From virtually the beginning of WW2 the allied governments were terrified that Hitler’s Germany would develop nuclear weapons before they achieved them for themselves. In an effort to prevent the production of such weapons there was a long-running campaign to prevent the production of a key ingredient in the process, Heavy Water (deuterium oxide) – the manufacturing plants which could have done this were situated in occupied Norway.
Hunting Hitler’s Nukes by Damien Lewis is about the efforts made to destroy and/or sabotage the factories in Norway using British commandos and native Norwegians. It’s a dreadful and inaccurate title but the book is an interesting insight into an area of WW2 that I didn’t know much about previously. I see that more recent editions pof this book have been renamed Hunting the Nazi Bomb which is a bit better although still not totally accurate. I read this via audiobook where it was narrated by Greg Wagland.
The book looks at the intelligence which informed these actions, the political situation and the decisions taken, as well as the activities of the scientists who could have developed the bomb. The main thrust of the narrative, however, is the three raids planned and executed to prevent the production of the Heavy Water. The author introduces us to the characters and then takes us through what happened on each mission, the difficulties faced, what was/was not achieved and what happened to the participants afterwards. The commandos and those working with them were often living in the wild for considerable periods of time in the snow and with limited communication and resources.
These men, and they were all men, were brave and resourceful but not always successful. Not all of them came home and the fates of those captured, especially the Norwegians, was not good at all. Ultimately we know that Hitler’s scientists and engineers didn’t produce working nuclear weapons during the war and these operations in Norway played a part in this.
This book suffers, in my opinion, from being over patriotic and a bit “gung-ho”. We do learn a little about the participants in these operations but the impression I was left with was that they were all brave and dedicated to the cause up to and including death – I never learned much about them as people. The author is obviously of the opinion that what was done was worth it to prevent the production of Heavy Water and that the human price was worth paying but I would have liked a bit more analysis.
Despite my caveats this was an interesting book and a tribute to men who were definitely brave and whose actions made a difference to the course of the war.
Anne Is Reading 