The Saboteurs (2015)

Heavy Water War – known in the UK as The Saboteurs – is a six-part drama based on a true story that was aired on television in several countries and released on DVD in 2015. Here is some basic information about it:

** Produced by Norwegian Television (NRK)

** Directed by Per-Olav Sørensen

** Written by Petter Rosenlund

** Run time: 6 x 45 minutes

The story takes place shortly before and during World War Two. German scientists were trying to develop a nuclear bomb. In order to do this, they needed heavy water, which was produced at a factory (Norsk Hydro) at Vemork in Norway, which was occupied by Germany in April 1940. A small group of Norwegian resistance fighters carried out an attack on the factory in February 1943 and an attack on the ferry (SF Hydro) that was transporting barrels of heavy water across Lake Tinn in February 1944.

These acts of sabotage crushed the German government’s hope of developing a nuclear bomb. Today they are regarded as some of the most important acts of sabotage that were carried out during the war.

Events are seen from four different angles:

# 1. The allies, the UK and the US

# 2. The Norwegian resistance movement

# 3. The private company Norsk Hydro

# 4. The German side

The cast includes the following:

** Dennis Storhøi as Bjørn Henriksen, director of Norsk Hydro (a fictional character)

** Maibritt Saerens as Ellen Henriksen, his wife (a fictional character)

** Christoph Bach as Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976), a German scientist who worked on the top secret nuclear project

** Peri Baumeister as Elizabeth Heisenberg, his wife

** Søren Pilmark as Niels Bohr (1885-1962), a Danish scientist

** Esben Klouman Høiner as Leif Tronstad (1903-1945), a Norwegian scientist and a member of the resistance movement

** Anna Friel as Julie Smith, a captain in the British Army (a fictional character)

PART ONE
Four Norwegian resistance fighters are sent to Norway in October 1942. They land by parachute in the mountains of Telemark, not far from Vemork. The codename is Operation Grouse (later known as Swallow). The members are Jens-Anton Poulsson, Arne Kjelstrup, Knut Haugland, and Claus Helberg.

Their mission is to prepare the ground for a large team of about British soldiers that will land with gliders. The codename is Operation Freshman. Their mission is to attack the factory in Vemork. Operation Freshman begins in November 1942. It is a horrible failure: some members are killed while trying to land, while survivors are caught and killed by the Germans.

The members of Grouse are told to wait in the mountains of Telemark. This is easier said than done. It is in the middle of winter. How can they find anything to eat while they sit and wait for several months?

Six men are chosen to work with Grouse. They are sent to Norway in February 1943. They land by parachute in the mountains of Telemark. The codename is Operation Gunnerside. The members are Joachim Rønneberg, Knut Haukelid, Fredrik Kayser, Kasper Idland, Hans Storhaug and Birger Strømsheim.

Working together, Grouse and Gunnerside attack the factory in February 1943. Amazingly, they manage to slip inside the factory, place the explosives, detonate them and get away without firing a single shot and without losing a single man.

What is the secret? The members of the two teams have been trained and briefed by Leif Tronstad, who used to work for Norsk Hydro. He was there when the factory was being built before World War Two. He knows every detail of the plant by heart. Having escaped from Norway to England, he now works in Scotland where the resistance fighters are trained and briefed before being sent back to Norway.

The attack is a success, but the production of heavy water is not stopped, merely delayed. The Germans order the company to rebuild everything and after a few months production is up and running again.

This is why the US military wants to bomb the valley. Tronstad tries to explain that the factory cannot be bombed. A raid will only cause civilian casualties and not stop the production of heavy water. The Americans ignore his warning and go ahead with their plan. The valley is bombed in November 1943. When the raid is over, the results are just as Tronstad had predicted: the factory is hardly damaged, and there are many civilian casualties.

Because of the Norwegian sabotage in February 1943 and the US air raid in November 1943, the Germans feel that production is no longer safe. They decide to move the production to Germany. The heavy water produced so far is to be shipped to Germany. The transport will be done by train. The railway cars will be rolled on a ferry that will sail them across Lake Tinn.

This is where the Norwegian resistance has a chance to stop the shipment. A bomb is placed on the ferry. When it explodes, the ferry sinks to the bottom of the lake. The lake is so deep that the Germans cannot recover the barrels with heavy water.

PART TWO

In this film we follow the development of the case step by step:

** In episode 1 the scene is set. We meet all the significant characters of the drama.

** In episode 2 Tronstad is in Scotland, while Heisenberg and Bohr meet in Copenhagen. Operation Grouse begins. Operation Freshman fails.

** In episode 3 the members of Operation Gunnerside are chosen. Because of bad weather conditions they cannot be sent to Norway as soon as they are ready. They must wait for a while.

** In episode 4 Operation Gunnerside is carried out.

** In episode 5 the factory is bombed by US planes.

** In episode 6 the ferry is attacked by Norwegian saboteurs. In Germany, Heisenberg wonders if he can survive the end of the war. Leif Tronstad is sent to Norway as part of Operation Sunshine. He is killed shortly before the end of the war.

PART THREE

Several languages are spoken in this film. It is good to see Germans speaking German to each other and Norwegians speaking Norwegian to each other. Obviously, British and American characters speak English to each other. When Heisenberg and Niels Bohr meet, they speak English, which is credible. When the Norwegians talk to the British and Americans in the UK, they speak English, which is also credible.

Subtitles are used to cover any language that is not English. When English is spoken, there are no subtitles, which may be a problem for those who are hard of hearing. Letting each character speak his or her own language is one element which raises the authenticity of this drama.

In most cases, the drama follows the historical facts, and most characters are real historical persons, but there are some significant exceptions. As you can see from the list above, several characters are fictional. The director of Norsk Hydro and his wife are fictional. Perhaps this is done in order to protect the real directors of the company, who worked closely with the Germans.

Ellen Henriksen is played by Maibritt Saerens, who is a Danish actress, and she speaks Danish. This is very strange. Why must the fictional director of a Norwegian factory have a fictional wife who is from Denmark? The director and his wife have a prominent place in the drama. We see them all the time, but they are fictional. This does not increase historical credibility.

Another fictional character is Julie Smith, who is a captain in the British Army. She too has a prominent place in the drama. We see her all the time, but she is fictional. Again, this does not increase historical accuracy.

Most actors play their roles quite well, but one obvious exception is Maibritt Saerens, who seems totally out of place. Her performance is not convincing at all. I do not understand why she was chosen for this role. If director Henriksen must have a wife, why not use a Norwegian actress?

CONCLUSION

The Saboteurs got some good reviews. I can understand this. The people behind the drama want us to see how the war affected everyone, no matter what their position or place in society was. They succeed quite well. This drama is not only about military and technical history, it is also about social and economic history. Moral questions are raised and discussed several times, which is a good thing.

When we start watching episode 1, we know how the story will end, but still the producers manage to make it interesting and to capture our attention. In general this drama is well done; in general historical accuracy is high. I like this drama. I would like to give it five stars, but it is not entirely successful. I cannot forget the flaws I have mentioned above. I have to remove one star because of them. Therefore I think it deserves a rating of four stars.

PS # 1. In 1948, three years after the war ended, a French-Norwegian film about the case was produced. Translated into English, the title of this film is The Battle for Heavy Water. One interesting fact about this film is that many of the roles are played by Norwegian saboteurs, who play themselves. As far as I know, this old film has never been released on DVD. It is available on YouTube.

PS # 2. The Heroes of Telemark is a Hollywood movie from 1965 about the heavy water war (starring Kirk Douglas). Historical truth is violated many times in this film, but one important aspect of the film is true: it was shot in the right location: Telemark, Norway.

PS # 3. In 2003, the BBC aired a three-part documentary film about the case that was produced and narrated by Ray Mears. The title is The Real Heroes of Telemark. With a small group of experts, Mears re-enacted many parts of the operation that the saboteurs carried out during the war. According to Mears, the survival skills of the Norwegian saboteurs are an important aspect of the story. Mears has also written a book about the case, which has the same title as the film: The Real Heroes of Telemark (2003, 2004).

PS # 4. For more information about this topic, see the book Heavy Water and the Wartime Race for Nuclear Energy by Per F. Dahl (1999).

PS # 5. Hitler's Sunken Secret is a documentary film about the sabotage of the ferry that was used by the German Army to transport barrels of heavy water across Lake Tinn in February 1944. It is an episode in the long-running program NOVA, which is devoted to the history of science (season 33, episode 5, first shown on US television - PBS - in November 2005).

PS # 6. Joachim Rønneberg (born 1919) was the leader of the Norwegian team that sabotaged the factory in February 1943. The following articles about his role are available online:

** Gordon Corera, “Last hero of Telemark: The man who helped stop Hitler’s A-bomb,” BBC News, 25 April 2013

** Andrew Higgins, “WWII Hero Credits Luck and Chance in Foiling Hitler’s Nuclear Ambitions,” New York Times, 20 November 2015

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