6 Norwegian Heroes Stopped Hitler's Nuclear Bomb in Epic WWII Mission

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]In 1943, [music] Hitler was racing to build the atomic bomb, and he was closer than anyone imagined. Deep in Nazi-occupied Norway sat the world's only heavy water plant. The Nazis needed this rare substance for their nuclear weapons program. Britain knew they had to destroy it or face nuclear annihilation. Their first attempt was a disaster. [music] Gliders carrying British commandos crashed in the mountains. 41 men died.

[00:00:28]The survivors were captured and executed. But six Norwegian commandos were already hiding in the wilderness, >> [music] >> waiting. For months, they survived in snow caves, eating moss and reindeer droppings. Temperatures hit minus [music] 40°. On February 27th, they struck. They skied through a blizzard to the heavily guarded plant, crawled through a drainage tunnel, and placed their explosives on the heavy water tanks. The blast destroyed months of Nazi atomic research. Then came the impossible part. Escaping across 200 miles of frozen wasteland to Sweden, all six made it out alive. Operation Gunnerside may have saved the world from nuclear war.