8 Who Blew Up German Atomic Plant in 1943 Hold First Reunion

Eight of the saboteurs who blew up a key factory in Nazi Germany’s atomic bomb project held their first reunion Saturday, reliving one of World War II’s most daring secret exploits.

The eight Norwegians, all in their 70s and retired, led several thousand people who walked along a new “Saboteurs’ Trail,” a 5-mile path that follows the route they used to reach the German-operated plant in Telemark county.

“We didn’t recognize the importance of what we did until the atomic bomb was dropped on Japan,” said Joachim Roenneberg, recalling the night of Feb. 28, 1943, when the 10 men blew up the Nazi heavy-water plant near Rjukan, 125 miles northwest of Oslo.

The Allies, fearing that Germany would build an atomic bomb before the West, had ordered the plant destroyed at any cost.

The mostly British-trained saboteurs parachuted into Norway and, weeks later, approached Rjukan. Knut Haukelig said they slid down a mountain through wet snow and waited for darkness. Four saboteurs found an unguarded railroad line leading to the plant and crawled through a pipe into the plant’s basement. They met only a Norwegian technician, who did not resist.

Roenneberg said they set explosives with fuses that gave them 30 seconds to escape. The saboteurs made their way back into the mountains and some skied 250 miles in 14 days to Sweden, before heading back to England.