Why this book: Selected by the SEAL Book club I’m a member of. I listened to the book on audible, but wish I’d read the hard copy, which includes pictures, maps, lists of participants and acknowledgments and would have permitted more easily reviewing portions to get clarity on parts I may have missed.

Summary in 3 Sentences: Winter Fortress describes the full context and details surrounding the British SOE and Norwegian Kompani Linge special operations resistance movement and their successful operations to damage/disable the Vemork heavy water plant and and a subsequent follow-up raid, which significantly impeded Nazi efforts to develop an Atomic bomb. The book additionally provides important context, with information about how the raids fit into the overall Norwegian resistance movement against the Nazis, as well as the competition between the Alllies and Nazi Germany to develop an Atomic bomb. We get to know the various key players in the operations, their lives and their struggles to succeed in their very challenging missions.

My Impressions: An excellent narrative history of the famous Norwegian commando raids designed to interrupt Nazi efforts to develop an Atomic Bomb. Bascomb describes the extensive planning, and preparations to conduct two raids – one against the heavy water plant in Vemork near Riuckan Norway, and one later, to sink a ferry transporting heavy water to Germany. I had read the 1st person account of one of the main participants in the raids (Skis Agains the Atom, by Knut Haukelid) quite a few years ago, and this book provides much needed and appreciated context to the raids themselves. In this book Bascomb treats us to stories about the lives and characters of the key participants in the raids, their extensive training and suffering to await the “go” signal to conduct the raids, as well as where and how the raids fit into the entire Norwegian resistance movement against the Nazis. We also learn where these raids fit into the years-long race between the Nazis and the allies to develop an Atomic bomb. and of the brutal methods the Nazi’s used to suppress the resistance,

I was thoroughly impressed with the research Bascomb did to create this excellent book and to bring the reader into the lives and challenges of the key participants in the raids.

In The Winter Fortress, we accompany the participants in their years long to struggle train and prepare for and then after insertion into Norway, to remain hidden and survive in the remote mountains and plains (the Vidda) outside of Riukan while the Nazis desperately searched for them. We also learn of a tragic unsuccessful early effort that cost many commando lives, while also alerting the Nazis to the intent of the Allies to attack the plant. We learn of the extensive planning and preparation of the commandos to successfully get into the Vemork plant that the Nazis had done all they could to secure. Subsequently, how the few remaiing commandos overcame the extensive efforts to prevent a raid on their shipment of heavy water to Germany. We are involved in the training and planning in the UK, coordinated between the Norwegian and British special operations teams, the political issues involved, as well as the on-going efforts in Nazi Germany to develop a bomb before the Allies, a bomb which Hitler believed would win the war for Germany.

Bascomb does an excellent job providing important and engaging detail behind one of the most important special operations in recent history, and does it in a captivating way, to engage the reader with the participants, their struggles, mistakes and successes in planning and conducting these unique special operations. For those interested in special operations history, I can’t recommend this book highly enough.