Source: William Stevenson. A Man Called Intrepid - The Incredible True Story
of the Master Spy That Helped Win World War II (1976, 2000)
of the Master Spy That Helped Win World War II (1976, 2000)
Within a week of arriving in Britain, Bohr was able to meet Churchill, and for 45 minutes Bohr mumbled scientific jargon. While Churchill knew how Bohr came to be in Britain, he still had no patience for eggheads. Bohr was shown plans of the German V Rockets that he didn't know existed, and was asked if it was possible that the Nazis could fire 5000 of them on Britain, and if an atomic warhead could be placed on even one rocket . . . Bohr didn't have any definitive answers other than it was theoretically possible to place an atomic warhead on a rocket.
Bohr was told that he needed to go to the US to help build the atomic bomb, but Bohr balked, stating that he couldn't be part of something that was inherently violent. It was the same old story: Bohr was back in his Scientific Ivory Tower refusing to see the reality of World War II . . . but eventually Bohr agreed to "join the team". In late-1943, Bohr and Aage flew to NYC, provided with false ID papers under the name of Baker, a name that Bohr could remember, having never remembered any of his previous false names (he even answered the phone "Bohr here"); Bohr was now part of the Manhattan Project.
There were those (including Churchill) that believed Bohr, while in Nazi-occupied Denmark, had come close to committing a moral crime against all of humanity, and some of them were in the US working on the Manhattan Project. As far as FDR was told, Bohr proved to be more of a liability than an asset to the Manhattan Project, and the President actually decided to sent Bohr back to London.
Bohr was told that he needed to go to the US to help build the atomic bomb, but Bohr balked, stating that he couldn't be part of something that was inherently violent. It was the same old story: Bohr was back in his Scientific Ivory Tower refusing to see the reality of World War II . . . but eventually Bohr agreed to "join the team". In late-1943, Bohr and Aage flew to NYC, provided with false ID papers under the name of Baker, a name that Bohr could remember, having never remembered any of his previous false names (he even answered the phone "Bohr here"); Bohr was now part of the Manhattan Project.
There were those (including Churchill) that believed Bohr, while in Nazi-occupied Denmark, had come close to committing a moral crime against all of humanity, and some of them were in the US working on the Manhattan Project. As far as FDR was told, Bohr proved to be more of a liability than an asset to the Manhattan Project, and the President actually decided to sent Bohr back to London.
Bohr told WS "a cruel time comes when to save a nation's deepest values, we have to disobey the state". Disobedience was forced on the Danes when the Gestapo mass arrests intensified after Bohr escaped. Soon it became apparent to British intelligence and the Danish Resistance that the Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen had to be destroyed, regardless of collateral damage. Bohr helped provide intelligence about the Gestapo HQ to WS and his intelligence network in NYC (the British Security Coordination) so Camp X near Toronto could create a model mock-up HQ in order to train guerillas.
Bohr pleaded that his lab be left alone, and that his Van de Graaff generator that he used in heavy water experiments be left alone, so the Nazis wouldn't be alerted to its importance, and the planners of the operation agreed. After much debate, it was decided that Bohr's lab in Copenhagen would not be destroyed (Bohr was aware that the Danish Resistance had placed explosives under his lab). However, Danish prisoners held at Gestapo HQ knew how important Bohr's work was to the development of the atomic bomb, and British Intelligence knew that all prisoners talked in the end, unable to indefinitely endure torture.
Bohr pleaded that his lab be left alone, and that his Van de Graaff generator that he used in heavy water experiments be left alone, so the Nazis wouldn't be alerted to its importance, and the planners of the operation agreed. After much debate, it was decided that Bohr's lab in Copenhagen would not be destroyed (Bohr was aware that the Danish Resistance had placed explosives under his lab). However, Danish prisoners held at Gestapo HQ knew how important Bohr's work was to the development of the atomic bomb, and British Intelligence knew that all prisoners talked in the end, unable to indefinitely endure torture.
Those Danish prisoners were still located in Copenhagen so long as King Christian X held at least minimal influence, and most Danes were unwilling to risk acting against the Nazis at that point. Christian X got word to London that Danish Resistance knew oceans of intelligence about the locations/workings of the Nazi war apparatus in Denmark, and that key Danish Resistance figures were held at Gestapo HQ. A plan soon emerged at the suggestion of the King's emissary who had reached London: bomb the part of the Gestapo HQ where the Danish Resistance was located so they could escape . . . otherwise it would be only a matter of time until the Nazis would find out the true significance of what was going on in Bohr's lab in Copenhagen.
It was determined that the Royal Air Force would give the air raid a go. Christian X's emissary even provided the RAF, upon their request, a photograph of the building at wave-top level. Civilian lives would be lost in the raid, and not just prisoners in Gestapo HQ; having decided that there was no other alternative but to risk collateral casualties, 18 Mosquito bombers were re-tasked from other raids in Europe to bomb Gestapo HQ in Copenhagen.
It was determined that the Royal Air Force would give the air raid a go. Christian X's emissary even provided the RAF, upon their request, a photograph of the building at wave-top level. Civilian lives would be lost in the raid, and not just prisoners in Gestapo HQ; having decided that there was no other alternative but to risk collateral casualties, 18 Mosquito bombers were re-tasked from other raids in Europe to bomb Gestapo HQ in Copenhagen.
On 21 March 1945, shortly before dawn, the fully-briefed 36 pilots of the 18 Mosquitoes took off and crossed the English Coast for Operation Carthage. Each plane carried bombs that exploded after an 11 second delay so the planes could avoid the bomb's blast and attempt their escape. The 1st and 3rd Waves carried incendiary bombs designed to make Gestapo HQ a hellish bonfire. The Mosquitoes couldn't use radios and had to fly at wave-top, all to avoid detection. The air raid was timed to coincide with the greatest number of Gestapo expected to be at HQ. Thirty
P-51 Mustangs provided air cover for a time under a Belgian commander.
The 18 Mosquitoes took the Germans in Copenhagen completely by surprise; German efforts to camouflage Gestapo HQ actually made it easier for at least some of the British pilots to spot and hit the building. As almost always with military planning, the operation ran into problems: one of the Mosquitoes crashed into a nearby school, which meant that pilots coming in later would have difficulty finding their real target, and some didn't drop their bombs as a result. The cost in human life for saving (and killing some) Danish Resistance prisoners were 10 airmen, 27 teachers, 87 children, with many more civilians wounded. But 30 Danish Resistance prisoners escaped and the Gestapo's files at HQ were destroyed. WS was in the process of preparing a detailed report of the air raid to FDR, but the President died of natural causes on 12 April 1945, and WS never sent the report.
P-51 Mustangs provided air cover for a time under a Belgian commander.
The 18 Mosquitoes took the Germans in Copenhagen completely by surprise; German efforts to camouflage Gestapo HQ actually made it easier for at least some of the British pilots to spot and hit the building. As almost always with military planning, the operation ran into problems: one of the Mosquitoes crashed into a nearby school, which meant that pilots coming in later would have difficulty finding their real target, and some didn't drop their bombs as a result. The cost in human life for saving (and killing some) Danish Resistance prisoners were 10 airmen, 27 teachers, 87 children, with many more civilians wounded. But 30 Danish Resistance prisoners escaped and the Gestapo's files at HQ were destroyed. WS was in the process of preparing a detailed report of the air raid to FDR, but the President died of natural causes on 12 April 1945, and WS never sent the report.