Commandos destroy power station

20th September 1942: Operation Muskatoon - a joint Commando / Special Operation Executive raid incenses Hitler and leads to dire consequences

The Glomfjord hydroelectric power station in Norway which was put out of action by Operation Muskatoon on the night 19th/20th September, halting aluminium production for the Germans.

The Commandos and Norwegian SOE agents who had landed from the Free French submarine Junon on the 15th September began their attack on the Glomfjord power station in Norway on the night of 19th/20th September. They had good intelligence but were nearly undone by some of the power station workers:

We made a recce round the Power Station, put out guards and found a way into the station. We knew from our intelligence in U.K. that the buildings were being extended, a factor which turned to our advantage. The wall at the west end of the building had been taken down and in its stead was a large temporary screen which was firmly nailed up but which could be pulled out at the bottom.