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"Operation Freshman"
60th Anniversary Ceremony |
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Video Of The Day |
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Organising The Event Plans are well in hand for the ceremony to run from 10.30 to 12.00hrs at the Skitten Memorial on 20 November 2002. The ceremony will include a "Fly Past " by Nimrod aircraft from RAF Kinloss and will be supported by a Civic Hospitality Reception for participants and guests hosted by Highland Council in Wick The committee for the group are
actively fund raising to cover the costs of staging the event and
donations can be sent to the project treasurer - Donations have already been received from a number of organisations in Caithness including UKAEA, HMS Vulcan, Thurso Round Table and St Peters Masonic Lodge. More funding is required to cover the cost of staging the events, providing accommodation for a visitong party from "Lingeklubben" organisation in Norway - an organisation of former WW11 Norwegian Resistance Fighters and Next of Kin of Army & RAF personnel involved in the operation, who living more than 150 miles away from Skitten may require accommodation or assistance towards it. |
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Operation Freshman Highland branch members of the Aircrew Association are organising the memorial service at former RAF Skitten airfield. in Caithness. On 19 November 1942 two Horsa gliders towed by two four-engined Halifax bombers took off from Skitten four miles north-west of Wick. The gliders were piloted by a two man crew, three from the army's recently-formed Glider Pilot Regiment and the fourth a pilot from the Royal Australian Air Force. Each glider carried 16 commando-trained volunteers from the royal Engineers, all highly skilled technicians with much knowledge of explosives, electronics and fuses. A medical officer from RAF Skitten also went with them. Norwegian agents organised the one-way trip with a landing site near Lake Mosvatn in the Telemark area. The engineers were to locate and destroy the German controlled hydro-electric plant at Vermork, 60 miles west of Oslo. The plant was producing heavy water for the early atomic weapons programme set up by Hitler. The operation went wrong and 40 servicemen died. A Halifax and its Horsa glider crashed into a mountain - there were 10 survivors. They put up a brief fight before being captured by the Germans who had also captured the other glider's passengers. Earlier instruction from Hitler were to shoot all commandoes and take no prisoners. Only Rommel apparently disobeyed this order. After questioning by the Gestapo they were poisoned in Stavanger Hospital. Others were murdered at Slettebo and buried at Brusand. Other prisoners were taken to Grini near Oslo and shot on 18 January 1943 A month later a group of Norwegian saboteurs trained by the British army parachuted into Norway and blew up the plant although they suffered many casualties. The raids were the basis of the film starring Kirk Douglas - "The Heroes of Telemark" The ceremony at Skitten was carried out successfully in terrible weather. The balance of the funds was paid to the local branch of The Royal British Legion in order to maintain the monument in perpetuity. |
Operation Freshman Links Remembrance Service Skitten November 2001 Skitten in Caithness.org A - Z Glider Pilot Regiment 1942 - 1945 The Skitten Memorial was set up at Skitten in 1992 and unveiled by Councillor Anderson Murray a wartime Lancaster bomber navigator and member of the Aircrew Association's Highland Branch Memorial At Skitten Memorial At Skitten Don Owens is secretary of the Aircrew Association - Highland Branch and was secretary of the Skitten Project 2002 Committee. He was a Halifax bomber flight engineer who flew operations with 415 RCAF Squadron and was transferred to 420 RCAF squadron just before the end of war. Don Mason (DSO and Bar, DFC) also a meber of the Aircrew Association was the fundraiser for the memorial day. Note from
Caithness.org |
