Joachim Rønneberg

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For Norwegian politician, see Joachim Holmboe Rønneberg.
Joachim Holmboe Rønneberg
First Lieutenant
UnitNorwegian Independent Company 1
Battles/wars
  • Norwegian Campaign
  • Operation Gunnerside
Awards
Spouse(s)
Liv Foldal
​
(m. 1949)​
RelationsAlf Rønneberg (father)
Anna Krag Sandberg (mother)
NRK
broadcaster

Joachim Holmboe Rønneberg

Operation Gunnerside
, and his post-war war information work.

Personal life

Rønneberg was born in

British commando training.[3] On the maternal side he was a nephew of Ole Rømer Aagaard Sandberg, and thus a grandnephew of Ole Rømer Aagaard Sandberg, Sr.[4][5] On the paternal side he was a second great grandson of Carl Rønneberg,[4] and a grandnephew of politician Anton Johan Rønneberg, whose mother was a part of the Holmboe family
—hence Joachim's middle name.

During his childhood, he was a member of scout movement.

Princess Astrid at the end of August 2014. Rønneberg died on 21 October 2018.[9][10]

Career

Rønneberg reported for national service in 1938, being told to report for duty with the surveying department in 1940.[11]

World War II

Second Lieutenant.[13]

Heavy water sabotage

The Vemork hydroelectric plant in 1935. The heavy water was produced in the front building (the Hydrogen Production Plant).
Main article: Norwegian heavy water sabotage

Rønneberg, now a

Operation Gunnerside team, reinforcing the four-man team Grouse sent in earlier, during the heavy water sabotage action.[12] After landing at a location 45 kilometres (28 mi) from the other team Gunnerside spent five days waiting out an intense blizzard in an uninhabited hunting cabin before meeting up with Grouse.[14] The combined Norwegian team went into action against the Norsk Hydro heavy water production plant in Vemork in 1943, parachuting into the Hardangervidda plateau on 16 February.[11] Rønneberg led the demolition team when the saboteurs, on the night of 27–28 February 1943, entered the Norsk Hydro plant and set explosive charges. The team then escaped from the factory as the explosives went off, without the German guards discovering the saboteurs or indeed noticing that there had been an attack on the plant, probably believing that the heavy snow had set off one of their own land mines. Rønneberg recalled the dawn as they escaped: "It was a mackerel sky, it was a marvellous sunrise. We sat there very tired, very happy. Nobody said anything. That was a very special moment."[12] Although chased by 2,800 German troops,[15] five of the saboteurs, led by Rønneberg, escaped safely to neutral Sweden by way of a 14-day march over a distance of 400 kilometres (250 mi)[16] after the successful completion of their mission.[17] The six other members of the sabotage team hid out in various locations in Norway without being caught by the Germans.[16] Eighteen heavy water cells and around 500 kilograms (1,100 lb) of heavy water were destroyed during the attack,[18] as well as a loss of production of 400 kilograms (880 lb) of heavy water.[15]

After the factory was reported to have been rebuilt in the summer of 1943 a new saboteur attack was planned, but eventually scrapped in favour of an

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation also portrays Rønneberg's role in the heavy water operations.[21]

The sabotage action against the Vemork plant was portrayed in the Franco-Norwegian 1948 film

Operation Swallow: The Battle for Heavy Water, where Rønneberg was portrayed by Norwegian actor Claus Wiese.[22] In 1965 the less-than-accurate American film The Heroes of Telemark, starring Kirk Douglas and Richard Harris, was released by Columbia Pictures.[23] Rønneberg dismissed this film as a "hopeless" portrayal, when he told his memories in 2010 after many years of silence.[12]

Other World War II work

Rønneberg subsequently commanded other raids against the Germans, including the Fieldfare operation in Sunnmøre,[13] in preparation for attacks against German supply lines in the Romsdal valley.[24] In January 1945 Rønneberg had led a three-man unit of NOR.I.C.1 on a mission to destroy the Stuguflåt railway bridge, blowing up the bridge with a 130-kilogram (290 lb) charge of plastic explosives, putting it out of service for three weeks. The team then escaped without casualties.[25] His service with NOR.I.C.1 ended with the liberation of Norway in 1945.[1]

Honours and awards

In 1943, he was awarded Norways's highest decoration for military gallantry, the

Håkon Anton Fagerås made a statue in bronze of Rønneberg on commission. It was unveiled by Princess Astrid in Ålesund.[29]

Post-war career

After the war he began a career in broadcasting. He was hired in

NRK Ålesund in 1948, was promoted to programme secretary in 1954 and sub-editor in 1977. He retired in 1988.[1] In the 1970s, from 1971, Rønneberg was governor of Rotary International's 128th district.[30] He also participated in the rebuilding of Fieldfare Cabin in the valley Veltedalen in the summer of 1990, where he had hidden out the last year of the war with two other officers from NOR.I.C.1. Fieldfare Cabin today gives an image of Norwegian resistance during the war.[31][32]

In his later years Rønneberg was involved in war information work, holding lectures for audiences around Norway. He said that he was particularly fond of holding talks for school children. Rønneberg was highly critical of the current situation for the Norwegian military, stating that its capacity for mobilisation was only 9% of the 1990 level.[11] In 1995, Rønneberg, together with fellow World War II resistance leader Gunnar Sønsteby and Norwegian businessman Erling Lorentzen, received the Norwegian-American Chamber of Commerce Achievement Award for "individuals whose outstanding personal accomplishments exemplify the spirit of commitment, perseverance and endeavor that sustains the strong relations between Norway and the United States of America".[33] Rønneberg was a member of the Linge Club, a Norwegian veterans' association, until it was disbanded on 17 October 2007.[34] In April 2013, Rønneberg was presented with a Union Jack during a ceremony at the Special Operations Executive (SOE) monument in London to mark 70 years since the successful Gunnerside mission.[35]

Bibliography

  • ISBN 978-1444798982
    .
  • ISBN 978-8299102643
    .
  • ISBN 978-8270102457
    .
  • ISBN 978-8203293061
    .
  • "WWII Hero Credits Luck and Chance in Foiling Hitler's Nuclear Ambitions".
    NY Times
    . 20 November 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  • ISBN 978-1786482082
    .

References

  1. ^
    Store norske leksikon
    (in Norwegian). Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  2. ^ Family genealogy Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine (vestraat.net). Retrieved on 10 November 2008.
  3. ^ Midttun, Lasse (10 May 1995). "Det tunge valget" (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2008.
  4. ^ a b c Kraglund, Ivar. "Joachim Rønneberg". In Helle, Knut (ed.). Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  5. ^ Madsen, Roar. "Ole Rømer Sandberg". In Helle, Knut (ed.). Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Archived from the original on 23 February 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  6. ^ Lucký, Jakub (17 February 2023). "Interview with Victor Rønneberg". iRozhlas.cz. Czech Radio. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  7. ^ Joachim Holmboe Rønneberg genealogy Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 10 November 2008.
  8. ^ Norwegian tax lists, 2007. Retrieved on 10 November 2008.
  9. ^ "Krigsveteranen Joachim Rønneberg er død, 99 år gammel". Avisen Agder (in Norwegian). 21 October 2018. Archived from the original on 21 October 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  10. ^ "Joachim Roenneberg, Who Sabotaged Nazis' Nuclear Hopes, Dies At 99". NPR.org. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  11. ^ a b c d "Joachim Rønneberg: "Kanskje var fremtiden vår kort i 1940"" (in Norwegian). Norsk Forsvarsforening. Archived from the original on 13 October 2007. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
  12. ^
    Daily Telegraph
    . Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  13. ^
    ISBN 9788202141387
    .
  14. ^ Voksø 1994: 309
  15. ^ a b c Moland 1987: 9
  16. ^ a b Voksø 1994:311
  17. ^ "1943: Bomberegn og "bestilt" sabotasje" (in Norwegian). Norsk Hydro. 13 September 2007. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
  18. ISBN 9788202141387
    .
  19. ISBN 9788202141387
    .
  20. ^ Moland 1987:9–10
  21. ^ Jorn Rossing Jensen (21 November 2014). "NRK ready to declare €8.7 million Heavy Water War". Cineuropa. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  22. ^ "Kampen om tungtvannet – Norsk film fra 1948" (in Norwegian). filmfront.no. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
  23. Internet Movie Database
    . Retrieved 10 November 2008.
  24. ^ "Historiske kull Rønneberg!". Milnytt.no (in Norwegian). 11 July 2006. Retrieved 10 November 2008.[dead link]
  25. ^ Setså, Trond (2006). "Lingetreffen på Dombås" (PDF). Heimevernsbladet (in Norwegian). 59 (4): 38.[permanent dead link]
  26. ^ "Krigskorset" (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 27 March 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
  27. ^ a b I kamp for frihet (Norwegian documentary film), Filmlight Video Produksjon & NRK, 2001
  28. ISBN 978-0-563-53734-2
    .
  29. ^ "Heidra motstandsmann". www.royalcourt.no. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  30. ^ "Stiftelsen av Hafrsfjord Rotary Klubb i 1971" (in Norwegian). Hafrsfjord Rotary Klubb. 9 August 1998. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
  31. ^ "Innsatstyrke Archery besøker Fieldfarehytta i Tafjordfjella" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Armed Forces. 7 November 2007. Archived from the original on 16 June 2007. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
  32. ^ "Fieldfarehytta" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Trekking Association. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
  33. ^ "About NACC > Awards". Norwegian-American Chamber of Commerce [no], Inc. Archived from the original on 31 July 2007. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
  34. Norwegian Ministry of Defence
    . 17 October 2007. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
  35. ^ "Agent who sabotaged Nazi atomic program honoured in London". Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). 26 April 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2013.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joachim_Rønneberg&oldid=1195957425"