Lest We Forget

[DougRichards]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-22/joachim-roenneberg-dies-nazi-nuclear-weapons-world-war-two/10404322

 

Joachim Roenneberg: Man who who stopped Nazi Germany's nuclear ambitions has died, aged 99, Norwegian authorities confirm

Updated

about 2 hours ago

Photo: Joachim Roenneberg was 23 years old when he led the raid to stop Nazi Germany's nuclear ambition. (Reuters: Andrew Winning)

Related Story: Agent who stopped Hitler's A-bomb honoured in London

Related Story: Hitler assassination plotter von Kleist dies

Related Story: Nazis fell just shy of nukes, historian claims

The leader of a daring World War II raid to thwart Nazi Germany's nuclear ambitions has died aged 99, Norwegian government officials have confirmed.

Key points:

• Mr Roenneberg was 23 years old when he led raids to destroy plant producing heavy water in World War II
• Soldiers on the raid described it as a suicide mission
• Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg said he was one of "our great heroes"

 

Joachim Roenneberg, serving behind enemy lines in his native Norway during the German occupation, in 1943 blew up a plant producing heavy water, or D2O, a hydrogen-rich substance that was key to the later development of atomic bombs.

Picked by Britain's war-time Special Operations Executive to lead the raid when he was only 23 years old, Mr Roenneberg was the youngest member of Operation Gunnerside, which penetrated and destroyed key parts of the heavily guarded Norsk Hydro plant.

The subject of books and documentaries as well as movies and a TV drama series, the attack took place without a single shot fired.

To Mr Roenneberg's team, however, the stakes could not have been higher. An earlier raid failed to even reach the site, with dozens of attackers captured and killed, and Gunnerside members later described their own assault as a near-suicide mission.

Parachuting onto a snow-covered mountain plateau, the small group teamed up with a handful of other commando soldiers before skiing to their destination, penetrating the plant on foot and blowing up the heavy-water production line.

Describing a pivotal moment, Mr Roenneberg later said he made a last-minute decision to cut the length of his fuse from several minutes to seconds, ensuring the explosion would take place but making it more difficult to escape.

While a manhunt ensued, the group fled hundreds of kilometres across the mountains, with Mr Roenneberg skiing to neighbouring Sweden, a neutral country in the war, two weeks later.

While historians doubt that Adolf Hitler's Germany would have been able to produce a nuclear weapon in time to stave off defeat, they also recognise that the risks were much harder to quantify in 1943.

For the Gunnerside crew, this hardly mattered at the time; only much later did they learn the true purpose of the attack they were asked to carry out.

Born in 1919 in the town of Aalesund, Mr Roenneberg fled to Britain after the German invasion of Norway in 1940, receiving military training before returning home for several missions during the war.

After the 1945 liberation he became a radio reporter but rarely spoke of his wartime achievements. He gave speeches and lectures well into his 90s, warning against the destructive force of totalitarianism.

Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg praised Mr Roenneberg for his work both during and after the war.

"He is one of our great heroes," she told news agency NTB.

Reuters

[JWB]

Howard Lee, Medal of Honor recipient who led a long-odds defense, dies at 85

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/howard-lee-medal-of-honor-recipient-who-led-a-long-odds-defense-dies-at-85/2019/03/31/68d20428-53c8-11e9-814f-e2f46684196e_story.html?utm_term=.f54d8a4cd5ff

[JWB]

Richard Cole, Air Force pilot and last of the Doolittle Raiders, dies at 103

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/richard-cole-air-force-pilot-and-last-of-the-doolittle-raiders-dies-at-103/2019/04/10/dc0c3386-5b12-11e9-a00e-050dc7b82693_story.html?utm_term=.c403f9a41425

[JWB]

Robert Friend, one of last original Tuskegee Airmen, dead at 99

https://www.foxnews.com/us/robert-friend-tuskegee-airmen-dead-99

[JWB]

Sam Johnson, Vietnam POW who became longtime Texas congressman, dies at age 89 The staunch conservative served 28 years in Congress and spent seven years in the “Hanoi Hilton” after being shot down.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2020/05/27/longtime-texas-congressman-sam-johnson-pow-in-vietnam-dies-at-age-89/

[DB]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-55881753

RIP, sir.

[Stuart Galbraith]

 

[bojan]

Zlatko Rendulic ( 100 ), last surviving pilot of the Yugoslav Royal Air Force.

Joined partisans in 1943. During WW2 he completed both RAF and Soviet pilot schools and flew combat missions on Spitfire V and Yak-3.

Finished interrupted studies of mechanical engineering post-war and was a chief engineer for G-2 and J-21 aircrafts. 

 

 

[RETAC21]

21 minutes ago, bojan said:

Zlatko Rendulic ( 100 ), last surviving pilot of the Yugoslav Royal Air Force.

Joined partisans in 1943. During WW2 he completed both RAF and Soviet pilot schools and flew combat missions on Spitfire V and Yak-3.

Finished interrupted studies of mechanical engineering post-war and was a chief engineer for G-2 and J-21 aircrafts. 

 

 

After he turned 30 everything would have seemsd like a letdown... what a guy!

[bojan]

One of these "if movie is made after his life none would believe it" people. His 1950 pic, taken at his 30th birthday:

[Rick]

1 hour ago, bojan said:

One of these "if movie is made after his life none would believe it" people. His 1950 pic, taken at his 30th birthday:

?

[bojan]

Look at two posts above

Edited April 28, 2021 by bojan

[Rick]

11 hours ago, bojan said:

Look at two posts above

[Rick]

Did he publish anything on the Spitfire and Yak? Agree with RETAC21!

[bojan]

Yes, locally, basically he considered both of them to be pretty good as a "frontline fighter".

[DB]

 

[X-Files]

SSG Jorge M Oliveira, KIA 19OCT2011

Good man. Good NCO. 

Army Staff Sgt. Jorge M. Oliveira| Military Times

Jorge Oliveira Memorial - Thomas Jay Warren, Sculptor (warrensculpture.com)

'He's my hero': Statue unveiled of Newark soldier killed in Afghanistan - nj.com

 

[RETAC21]

“an ordinary girl with an extraordinary spirit”

https://indianexpress.com/photos/lifestyle-gallery/the-real-neerja-bhanot-rare-photos-and-her-story/18/

[JWB]

Russell Hamler, the last of "Merrill's Marauders" of World War II, dies at 99 (msn.com)

 

[JWB]

 

[Stuart Galbraith]

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=956292193208489&id=100064831502778&_rdr

 

We are deeply saddened to share the news of the passing of 101-year-old Capt. Jan Brzeski, one of the last two surviving soldiers from Gen. Maczek’s 1st Polish Armoured Division. Just a couple of days ago, Capt. Brzeski laid a wreath at the grave of his beloved commander during the #MarketGarden commemoration in Breda.

In the photo, he stands alongside 101-year-old Lt. Eugeniusz Niedzielski from London, who is now the last surviving soldier of Gen. Maczek’s division.

We are heartbroken by this loss.