An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir November 2018 www.dfmagazine.ie 30 | THE HEROES OF TELEMARK The Cobh Connection BY PATRICK B POLAND I n 1942, the only hydro-electric plant in the world capable of producing 'heavy water' (an essential ingredient for producing an atomic bomb) in significant quantities was at the Norsk-Hydro facility at Vemork, in Telemark, Norway, which had been occupied by the Nazis since April 1940. Situ- ated on a precipitous rock shelf some 300m above a river, the plant was regarded by the Germans, with good cause, as virtually impregnable. Prime Minister Winston Churchill and US President Franklin D Roosevelt were agreed on one thing: that the Nazis' capability of producing the world's first weapon of mass destruction must be stopped at all costs. The most efficient way that that could be achieved was by sabotaging the Norsk-Hydro plant, thus cutting off the supply at source. If this could be done it would allow the Allies to regain time lost in the race for the bomb. The units tasked with the mission were 9 Fd Coy (Airborne) and 261 Fd Park Coy (Airborne) of the Royal Engineers, part of the 1st Airborne Division, and would be their first operation. The plan was for glider-borne landing in a remote area five hours' march from the plant. The towing aeroplanes would be guided by radio location devices operated by the Norwegian Resistance, who would lead the attacking party of 34 commandos to the objective. Once the mission was complete, the group were to extract across the mountains into neutral Sweden – some 400km – and contact the British Consulate. This plan is now regarded as extremely naïve, as none could ski and, at best, they had learned a few basic Nor- wegian phrases, such as 'I am going to the dentist.' The operation, code-named 'Freshman', was an unmitigated disaster. On a bleak evening on 19th November 1942 the group took off from RAF Skitten in Caithness, Scotland, in two wooden Horsa gliders towed by specially adapted Halifax bombers, for the daunting 400-mile journey across the North Sea to Norway. In the first glider, commanded by 20-year-old Lt David Meth- ven, was Lance Corporal Trevor Louis Masters of 9 Fd Coy, known as 'the Shiny 9th'. Described as 5' 7" tall, with blue eyes and blond hair, Masters' service record shows that he was born in Glamorgan, Wales. At the time of the raid he was 25 years old and married to Teresa Jane (Jennie) née Keogh, of Harbour Terrace, Cóbh. Jennie was pregnant with their first child, subsequently named Jean, who was born two months premature in February 1943, weighing just 2lbs. The Vemork plant, where heavy water was produced for the Nazi atomic bomb programme. A Horsa glider being towed by a Halifax. The ferry Hydro, sunk in February 1944 with its precious cargo of heavy water. L/Cpl Trevor Louis Masters.

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