Final Resting Places

This article lists the Operation Freshman personnel and their final resting place. I have also provided a description of the cemetery or memorial that they are commemorated on. The list of personnel was extracted from numerous document at the PRO. The details of their final resting place was provided by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s… Continue reading Final Resting Places

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Four Royal Engineers

Just before Christmas 1945, a military court was held in Oslo. This court was convened by order of Major-General D.A.H. Graham, CB, CBE, DSO, MC, commanding British Land Forces Norway (BLFN) on 7 December 1945. This court was established to try five people in connection with the murder of four soldiers who where part of… Continue reading Four Royal Engineers

Falkenhorst Trial

General Nicolaus von Falkenhorst, formerly the Commander of German Forces in Norway, was tried for war crimes by the British at Brunswick, in Norway, from 29 July to 2 August 1946. The court was convened by the Commander 30 Corps District. The court consisted of a President, Major-General I.S.O Playfair, and four members: Captain C.S.B.… Continue reading Falkenhorst Trial

Training for Freshman

This report was produced by the Royal Air Force in 1942. It explained the air training behind Operation Freshman, especially in the light of the missions failure and there being no survivors. It was not apparent at this stage, that the survivors had been murdered and a war crime committed. The ReportMOST SECRET. Copy No.… Continue reading Training for Freshman

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The Glider Crews

This pages lists the Glider and Tug crews which took part in Operation Freshman. Due to their being no survivors from either glider, it was extremely difficult for the authorities at the time to construct a picture of what exactly happened. Most of the information only emerged after the war finished in 1945, and War… Continue reading The Glider Crews

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Operation Freshman

Operation Freshman was an operation mounted during the night of 19/20 November 1942, using gliders and Royal Engineer commandos. The purpose of the raid was to destroy a heavy water plant at Rjukan in Norway.The plan for the raid was to use gliders to land commandos with the knowledge and equipment to destroy the heavy… Continue reading Operation Freshman