Hitler’s war machine continues to devastate Europe. The Allies have
to contend with super weapons concocted by the minds of Nazi scientists and engineers.
But one threat looms greater than all the rest, a nuclear bomb. The allies
have been working towards creating an atomic bomb for several years now,
hoping to beat the Nazi’s to the punch. But as World War II rages on no one is quite
sure how close Hitler and the Nazi regime are to weaponizing nuclear enegry. One thing is for sure,
if Hitler has access to the power of the atom, he will use it to bring the world to its knees.
This cannot be allowed. To stop the Nazi bomb, the Allies send soldiers on secret
missions to find out how close the Nazis are to an atomic bomb.
Their mission is to gather and analyze intel on the Nazi nuclear program. If the Nazis are
close to creating an atomic bomb, then they must find ways to slow them down.
If they have succeeded, then they must be stopped before the bomb can be used.
Reconnaissance gathered at the beginning of the war shows that the Germans started researching
nuclear power under the name “uranium project.” It began shortly after the German invasion of Poland
in September of 1939. This is unwelcome news because it means the Nazis have been working with
nuclear energy for several years. The German Army Ordnance started the program by putting physicist
Kurt Diebner in charge to investigate the military applications of fission,
who was aware that when an atom is split apart, huge amounts of energy are released.
Who knew something so small could be so powerful? What will scientists think of next?
Diebner is working with another physicist, whose name is Werner Heisenberg. Communications between
the two Nazi scientists had been intercepted revealing that Heisenberg has calculated
that using nuclear fission to create a chain reaction may be the Nazi’s path to producing
a nuclear explosion. It would seem that the Nazis understand the basic principles of an atomic bomb
and Hitler might be closer to completing an atomic bomb than anyone originally thought.
It is clear that Nazi scientists have figured out the basic principles of fission,
but have not yet been able to weaponize atomic energy. However information from a Norwegian
scientist who escaped Nazi occupied Norway provides vital information on the path the
Nazis are planning to take to create their nuclear bomb. The scientist had worked at a facility that
specializes in creating heavy water. Heavy water is a water molecule that has hydrogen atoms with a
neutron in their nucleus. This is very rare, but gives the hydrogen atoms more mass, making the
water molecule itself heavier. This special form of hydrogen is vital to the Nazi nuclear program,
because it can be used to created the chain reaction needed for a nuclear explosions.
If the Nazis are allowed to continue using the heavy water facility, they will eventually
be able to create an atomic bomb. A mission must be organized to shut down the facility.
Allied Command is informed of the role the heavy water facility plays
in Hitler’s nuclear program and a secret mission called Operation Gunnerside is organized.
The chemists who worked at the heavy water facility in Vemork, 100 miles outside of Oslo,
volunteer to spearhead the mission. They already have a working knowledge of the facility
and will be able to infiltrate and disrupt the Nazi operations. They are trained in Scotland and
put through rigorous physical and mental tests. By the end of their short training regiment they
have the basic skills of a special forces unit. The leader of the squad is Leif Tronstad. He is
nicknamed the Mailman by his comrades. Tronstad was a professor of chemistry before the war
started. When the Germans invaded Norway he enlisted and fought to protect his country.
Norway lost and became one of the many European countries occupied by the Nazis.
Tronstan joined the underground and provided the Allies with intelligence on what the Nazis were
using the heavy water at the Vemork facility for. He escaped Norway and went to England to
relay all the information he had gathered. Once in England he only wanted one thing;
to be sent back to Norway with a squad of soldiers to disrupt the Nazi’s plans.
The intelligence that Tronstan provides informs the Allies that they can not just bomb the
facility. All of the vital equipment is deep underground, and even if the plant is bombed,
operations most likely can resume with minor adjustments. Also, innocent Norwegian civilians
are working in the heavy water facility and will be killed in a bombing raid. The Allies know they
need boots on the ground. The Norwegian scientists under the command of Tronstan are assigned the job
of killing Nazis and disrupting their plans for the heavy water facility.
After receiving their training on sabotage and stealth warfare
from a top secret British unit called the Special Operation Executive,
the Norwegian unit is ready for their mission. They are flown to Norway and air dropped outside
of Vemork. The Norwegian squad knows that the facility is already a natural fortress.
It can only be accessed by a single-lane suspension bridge and is surrounded by
mountains. Legend has it that the air grows cold so fast, that it can freeze the flames
of a fire. The Norwegian squad buckles in for the coldest few weeks of their lives.
The scientists turned soldiers spend days skiing through the snow to collect more intel on the
operations at the facility. They were all born and raised in Norway, so they grew up in similar
harsh environments. They use their new training and longtime knowledge to carefully make their
way through forests and across mountains. However, the natural topography is not the only thing the
Norwegian squad has to worry about. The Nazis have surrounded the facility with minefields,
searchlights, barbed wire, and patrols. It seems that the heavy water factory is
now a Nazi fortress. But the mission has to succeed. The Nazis might be close to creating
a nuclear weapon. The disruption of their heavy water facility could slow them down.
After days in the harsh environment, the squad decides there is only one way
into the Nazi fortress. They must climb down the steep cliff
that the heavy water facility sits against. They slowly rappel down the icy rock wall,
supporting one another incase someone slips. It is treacherous, but the squad makes it down without
any mishaps. They infiltrate the facility through one of the rarely used back doors, being sure
not to trip any alarms. The Norwegian squad sets explosives at key points around the facility. They
sneak through winding concrete hallways, always making sure they are one step ahead of the Nazis.
The squad escapes out of the facility and moves to a safe distance. Then they wait and watch.
The explosives go off, causing fires to erupt all over the facility. The machinery is damaged
and will take months to repair. They successfully disrupted Hitler’s ability to make heavy water,
and the Allies can breathe a sigh of relief that Nazis will not be able to create any
more heavy water for nuclear weapons in the near future. But what if they have already stored up
enough heavy water to make an atomic bomb? Is it possible the Nazi’s already have everything they
need for nuclear warfare? The Allies need to make sure that Hitler does not already have a
stockpile of atomic bombs hidden somewhere. It’s time to move on to the next mission.
Further intel from Allied soldiers suggests that there might be an operational nuclear
reactor somewhere in Germany. This can not be confirmed, but nothing can be left to chance.
The Allies are making great progress across the world. The United States has even completed the
testing of their nuclear bombs and the devastation it causes is immense. If
Hitler has his own atomic bomb, he might turn Europe into a radioactive wasteland.
Allied forces are advancing on Berlin. It seems that Hitler is backed into a corner,
but that is when a wild animal is the most dangerous.
Intel comes in that scientists working under Diebner have built and tested a nuclear device.
The Germans are doing everything in their power to try and turn the war around.
Allied Command puts together a secret mission to kidnap Hitler’s main scientists.
If successful the mission will end the possibility of a Nazi nuclear bomb once
and for all. A covert special-ops unit is formed, code-named the Alsos Mission
and nicknamed “Lightning A.” The team is led by Colonel Boris Pash.
Pash was the counterintelligence officer in charge of security for America’s nuclear-weapons program.
Pash and Lightning A follow the Allied troops to the front lines. They interrogate any scientists
that are captured along the way for more information about the Nazi nuclear program.
It seems that the Nazis do not have a nuclear bomb yet. But the Allies need to be sure,
so Pash’s team presses forward with the rest of the advancing Allied troops.
Lightning A is about to embark on their most dangerous mission.
Pash and Lightning A push pass the advancing Allied forces. They are now operating on their
own behind enemy lines. The advance forward was not moving fast enough for Lightning A’s mission.
Unfortunately, the special force has to deal with some of the toughest Nazi soldiers
still left in the war, the Wehrwolf. This is the name given to the bands of diehard Nazi youth.
They will not give up, and are waiting to kill any Allies that cross their path.
Pash and Lightning A reach Heidelberg where they come upon a large Nazi force.
Things can go really bad, really fast, if they are not careful.
But the Nazi soldiers believe the war is almost over and surrender to Lightning A.
The Nazis are interrogated for information on the whereabouts of the remaining nuclear scientists.
The information that is uncovered leads Lightning A to a secret Nazi nuclear laboratory hidden in a
cave. The lab contains a test nuclear reactor. It is disassembled immediately. The problem now
is that the Nazi scientists have been tipped off about the Allies’ special mission. They are on
the run. The fact that there is a test reactor in the cave is not a good sign. Pash and Lightning A
need to capture the rogue scientists to ensure Hitler does not have nuclear capabilities.
Lightening A pushes further into enemy territory and continue to uncover clues
about the Nazi nuclear program. A nuclear research facility is found,
hidden in a textile mill with laboratories in the surrounding buildings. They have
finally stumbled upon what they are looking for. Lightening A captures 25 scientists.
Through intense interrogation the Nazis reveal the location of hidden research files.
They have been stored in a watertight drum and sunk into a cesspool. Those Nazi bastards are
not making things easy for Pash and Lightening A. Members of the squad have to dig through feces,
but eventually locate the drum with all of the notes and research in it.
The Nazis have conducted a lot of research around nuclear weapons. Pash is nervous that Hitler may
be preparing for one last push using nuclear weapons. Lightening A needs to find one of the
men who started the Nazi nuclear research program. A man who has more knowledge than
practically anyone else about Nazi nuclear capabilities, Pash needs to find Heisenberg.
Intel has uncovered that Heisenberg is hiding in the Bavarian Alps. Pash takes Lightening A
to track him down. The squad is attacked again and again by the Wehrwolf youths.
They engage in gorilla warfare across the Alps, all to find one Nazi scientist. Due to all of
the fighting Lightening A has been reduced to 20 men, but they are close to their goal.
Lightning A reaches the town of Urfeld where they encounter approximately 700 SS
troops. Pash uses his cunning, and a little lying, to convince the commanders of the Nazi
soldiers that he has a lot more men than just twenty worn down soldiers.
The Nazis decide to surrender instead of fight. The commanders eventually
give up the location of Heisenberg, who is hiding in a mountain cabin not too far away.
Lightening A captures the scientist two days before Hitler commits suicide. After questioning
Heisenberg it is clear Hitler never had, and was never really close to having nuclear weapons.
It is a great relief that the Nazis never developed nuclear weapons.
The war may have gone very differently if they had. “But why didn’t they? Hitler undeniably had
the resources and scientists to make an atomic bomb a reality. The main reason it seems is
because Hitler never really put the energy or effort into developing his nuclear program. He
had been so successful with his troops, tanks, and aircraft, that he didn’t see any reason to
pump money into developing an atomic bomb until it was too late. Towards the end, he began to
realize a nuclear weapon could turn the tide of the war back in his favor, but it was too late.
Another issues is that the Nazi nuclear program was divided into different camps.
There were several different scientists working on nuclear fission, but they seemed to be more
in competition than working together. This is one of the reasons the United States
developed nuclear weapons first. The U.S. consolidated all research to one project,
the Manhattan Project, so all scientists were working together collaboratively.
Now the second world war is over and there is no longer any need to
worry about Hitler and his crazy idea for a Third Reich. The world is safe
from the threat of nuclear devastation and everyone can sleep safely at night.
There’s just one little problem. The Cold War is about to begin.
Now check out what might have happened if Hitler did have nuclear weapons and won World War II by
watching “What If Hitler Had Won?” Or check out “50 Insane Cold War Facts That Will Shock You!”