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138 Squadron was involved with the Special Operations Executive (S.O.E.) and other clandestine groups concerned with the dropping of Agents and supplies in Europe.
My tour of duty with the squadron consisted of 36 operations over France, Holland, Belgium and Norway.

The most historic and important operation carried out by 138 Squadron was codenamed ‘Gunnerside’ in Norway. On the night of 16/17 February 1943, with Squadron Leader Christopher Gibson and crew and myself as extra Navigator/Map Reader, we left RAF Tempsford at 1910 hours. On board we had a full load of containers and six young Norwegian Commandos. This was the second attempt to drop these six to the north of the Heavy Water factory at RJUKAN, 120 miles NE of STAVANGER.

It was imperative that success was achieved on this night as it would be the last opportunity this moon period. Intelligence reports had shown that it was now vital that the plant was destroyed at once. A party of four other Norwegians, codenamed ‘Grouse’, had already been in position since October 1942, camping out on a frozen lake high up on a plateau to the north east of RJUKAN. The flight across the North Sea was uneventful and we made landfall south of STAVANGER, as planned. We now had to find the Dropping Zone (D.Z.) which would be marked by lights set up by the ‘Grouse’ team. The tops of the mountains, which are around 6000 feet, were covered in snow and ice and all the frozen lakes looked alike. It really was a beautiful night, the moon was bright, the clouds were light and fluffy and we were flying low. At one time the rear gunner suggested that perhaps they were not pretty fluffy clouds, but the tops of the mountains we were scudding over - he may well have been right.

Because of the failure to find the lights on the previous trip on 23rd January 1943, it had been decided before we left base that, if necessary, it would be a ‘Blind Drop’. This meant that if we were happy that the ground looked safe for a drop - so be it. We could not find the lights. The skipper, S/LDR Gibson, and the Norwegian Leader, Joachim Ronneberg, decided that as it was such a vital operation, they would parachute in without making contact with the four on the ground. So all six brave young men and all their packages were dropped. The rear gunner reported all parachutes had opened and we set off on the long haul to Tempsford. I can remember thinking, as we watched the chutes going down onto this frozen wasteland, what courage they had. We were returning to base for bacon and beans, but what lay in store for them?

On the night of 26th February 1943, these ten Norwegian Commandos successfully destroyed the Norsk Hydro Plant. With their supply of heavy water cut off, the German scientists who had been working on this project had to give up. Hitler was not going to get the atomic bomb.

In his book ‘The Special Operations Executive 1940 - 1946’, M.R.D. Foot says “One coup SOE brought off in Norway changed the course of the War and was so important that nothing else the section did bears record beside it. Early in the occupation, the Germans ordered a plant called Norsk Hydro at VEMARK near RJUKAN, west of OSLO, to increase its production of Heavy Water (deuterium oxide). When this became known in London it was recognised as a sign that the Germans thought they might manage to make an atomic bomb out of heavy water, and Combined Operations Headquarters was ordered to attack the plant.�

Some 50 years on - my wife Margaret and I were invited to the Gunnerside Lecture at the Imperial War Museum, to hear the leader of this raid, Joachim Ronneberg, give a first-hand account of this daring and important operation. The invitation came from Mark Seaman, a Research and Information Officer at the Museum, also a very good friend of the Tempsford Squadrons. So on 28th September 1993, I met the leader of the ‘Gunnerside’ raid again. He and I had a long chat before he started his lecture. It was quite amazing that we could just stand there in the vast area of the Imperial War Museum, oblivious of others around us and just talk. Joachim enthralled the very large audience with a fascinating lecture. I learned that we had not got the dropping point quite right, but as they were pleased to land safely and with all their equipment, they were not too worried and quickly met up with the other four, who had been waiting for so long. The truly amazing aspect of this raid was that no-one was injured, no shots were fired, and yet it was completely successful - truly remarkable.

Out of the 36 trips I did with 138 Squadron, this was the most memorable because of its importance, although we were not aware of that at the time. All the Agents we dropped took amazing risks in order to carry out their duties. We the aircrews were there to help them on their way.

On the wall of GIBRALTAR FARM at TEMPSFORD AIRFIELD is a plaque : -

Erected to commemorate the brave deeds of the men

and women of every nationality who flew from this

wartime airfield to the

FORCES OF THE RESISTANCE

in France, Norway, Holland and other countries

during the years 1942 to 1945

We remember them all - agents and aircrews

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