The bombing of Rjukan 1943

Place: rjukan · Approximate position

The sabotage at Vemork had damaged the plant, but had not stopped the heavy water for good. On 16 November 1943 the American 8th Air Force therefore mounted a large daylight raid against Vemork and Rjukan. From high altitude most of the load missed the actual target – only one heavy water cell was damaged. Worst hit was the civilian population in the Våer residential area, right below the Vemork power station: a bomb striking a newly built air raid shelter there killed 16 people who had taken cover, most of them women and children. The sources differ on the total death toll – from about 20 (lokalhistoriewiki.no) to 22 (Norsk Industriarbeidermuseum). At Våer today stands a memorial, with an information board put up in 2013, which keeps the memory of the victims alive.

The memorial stands below the Vemork power station at Våer, a good 3 km west of Rjukan town centre. The exact placement of the memorial stone itself has not been established, so the position is approximate.

Sources

• Norsk Industriarbeidermuseum – The operations — Oppgir om lag 22 sivile drepte totalt i bombingen.
• Bombinga av Vemork 16. november 1943 – lokalhistoriewiki.no — Oppgir 16 drepte (mest kvinner og barn) i tilfluktsrommet på Våer, og et totaltall på «om lag tjue» (listen er trolig ikke komplett).
• Vakkert og spennende – minnesmerker i verdensarv-kommunene – Verdensarven i Telemark — Bautaen står nedenfor Vemork kraftstasjon, der tilfluktsrommet lå; minnesteinen oppgir 18 omkomne. Infotavle satt opp 16. november 2013.