MovieChat Forums > The Heroes of Telemark (1965) Discussion > German security - was there any?

German security - was there any?


First off, movies often avoid reality, I know this. This movie was no exception. Just imagine, the Nazis are making heavy water that could win the war in a heartbeat! Wouldn't you give it a highest priority? Wouldn't you provide ultra ultra high security to all aspects of the project? I laughed to see how Kirk's team so easily used bolt cutters to enter the production area when they planted the bombs. For such a CRITICAL project I would expect guards 20 feet apart on the ENTIRE perimeter.

Most obvious joke in security was near the end of the movie, when Kirk and Richard are in the hold of the fairy setting the charges. Wouldn't you expect maybe a dozen or so soldiers in there guarding it? We're talking about the outcome of WWII here!!!! In reality, I would imagine that the fairy would have been requisitioned (no civilians) just to move the water, with about 100 soldiers guarding it.
Mountain Man

reply

In this case MountainMan the reality may be that the German security was not what it should have been. I certainly am no expert on the sabotage of the Norwegian heavy water plant, but history tells us it did occur and ultimately was successful.

During WW2 a sequence of sabotage actions, by the Norwegian resistance movement—as well as Allied bombing—ensured the destruction of the plant and the loss of the heavy water produced. These operations—codenamed "Grouse," "Freshman," and "Gunnerside"—finally managed to knock the plant out of production in early 1943.

THOT dramatises and condenses those 3 operations and combines them with the successful sinking of the ferry, SF Hydro, on Lake Tinnsjø, where there were civilians (believe it or not) on the ferry.

"Wouldn't you provide ultra ultra high security to all aspects of the project? I laughed to see how Kirk's team so easily used bolt cutters to enter the production area when they planted the bombs. For such a CRITICAL project I would expect guards 20 feet apart on the ENTIRE perimeter."

I don't know what the German security arrangements were but Operation Gunnerside to which you refer, was apparently more successful than originally thought and depicted in the movie.

As shown the Germans did get the plant back online, but scientific analysis of some of the heavy water from recovered barrels from the lake has revealed that the heavy water was actally of inferior quality and would never have allowed the Germans to develop an atomic bomb. This scenario is thought to have come about because of the earlier successful sabotage.

"Most obvious joke in security was near the end of the movie, when Kirk and Richard are in the hold of the fairy setting the charges. Wouldn't you expect maybe a dozen or so soldiers in there guarding it? We're talking about the outcome of WWII here!!!! In reality, I would imagine that the fairy would have been requisitioned (no civilians) just to move the water, with about 100 soldiers guarding it."

The ferry was blown up by a two clock bomb as shown though Wikipedia says it was attached to the keel of the ferry. It also says the security was a lot heavier transporting the water to the ferry than on the ferry itself( as per the film) , which as I said earlier did have civilians.

I don't think THOT has ever claimed to be a true story. But just a little research appears to indicate that the major incidents referenced in the movie did generally play out as depicted and were not greatly exaggerated.


reply

From what I've read, Hitler was not a believer in the atomic bomb. How much priority this project got might have been less than one would expect. Resources being divided up during wartime may have limited security. Or the commander on site was over confident. Certainly wasn't easy to get into the plant, I'd have agreed with Kirk Douglas' first assessment. There were plenty of guards who perhaps took to routine and weren't as on edge as they should have been. Did they know of the importance of what they were guarding? Until the first a-bomb went off, most regular folk probably found talk of atomic power to go over their heads.

I've seen the future and I've left it behind.

reply

You're summary could well be accurate adam.

I guess the main thing is that, IMO it was pointless the movie ramping up the security detail for dramatic effect, when history tells us for whatever reason, it wasn't there.

reply

On further reading, the raiders were given excellent intel on the plant and the schedule of the guards by those Norwegians employed there. So it was mostly knowing the place by heart and timing movements just right.

I've seen the future and I've left it behind.

reply

[deleted]

Like another poster said, Hitler wasn't all in on this project mainly because he didn't fully understand it. So while the German people were told they had this "super weapon" that would win the war for them even though things didn't look so good at the time because of the U.S. involvement in the war the importance of this "super weapon" was not a great priority of the NAZIs.

What was a priority was keeping the Allies out of mainland Europe. They were too busy using manpower to build defenses on the coast, defending North Africa, and fighting the Russians on the Eastern front. Hitler made a huge mistake in not recognizing the importance of "The Bomb" which would have taken England out of the war, stymieing the U.S. efforts for an invasion into Europe, and defeating the Russians.

I'm not sure but they may have been closer to actually producing a nuclear device than the U.S. and U.K. at that time (1942). Given their uncanny ability to devise weapons, design them, and have them in production in a very short period of time I doubt it would have taken much longer. Certainly before the Allied invasion into Germany proper.



********************************************
My favorite: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

reply

Realistic or not, in actuality NONE of them were killed during the real mission sabotaging the plant. Also, the boat is a ferry. A fairy is a small, mythical creature.

reply

I agree, you would think that a project as important as this to the Germans would not let a few men just cut the chain on the main gate and walk right in. If the German security was that bad the war would have ended in a very short time.

reply