Visitors: 3712830 The site for everybody interesting in hiking in Scandinavia Sat 22 February 2025  MAIN PAGE  ABOUT US  CONTACT US  EQUIPMENT  FOOD  TESTS  TIPS & TRICKS  TRAVEL STORIES  Jotunheimen 96  Narvik-Keb 97  Jotunheimen 98  Jotunheimen 99  Nordmarka 99  Preike/Kjerag 00  Sunnmöre 00  Gausta 01  Jotunheimen 01  Jostedalsbreen 01  Rondane 01  Trollheimen 02  Folgefonna 03  Jotunheimen 04  Ryfylkeheiane 05  Jotunheimen 06  Jotunheimen 12  Norway 18  JOTUNHEIMEN  GLACIER TECHNIC  FIRST AID  ARTICLES  TOP 10  POSTCARD  GUESTBOOK  LINKS  Q & A  NEWS  TECH INFO  SITEMAP  HELP Gaustatoppen 2001 Common Map  1   2  2001-06-22 - Sabotage path - Vemork It was Midsummer Eve. The weather was quite nice when we looked out from our tent at Rjukans camping. By the way, we could see the peak of Gausta from our tent. Not bad views to wake up to! In Sweden we normally have relaxed and started to eat herrings and drink some snaps (a Swedish tradition for Midsummer Eve). But we left the herrings in Varberg for some other time. You can't have all at the same time. We planed to walk along the famous Sabotage path today. The path are named after some Norwegian resistance men from world war II who made some attempts towards the heavy water factory in Vemork which was occupied by the Germans. We started at Rjukan fjell cottage, which hadn't opened for the season. We followed the gravel road a bit upwards and passed a cottage area and than continued into the forest. Along the path, several information signs where out posted with stories about the Norwegian resistance men and their missions. Very interesting! The walk continued along a marsh towards a downhill with a beautiful view over the power station at Vemork. After that the only left was a short walk along the road and over the bridge at the power station which today was a museum. The walk took some hours to complete. Afterwards we discussed how hard it must have been to walk or ski this path during the winter. It's not hard to understand why the men are called "the heroes from telemarken". History The Vemork power station was one of the largest in1911. When the Second World War started, Vemork became one of the primary goals for the resistance men. The Germans planed to develop nuclear bombs using the heavy water from the factory at Vemork. This led to several tries to blow the factory. The first attempt was planed by sergeant Einar Skinnerland who had the mission to collect information about Norsk Hydro (a company) and their factory at Vemork. The 28 of Mars 1942 he was dropped from a plane over Hardangervidda. Einar was from Rjukan and know every stone in the area and he also know several of the workers at the factory. He noticed that the heavy water was in full production and that regular shipments leaved towards Germany. The 18 of October four more men was air dropped over Hardangervidda (Jens Anton Paulsen, Arne Kjelstrup, Knut Haugland and Claus Helberg) and Einar joined them. This group called Grouse which later changed name to Swallow. Their task was to plan for the revival of operation Freshmen that consisted of 34 British soldiers transported in gliders tugged by bomb planes. This operation failed completely when their planes crashed and the survivors where shot by the Germans. Swallow had to stay in Hardangervidda the whole cold winter but managed to report about the activities at Vemork. In January 1943 the operation Gunnerside started. The professor Leif Tronstad planed it with a group of special trained Norwegian resistance men (Joachim Rönneberg, Knut Haukelid, Kasper Idland, Fredrik Kayser, Hans Storhaug, Birger Strömsheim). They planed to get into the factory and blow the equipment for the water production. Gunnerside was also air dropped and joined the Swallow team. At the evening of 27 February they skied the last bit towards Vemork. They reached the factory area and splitted into two teams. The Swallow team were posted as guards and the Gunnerside continued into the factory. An explosive charge was adapted and it's said that they left a British machine gun to inform that this was an allied operation. The Swallow team escaped to Sweden and the Gunnerside team to Hardangervidda. Several thousand Germans searched the area but the Gunnerside team was never caught. Some month later the factory was repaired and the water production started again. The allied then started operation 5: the bombing of Vemork. 16 November 1943 over 900 bombs were dropped from about 150 American planes. No bomb hit the target. But a generator was hit stopping the production for a while. A little bit later the Germans planed to move the factory to Germany using a ferry over the lake Tinnsjön. This led to operation 6 (Knut Haukelid, Rolf Sörlie and Knut Hansen). The sinking of the railway ferry Hydro. An explosive charge was placed on the ferry and detonated at the deepest part of Tinnsjön. Unfortunately a couple of Norwegians died during the operation. But the battle about the heavy water was over.   Picture comment   Picture (thumbnail) Picture 01-1-1 Almost at Rjukan. The road up to the lake Tinnsjø where a train ferry was blown up during the end of the world war two. Picture 01-1-2 Rjukan cottage a little bit outside Rjukan. This is where the sabotage path starts. Picture 01-1-3 The sabotage path was easy to follow. Picture 01-1-4 The route starts in the forest before the climb up along the mountain side. Picture 01-1-5 Along the route several information boards were out posted with information about the saboteurs and their assignments. Picture 01-1-6 This is another information board. Picture 01-1-7 And another one. Thanks to the boards the walking were easier and more interesting. Picture 01-1-8 Some parts were a bit stony. Picture 01-1-9 But there was no problem following the route. Picture 01-1-10 The first view of the power station at Vemork. Picture 01-1-11 And now the climb down along twisted paths began. Picture 01-1-12 The last information board and only about 3 km left. Picture 01-1-13 The water was transported down to the power station in large tubes. The station was one of the largest in the world at the beginning of the 20th century. Picture 01-1-14 A close up of the power station. Picture 01-1-15 No problems to walk here! Almost flat as a road! Picture 01-1-16 On the way back to the cottage you pass the waterfall in Rjukan, a place worth seeing famous already in the 18th century. Picture 01-1-17 But there wasn't much water when we walked by. Picture 01-1-18 In 1868 the first tourist cottage in Norway opened just beside the waterfall. Picture 01-1-19 Outside the cottage you will find a statue of Claus Helberg one of the saboteurs. Picture 01-1-20 A memorial stone of those who died in the bomb attack in November 1943. Picture 01-1-21 Now the power station is used as a museum. Picture 01-1-22 A memorial stone of the brave members of the sabotage group. Main page | About us | Contact us | Equipment | Food | Tests | Tips & tricks | Travel stories Jotunheimen | Glacier technic | First aid | Articles | Top 10 | Postcard | Guestbook Links | Q & A | News | Tech info | Sitemap | Help

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