Commemorations in Norway for Operation Freshman aircrew
Seven victims of Operation Freshman, the ill-fated wartime mission launched from Caithness, have been remembered at a series of events in Norway.
Commemorations in the Helleland area included a remembrance ceremony, the laying of wreaths and the unveiling of a new information board. Military historian Bruce Tocher described it as “a fitting tribute”.
Dr Tocher, who has given two illustrated talks in Caithness about the Operation Freshman story, attended the events with his wife Joyce. Relatives of victims were also present.
Forty-one of the men who set off from RAF Skitten on the night of November 19, 1942, lost their lives – 23 of them murdered by the Gestapo.
The airborne assault on Nazi-occupied Norway involved sending sabotage troops to attack a hydroelectric plant at Vemork, with support from a Norwegian resistance group. The plant produced Europe’s only supply of deuterium oxide, or heavy water, a key component in atomic research.
Two Halifax bombers, both towing Horsa gliders containing commando-trained Royal Engineers, took off from Skitten but the mission failed and only one bomber crew made it back.
The commemorations over the course of a weekend were for the seven aircrew who were killed when one of the bombers, known as Halifax “B”, crashed in the Helleland hills. They were Flight Lieutenant Arthur Roland Parkinson (26), Flight Lieutenant Arthur Edwin Thomas (32), Flying Officer Arnold Thomas Hayward Haward (28), Pilot Officer GW Sewell de Gency (20), Flight Sergeant Albert Buckton (23), Flight Sergeant George Mercier Edwards (24) and Sergeant Jim Falconer (20).
Dr Tocher and his wife, together with members of the Falconer and Sewell families, were among a group who hiked up to the crash site to lay a wreath. They were joined later by members of the Haward and Parkinson families on a visit to Dalane Folkemuseum to get a close-up look at Operation Freshman artefacts and documents.
They also visited a new walkway built by Eigersund kommune linking a Royal Engineers monument and a site at Slettebø where 14 men from one of the crashed Horsa gliders were shot by a firing squad.
The Freshman families were invited to a dinner hosted by the deputy mayor, May Helen Hetland. There was also a church service followed by a remembrance ceremony at the Halifax “B” graves.
The deputy mayor unveiled the new information board, funding for which came from the families.
Dr Tocher later gave a public presentation on Operation Freshman. Afterwards, Norwegian members of the audience came forward to share some personal stories about the Halifax crash 82 years ago.
“It was a wonderful weekend and, I believe, a fitting tribute to the Halifax ‘B’ aircrew,” Dr Tocher said.
“Particular thanks are due to Eigersund kommune, Helleland Church and Dalane Folkemuseum for their generous support and engagement.”
Also in November, a special session was set up at the Royal Engineers Museum in Gillingham, Kent, allowing 19 Freshman family members to have a close-up examination of some of the Freshman-related artefacts in the museum collection.
The session was followed by a public lecture focusing on the war crimes aspects of Operation Freshman. The lecture was recorded and will be available to view on the Royal Engineers Museum YouTube channel.
Dr Tocher gave another presentation at the Army Flying Museum in Hampshire. The focus was again on the war crimes investigations and trials.
The lecture, an extended version of the one given at the Royal Engineers Museum, is available online for a small fee which goes towards the support of the Army Flying Museum.
Dr Tocher said: “Both the Royal Engineers Museum and Army Flying Museum deserve a huge amount of support for the excellent work they do to preserve our military history.”
On the anniversary of the raid, Dr Tocher visited the de Havilland Aircraft Museum in Hertfordshire to see its Horsa glider exhibit and reconstruction.
He was joined there by Bob Simkins, son of Driver George Simkins, who was killed in one of the gliders.
Dr Tocher said: “Having the opportunity to climb into the Horsa fuselage was an amazing experience, and made me realise even more how brave the young men were who took off in gliders like this in November 1942.”
Originally from Forfar, Dr Tocher is a geologist who was a university lecturer and worked in the oil and gas industry. He moved to Norway in 1995.
Operation Freshman was the precursor to Operation Gunnerside. That mission became the inspiration for the 1965 film The Heroes of Telemark, starring Kirk Douglas and Richard Harris.
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