomb. It was, however, still 412 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:53,240 Speaker 1: one of the most successful of all the missions mounted 413 00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:56,359 Speaker 1: by the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare due to its successful 414 00:22:56,400 --> 00:22:59,600 Speaker 1: execution of mission goals and zero mortalities. And I will 415 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:01,960 Speaker 1: tell you that is also a story that gets told, 416 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:08,120 Speaker 1: as Transtad said, throughout Norway. There um there is actually 417 00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:13,000 Speaker 1: a rite up about it on the existing Norse Chydro website, 418 00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:15,160 Speaker 1: like they talked about it and how after the war 419 00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:18,160 Speaker 1: they were able to rebuild and and once again start 420 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:22,199 Speaker 1: regular production. But it's it's definitely something that is a 421 00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:24,520 Speaker 1: part of their history. They are not shy about acknowledging. 422 00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:28,679 Speaker 1: Operation gunner Side was the subject of a nineteen sixty 423 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:31,920 Speaker 1: five Kirk Douglas film that was called The Heroes of Telemark, 424 00:23:32,040 --> 00:23:35,199 Speaker 1: although has is so often the case that film has 425 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:38,920 Speaker 1: a lot of historical inaccuracies. There's also a mini series 426 00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:41,719 Speaker 1: about heavy Water and It's placed in Norway's history that 427 00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:46,200 Speaker 1: was produced by the Norwegian Broadcasting Company. More recently, Yeah, 428 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:48,680 Speaker 1: we missed the window. I think that was on Netflix 429 00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:51,760 Speaker 1: until just a couple of months ago. Um, and now 430 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:53,520 Speaker 1: it seems to be a lot more difficult to get 431 00:23:53,520 --> 00:23:56,399 Speaker 1: a hold of. But uh, I watched a clip of 432 00:23:56,440 --> 00:24:00,280 Speaker 1: it and it looked quite good. The four upper sations 433 00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:02,639 Speaker 1: that we just talked about, um, if you include the 434 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:05,800 Speaker 1: ones from the first episode, make up only the tiniest 435 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:08,360 Speaker 1: fraction of the actions that were taken during World War 436 00:24:08,359 --> 00:24:10,760 Speaker 1: Two by the s OE. And there is a very 437 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:14,000 Speaker 1: real possibility that some or even many of its more 438 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:18,480 Speaker 1: covert actions are still unknown today. By the time the 439 00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:21,200 Speaker 1: Battle of Normandy was underway in the summer of nineteen 440 00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:24,359 Speaker 1: forty four, the s o E had ties to resistance 441 00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:27,639 Speaker 1: fighters throughout Europe. It had become an Allied tool that 442 00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:31,160 Speaker 1: could strike quickly without warning. As the tide of war 443 00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:34,200 Speaker 1: turned and it looked low as though the Allies would win, 444 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:36,840 Speaker 1: there were a lot of discussions at the highest levels 445 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:39,440 Speaker 1: of government and military about what should happen to the 446 00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:43,200 Speaker 1: s o E. And while arguments raged on about whether 447 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:45,359 Speaker 1: the s OE should be rolled under the umbrella of 448 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:48,919 Speaker 1: the Ministry of Defense, or start reporting to the Foreign Secretary, 449 00:24:49,119 --> 00:24:52,520 Speaker 1: or a number of other possibilities, the election of nineteen 450 00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:55,960 Speaker 1: forty five approached with Winston Churchill up for re election 451 00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:59,840 Speaker 1: as Prime minister. Germany had surrendered to the Allies on 452 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:03,159 Speaker 1: May seven, a week after Adolf Hitler committed suicide and 453 00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:06,960 Speaker 1: two months before Great Britain's general election on July five. 454 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:11,199 Speaker 1: Although he was an incredibly popular wartime prime minister, the 455 00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:15,000 Speaker 1: election went in a landslide to his Labor Party opponent, 456 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:19,240 Speaker 1: Clement Atlee. While Churchill had risen to the task of 457 00:25:19,359 --> 00:25:22,480 Speaker 1: leading the country through war, voters bet on Atlee and 458 00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:26,520 Speaker 1: the Labor Party to leave the country's rebuilding, and so 459 00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:29,440 Speaker 1: with Churchill no longer in office, the s OE lost 460 00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:32,879 Speaker 1: its champion. There had been some hopes that Winston Churchill 461 00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:35,199 Speaker 1: would have put protections in place for the Ministry of 462 00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:39,040 Speaker 1: Ungentlemanly Warfare before leaving office, but instead, in the months 463 00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:44,000 Speaker 1: that followed the election, locations were slowly closed one after another. Finally, 464 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:49,720 Speaker 1: on January fifty six, the Special Operations Executive was permanently disbanded. 465 00:25:49,760 --> 00:25:53,159 Speaker 1: When at Lee signed the dissolution order. A handful of 466 00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:55,800 Speaker 1: staff from the s OE moved to m I six 467 00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:58,960 Speaker 1: and others were transferred to other branches of the military 468 00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:01,639 Speaker 1: or government work. Most of them, though, were let go 469 00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:03,560 Speaker 1: and return to the jobs that they had done before 470 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:07,359 Speaker 1: the war. Yes, some of those those moves were actually 471 00:26:07,359 --> 00:26:11,160 Speaker 1: made before offices were even shut down, kind of an anticipation. 472 00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:13,720 Speaker 1: They really didn't. They had seen some writing on the wall. 473 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:16,359 Speaker 1: And while the kind of work, um, I feel like 474 00:26:16,359 --> 00:26:18,199 Speaker 1: I should point out that was done by the Ministry 475 00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:22,440 Speaker 1: of Ungentlemanly Warfare was certainly impressive and it's really easy 476 00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:26,720 Speaker 1: to romanticize, it's also telling that even with its great success, 477 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:29,439 Speaker 1: there were plenty of people within Great Britain's government who 478 00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:31,720 Speaker 1: felt that the nature of the warfare had engaged in 479 00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:35,520 Speaker 1: was dishonorable. Like it's a little bit of an outdated notion, 480 00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:38,600 Speaker 1: but they really thought like this kind of weird, sneaky 481 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:41,119 Speaker 1: trickery is not what we're about. And at the end 482 00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:43,639 Speaker 1: of the day, it's all still warfare, even if it 483 00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:46,359 Speaker 1: is fought with cool cutting into technology and great style. 484 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:48,600 Speaker 1: So it's one of those things of like warfare in 485 00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:51,680 Speaker 1: and of itself, it is not necessarily something that uh, 486 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:55,080 Speaker 1: you know, should be hoped for. Perhaps one of the 487 00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:57,600 Speaker 1: most point insights and to the effect of the war 488 00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:00,560 Speaker 1: and the work that the s oe had on the 489 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:04,320 Speaker 1: people involved, was written by Trom's dad, the Norwegian chemist, 490 00:27:04,359 --> 00:27:07,040 Speaker 1: who wrote in his diary quote war makes the mind 491 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:11,840 Speaker 1: very hard. Becoming a sensitive person again will not be easy. Yeah, 492 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:14,360 Speaker 1: he was keenly aware that, you know, sort of cheering 493 00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:17,240 Speaker 1: for the death of your opponent take something away from 494 00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:20,600 Speaker 1: your humanity. There is currently a film about the Ministry 495 00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:23,440 Speaker 1: of Ungentlemanly Warfare in development, but there aren't many details 496 00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:25,560 Speaker 1: about it. I think that was optioned two years ago 497 00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:27,879 Speaker 1: and I don't know what its status is. It is 498 00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:29,719 Speaker 1: based on one of the recent books on the subject, 499 00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:33,200 Speaker 1: which was written by Damian Lewis titled Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. 500 00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:36,600 Speaker 1: How Churchill's Secret Warriors set Europe ablaze and gave birth 501 00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:40,679 Speaker 1: to modern black Ops that came out in and I 502 00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:43,520 Speaker 1: read that in another book called Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly 503 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:46,800 Speaker 1: Warfare The Mavericks who Plotted Hitler's Defeat, which was written 504 00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:49,520 Speaker 1: by Giles Milton in preparation for this episode, as well 505 00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:52,359 Speaker 1: as a number of other books in part, all of 506 00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:54,280 Speaker 1: which will be listed in our show notes, and any 507 00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:58,200 Speaker 1: of them I think would probably make pretty great films because, 508 00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:00,520 Speaker 1: as we mentioned at the beginning of the first episode 509 00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:02,760 Speaker 1: in a quote that we read, the exploits of this 510 00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:05,880 Speaker 1: group were high adventure and high danger and the kind 511 00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:10,119 Speaker 1: of things that make movies very exciting to watch. Uh. 512 00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:13,400 Speaker 1: And now my list of future episode topics sure doesn't 513 00:28:13,400 --> 00:28:16,040 Speaker 1: include a lot of specific people from the s o E, 514 00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:18,160 Speaker 1: because there were many, and they were amazing. I would 515 00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:19,639 Speaker 1: love to do an episode just on the women of 516 00:28:19,680 --> 00:28:23,280 Speaker 1: the s o E because they don't always get mentioned 517 00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:25,520 Speaker 1: all that much. But there were a lot of women 518 00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:29,040 Speaker 1: from you know, those doing administrative work all the way 519 00:28:29,119 --> 00:28:33,119 Speaker 1: to field work that we're doing, some incredibly brave and 520 00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:36,840 Speaker 1: amazing things that that would be worth examining in the future. 521 00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:40,280 Speaker 1: So it's on the list for those of you who 522 00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:41,800 Speaker 1: are thinking I should write and say they should do 523 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:45,400 Speaker 1: an episode of the s O, yes, we should. Do 524 00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:47,480 Speaker 1: you have some listener mail for us today? I do. 525 00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:50,840 Speaker 1: We kind of have like a mail bag hodgepodge because 526 00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:52,360 Speaker 1: there have been a lot. We always get a lot, 527 00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:54,560 Speaker 1: and I had for a while been reading lots of 528 00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:59,360 Speaker 1: our postcards and thanking people, but we just got behind 529 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:00,959 Speaker 1: on that. We're doing other things for a bit, so 530 00:29:01,040 --> 00:29:03,240 Speaker 1: I'm going to read a few. The first one is 531 00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:06,360 Speaker 1: from our listener Jess sure Itz. Thank you so much 532 00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:08,680 Speaker 1: for your awesome podcast. It keeps me so entertained while 533 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:10,760 Speaker 1: I walked to and from class. I know how much 534 00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:13,160 Speaker 1: Holly loves Halloween, so I thought you both appreciate this 535 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:15,960 Speaker 1: postcard from the kirkham At Horror Movie exhibit at the 536 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:20,120 Speaker 1: pbody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. Thanks again, and it 537 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:24,200 Speaker 1: is a cool um classic horror and sci fi movie 538 00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:28,560 Speaker 1: poster postcard from the Kirkhamut collection of It's Alive. It's awesome. 539 00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:32,720 Speaker 1: I think that's an exhibition that was not open yet 540 00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:35,160 Speaker 1: the last time I was there, but they were working 541 00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:38,360 Speaker 1: on it. It sounds amazing and it is so up. 542 00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:43,600 Speaker 1: My alley m Our listener Stephanie also wrote about our 543 00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:46,320 Speaker 1: Edward Gory episode r Dear Holly and Tracy, thank you 544 00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:48,880 Speaker 1: for the episode on Edward Gory. This illustration is why 545 00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:51,160 Speaker 1: I love him so much. To quote Holly, I'm a 546 00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:54,080 Speaker 1: longtime listener from Utah and really enjoy your show. Thank 547 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:58,400 Speaker 1: you so much. It's the uh A lovely image of 548 00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:01,920 Speaker 1: people at a seance with a ghostly apparition style hand 549 00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:06,200 Speaker 1: reaching out from the ether to deliver what looks like mail. 550 00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:12,280 Speaker 1: I love Edward Gory. Our last mail bag item is 551 00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:15,600 Speaker 1: from our listener Kate, and she is very cute because 552 00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:19,920 Speaker 1: she wrote her entire um note and then she wrote 553 00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:21,840 Speaker 1: a second draft of it and tucked it in and said, 554 00:30:21,840 --> 00:30:24,640 Speaker 1: read the second draft in the car instead of the card. 555 00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:28,280 Speaker 1: So I'm doing that, so she writes, Dear Holly and Tracy, 556 00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:30,200 Speaker 1: I just wanted to take a moment and express how 557 00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:33,360 Speaker 1: much I enjoyed your recent podcast on three Reformation Women. 558 00:30:34,080 --> 00:30:36,800 Speaker 1: This year I attained my Master of Divinity, and religious 559 00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:39,280 Speaker 1: history has been a soapbox of mine for a long time. 560 00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:41,920 Speaker 1: The treatment of women in this field, as in other 561 00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:44,840 Speaker 1: areas of history, is often either appalling or non existent, 562 00:30:44,960 --> 00:30:47,240 Speaker 1: with a few notable exceptions. As you well know, and 563 00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:50,000 Speaker 1: do justice to thank you for bringing to light some 564 00:30:50,040 --> 00:30:52,280 Speaker 1: of the women of the Reformation, a period of history 565 00:30:52,280 --> 00:30:54,800 Speaker 1: where the men do loom large, but as you have shown, 566 00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:58,320 Speaker 1: the women held their ground and contributed in mighty ways. Also, 567 00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:02,280 Speaker 1: keep up the great work each new episode. Eagerly yours, Kate, 568 00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:05,360 Speaker 1: O Kate. That was lovely. UM, thank you so much. 569 00:31:05,480 --> 00:31:08,360 Speaker 1: Like I, I have a massive pile of mail that 570 00:31:08,400 --> 00:31:10,000 Speaker 1: we get from people, and I love it so much. 571 00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:12,640 Speaker 1: I'm always say this, but I'll be repetitive. I wish 572 00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:15,640 Speaker 1: I could read it all on the air. UM, it's 573 00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:18,080 Speaker 1: you know, it's sorry, but it's lovely. It's one of 574 00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:20,280 Speaker 1: those things that because I'm here at the office when 575 00:31:20,320 --> 00:31:22,360 Speaker 1: I'm just having a grouchy day, I can pick up 576 00:31:22,360 --> 00:31:24,320 Speaker 1: a piece of mail and it's usually so lovely it 577 00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:29,320 Speaker 1: makes me smile and fixes my grousiness. Um. If you 578 00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:30,840 Speaker 1: would like to write to us, you can do that. 579 00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:33,720 Speaker 1: We are at History Podcast at how Stuff Works dot com. 580 00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:36,560 Speaker 1: You can also find us across all of the bands 581 00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:42,360 Speaker 1: of social media as Missed in History. That includes Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumbler. 582 00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:45,520 Speaker 1: I might have left something off, but we're missed in 583 00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:47,720 Speaker 1: History pretty much everywhere. You can also go to missed 584 00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:49,920 Speaker 1: in History dot com, which is our website. You can 585 00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:52,280 Speaker 1: find every episode of the show ever of all time, 586 00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:55,280 Speaker 1: including those that were way before Tracy and I were involved, 587 00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:58,160 Speaker 1: and you can find uh show notes for the shows 588 00:31:58,160 --> 00:32:00,320 Speaker 1: that Tracy and I have worked on. So hope you're 589 00:32:00,320 --> 00:32:08,000 Speaker 1: going to visit us that miss in history dot com. 590 00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:10,560 Speaker 1: For more on this and thousands of other topics, visit 591 00:32:10,600 --> 00:32:20,120 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com.