Airborne forces are ground combat units carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop. Parachute-qualified infantry and support personnel serving in airborne units are also known as paratroopers .
164-647: Operation Freshman was the codename given to a British airborne operation conducted in November 1942 during World War II . It was the first British airborne operation using Airspeed Horsa gliders , and its target was the Vemork Norsk Hydro hydrogen electrolysis plant in Telemark , Norway which produced heavy water as a by-product. By 1942, the German nuclear weapons programme had come close to being able to develop
328-737: A greenhouse gas . According to the World Commission on Dams report, where the reservoir is large compared to the generating capacity (less than 100 watts per square metre of surface area) and no clearing of the forests in the area was undertaken prior to impoundment of the reservoir, greenhouse gas emissions from the reservoir may be higher than those of a conventional oil-fired thermal generation plant. In boreal reservoirs of Canada and Northern Europe, however, greenhouse gas emissions are typically only 2% to 8% of any kind of conventional fossil-fuel thermal generation. A new class of underwater logging operation that targets drowned forests can mitigate
492-463: A low-head hydro power plant with hydrostatic head of few meters to few tens of meters can be classified either as an SHP or an LHP. The other distinction between SHP and LHP is the degree of the water flow regulation: a typical SHP primarily uses the natural water discharge with very little regulation in comparison to an LHP. Therefore, the term SHP is frequently used as a synonym for the run-of-the-river power plant . The largest power producers in
656-671: A nuclear reactor , but for the reactor to function it would require a great deal of heavy water. The source of the heavy water was the Norsk Hydro plant, which had been occupied since 1940. When the British government learned of the German nuclear developments, it was decided that a raid would be launched to destroy the plant and deny the Germans the heavy water required to develop a nuclear weapon. Several plans were discussed and discarded as impractical; it
820-582: A committee—the Swing Board—composed of air force, parachute, glider infantry and artillery officers, whose arrangements for the maneuver would effectively decide the fate of divisional-sized airborne forces. As the 11th Airborne Division was in reserve in the United States and had not yet been earmarked for combat, the Swing Board selected it as the test formation. The maneuver would additionally provide
984-797: A daring glider-based assault on the Gran Sasso Hotel , high in the Apennines mountains, and rescued Benito Mussolini from house arrest with very few shots being fired. On May 25, 1944, paratroopers were dropped as part of a failed attempt to capture Josip Broz Tito , the head of the Yugoslav Partisans and later postwar leader of Yugoslavia. Before the Pacific War began, the Imperial Japanese Army formed Teishin Dan ("Raiding Brigades") and
1148-534: A few units, such as seizing a bridge. After seeing success of other units and observing smokejumper training methods on how training can be done in June 1940, General William C. Lee of the U.S. Army established the Army's first airborne division. The 101st would be reorganized into the 101st Airborne Division . The Allies eventually formed two British and five American divisions: the British 1st and 6th Airborne Divisions, and
1312-421: A flood and fail. Changes in the amount of river flow will correlate with the amount of energy produced by a dam. Lower river flows will reduce the amount of live storage in a reservoir therefore reducing the amount of water that can be used for hydroelectricity. The result of diminished river flow can be power shortages in areas that depend heavily on hydroelectric power. The risk of flow shortage may increase as
1476-507: A key bridge at Avellino , to disrupt German motorized movements, was badly dispersed and failed to destroy the bridge before the Germans withdrew to the north. In April 1945, Operation Herring , an Italian commando -style airborne drop aimed at disrupting German rear area communications and movement over key areas in Northern Italy , took place. However the Italian troops were not dropped as
1640-538: A key element for creating secure and clean electricity supply systems. A hydroelectric power station that has a dam and reservoir is a flexible source, since the amount of electricity produced can be increased or decreased in seconds or minutes in response to varying electricity demand. Once a hydroelectric complex is constructed, it produces no direct waste, and almost always emits considerably less greenhouse gas than fossil fuel -powered energy plants. However, when constructed in lowland rainforest areas, where part of
1804-809: A large natural height difference between two waterways, such as a waterfall or mountain lake. A tunnel is constructed to take water from the high reservoir to the generating hall built in a cavern near the lowest point of the water tunnel and a horizontal tailrace taking water away to the lower outlet waterway. A simple formula for approximating electric power production at a hydroelectric station is: P = − η ( m ˙ g Δ h ) = − η ( ( ρ V ˙ ) g Δ h ) {\displaystyle P=-\eta \ ({\dot {m}}g\ \Delta h)=-\eta \ ((\rho {\dot {V}})\ g\ \Delta h)} where Efficiency
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#17328834185351968-451: A larger amount of methane than those in temperate areas. Like other non-fossil fuel sources, hydropower also has no emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, or other particulates. Reservoirs created by hydroelectric schemes often provide facilities for water sports , and become tourist attractions themselves. In some countries, aquaculture in reservoirs is common. Multi-use dams installed for irrigation support agriculture with
2132-468: A long route march to be completed either by glider or parachute, followed by a complex demolition task and finally a demanding endurance test. The departure airfield was also sealed off to civilians and non-essential military personnel, and all mail and telephone calls were censored. After their training had been completed, on 17 November the sappers were transported to RAF Skitten, Killimster in Scotland, with
2296-549: A machine gun nest near the entrance. A single bridge crossed the steep gorge in front of the plant, but was normally only protected by two guards. There were 300,000 German troops in Norway at this time and reinforcements could quickly be called into the area, which would complicate the commandos' escape to the Swedish border. The Headquarters staff of Combined Operations at the War Office
2460-556: A minimum of twelve to sixteen men was required, and that they would all have to be skilled engineers. The important nature of the operation also led to the force being doubled in order to duplicate it, to ensure that even if half of the force were killed, the survivors would have the necessary skills to complete the operation. The selected troops were volunteer parachutists chosen from the sappers of 9th Field Company (Airborne) Royal Engineers and 261st Field Park Company (Airborne) Royal Engineers attached to 1st Airborne Division , because
2624-624: A parachute drop. Men drawn from the Italian parachute forces were dropped in a special-forces operation in North Africa in 1943 in an attempt to destroy parked aircraft of the United States Army Air Forces . At about the same time, the Soviet Union was also experimenting with the idea, planning to drop entire units complete with vehicles and light tanks . To help train enough experienced jumpers, parachute clubs were organized with
2788-707: A paratrooper force to be known as the Fallschirmjäger . During the invasions of Norway and Denmark in Operation Weserübung , the Luftwaffe dropped paratroopers on several locations. In Denmark, a small unit dropped on the Masnedøfort on the small island of Masnedø to seize the Storstrøm Bridge linking the islands of Falster and Zealand . A paratroop detachment also dropped at the airfield of Aalborg which
2952-586: A positive risk adjusted return, unless appropriate risk management measures are put in place. While many hydroelectric projects supply public electricity networks, some are created to serve specific industrial enterprises. Dedicated hydroelectric projects are often built to provide the substantial amounts of electricity needed for aluminium electrolytic plants, for example. The Grand Coulee Dam switched to support Alcoa aluminium in Bellingham, Washington , United States for American World War II airplanes before it
3116-665: A possible landing site for gliders was located near the Møsvatn dam, although it would require considerable skill on the part of the glider pilots in order to land safely. In March 1942 the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) had recruited Einar Skinnarland , a Norwegian engineer who worked at the Møsvatn dam. Skinnarland had successfully sailed to Britain and was parachuted back to Telemark after ten days of intensive training. Having several contacts within Vemork he
3280-545: A relatively constant water supply. Large hydro dams can control floods, which would otherwise affect people living downstream of the project. Managing dams which are also used for other purposes, such as irrigation , is complicated. In 2021 the IEA called for "robust sustainability standards for all hydropower development with streamlined rules and regulations". Large reservoirs associated with traditional hydroelectric power stations result in submersion of extensive areas upstream of
3444-499: A result of Wehrmacht 's Commando Order , which stated that any Allied personnel captured while involved in commando operations were to be killed immediately. At the end of the war, the Wehrmacht personnel involved were tried, sentenced to death and executed for their part in the murders. The German government began development of an atomic weapons programme after two scientists, Lise Meitner and her nephew Otto Frisch , declared in
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#17328834185353608-470: A result of climate change . One study from the Colorado River in the United States suggest that modest climate changes, such as an increase in temperature in 2 degree Celsius resulting in a 10% decline in precipitation, might reduce river run-off by up to 40%. Brazil in particular is vulnerable due to its heavy reliance on hydroelectricity, as increasing temperatures, lower water flow and alterations in
3772-448: A small TV/radio). Even smaller turbines of 200–300 W may power a few homes in a developing country with a drop of only 1 m (3 ft). A Pico-hydro setup is typically run-of-the-river , meaning that dams are not used, but rather pipes divert some of the flow, drop this down a gradient, and through the turbine before returning it to the stream. An underground power station is generally used at large facilities and makes use of
3936-455: A source of low-cost renewable energy. Alternatively, small hydro projects may be built in isolated areas that would be uneconomic to serve from a grid, or in areas where there is no national electrical distribution network. Since small hydro projects usually have minimal reservoirs and civil construction work, they are seen as having a relatively low environmental impact compared to large hydro. This decreased environmental impact depends strongly on
4100-414: A start-up time of the order of a few minutes. Although battery power is quicker its capacity is tiny compared to hydro. It takes less than 10 minutes to bring most hydro units from cold start-up to full load; this is quicker than nuclear and almost all fossil fuel power. Power generation can also be decreased quickly when there is a surplus power generation. Hence the limited capacity of hydropower units
4264-581: A total of 1,500 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electrical energy in one full cycle" which was "about 170 times more energy than the global fleet of pumped storage hydropower plants". Battery storage capacity is not expected to overtake pumped storage during the 2020s. When used as peak power to meet demand, hydroelectricity has a higher value than baseload power and a much higher value compared to intermittent energy sources such as wind and solar. Hydroelectric stations have long economic lives, with some plants still in service after 50–100 years. Operating labor cost
4428-560: A unit, but as a series of small (8–10 man) groups. Another operation, Operation Potato , was mounted by men drawn from the Folgore and Nembo divisions, operating with British equipment and under British command as No. 1 Italian Special Air Service Regiment. The men dropped in small groups from American C-47s and carried out a successful railway sabotage operation in northern Italy. The Allies had learned better tactics and logistics from their earlier airborne drops, and these lessons were applied for
4592-548: A unit. The Soviets mounted only one large-scale airborne operation in World War II, despite their early leadership in the field in the 1930s. Russia also pioneered the development of combat gliders, but used them only for cargo during the war. Axis air superiority early in the conflict limited the ability of the Soviets to mount such operations, whilst later in the conflict ongoing shortages of materiel, including silk for parachutes,
4756-448: Is hydroelectric power on a scale serving a small community or industrial plant. The definition of a small hydro project varies but a generating capacity of up to 10 megawatts (MW) is generally accepted as the upper limit. This may be stretched to 25 MW and 30 MW in Canada and the United States. Small hydro stations may be connected to conventional electrical distribution networks as
4920-627: Is also usually low, as plants are automated and have few personnel on site during normal operation. Where a dam serves multiple purposes, a hydroelectric station may be added with relatively low construction cost, providing a useful revenue stream to offset the costs of dam operation. It has been calculated that the sale of electricity from the Three Gorges Dam will cover the construction costs after 5 to 8 years of full generation. However, some data shows that in most countries large hydropower dams will be too costly and take too long to build to deliver
5084-466: Is highest in the winter when solar energy is at a minimum. Pico hydro is hydroelectric power generation of under 5 kW . It is useful in small, remote communities that require only a small amount of electricity. For example, the 1.1 kW Intermediate Technology Development Group Pico Hydro Project in Kenya supplies 57 homes with very small electric loads (e.g., a couple of lights and a phone charger, or
Operation Freshman - Misplaced Pages Continue
5248-445: Is initially produced during construction of the project, and some methane is given off annually by reservoirs, hydro has one of the lowest lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions for electricity generation. The low greenhouse gas impact of hydroelectricity is found especially in temperate climates . Greater greenhouse gas emission impacts are found in the tropical regions because the reservoirs of power stations in tropical regions produce
5412-462: Is not an energy source, and appears as a negative number in listings. Run-of-the-river hydroelectric stations are those with small or no reservoir capacity, so that only the water coming from upstream is available for generation at that moment, and any oversupply must pass unused. A constant supply of water from a lake or existing reservoir upstream is a significant advantage in choosing sites for run-of-the-river. A tidal power station makes use of
5576-452: Is not generally used to produce base power except for vacating the flood pool or meeting downstream needs. Instead, it can serve as backup for non-hydro generators. The major advantage of conventional hydroelectric dams with reservoirs is their ability to store water at low cost for dispatch later as high value clean electricity. In 2021, the IEA estimated that the "reservoirs of all existing conventional hydropower plants combined can store
5740-410: Is often higher (that is, closer to 1) with larger and more modern turbines. Annual electric energy production depends on the available water supply. In some installations, the water flow rate can vary by a factor of 10:1 over the course of a year. Hydropower is a flexible source of electricity since stations can be ramped up and down very quickly to adapt to changing energy demands. Hydro turbines have
5904-535: The Battle of Kursk , the Guards Airborne defended the eastern shoulder of the southern penetration and was critical to holding back the German penetration. The Soviets sent at least one team of observers to the British and American airborne planning for D-Day, but did not reciprocate the liaison. Britain's first airborne assault took place on February 10, 1941, when 'X' Troop, No 11 Special Air Service Battalion (which
6068-599: The Battle of the Bulge in January 1945 where they, along with the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions were deployed as ground troops. The U.S. 11th and 13th Airborne Divisions were held in reserve in the United States until 1944 when the 11th Airborne Division was deployed to the Pacific, but mostly used as ground troops or for smaller airborne operations. The 13th Airborne Division was deployed to France in January 1945 but never saw combat as
6232-657: The Bonneville Dam in 1937 and being recognized by the Flood Control Act of 1936 as the premier federal flood control agency. Hydroelectric power stations continued to become larger throughout the 20th century. Hydropower was referred to as "white coal". Hoover Dam 's initial 1,345 MW power station was the world's largest hydroelectric power station in 1936; it was eclipsed by the 6,809 MW Grand Coulee Dam in 1942. The Itaipu Dam opened in 1984 in South America as
6396-511: The Dakotas before they reached their target. Only 295 officers and men were dropped close enough to carry out the assault. They captured the bridge, but the German 4th Parachute Regiment recaptured it. They held the high ground until relieved by the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division of the Eighth Army, which re-took the bridge at dawn on 16 July. The Allied commanders were forced to reassess
6560-533: The Geneva Conventions protects parachutists in distress, but not airborne troops . Their necessarily-slow descent causes paratroopers to be vulnerable to anti-air fire from ground defenders, but combat jumps are at low altitude (400–500 ft) and normally carried out a short distance away (or directly on if lightly defended) from the target area at night. Airborne operations are also particularly sensitive to weather conditions, which can be dangerous to both
6724-460: The Hardangervidda (a large wilderness avoided by the German forces) and spent the next 15 days trekking towards Møsvatn, where they made contact with Skinnarland's brother, Torstein. Once they had established contact with London the party began making preparations for the arrival of the British commandos. A suitable glider landing site was chosen 3 miles (4.8 km) south west of Møsvatn dam and
Operation Freshman - Misplaced Pages Continue
6888-702: The Imperial Japanese Navy trained marine ( Rikusentai ) paratroopers . They used paratroops in several battles in the Dutch East Indies campaign of 1941–1942. Rikusentai airborne troops were first dropped at the Battle of Manado , Celebes in January 1942, and then near Usua , during the Timor campaign , in February 1942. Teishin made a jump at the Battle of Palembang , on Sumatra in February 1942. Japanese airborne units suffered heavy casualties during
7052-533: The Industrial Revolution would drive development as well. In 1878, the world's first hydroelectric power scheme was developed at Cragside in Northumberland , England, by William Armstrong . It was used to power a single arc lamp in his art gallery. The old Schoelkopf Power Station No. 1 , US, near Niagara Falls , began to produce electricity in 1881. The first Edison hydroelectric power station,
7216-778: The International Exhibition of Hydropower and Tourism , with over one million visitors 1925. By 1920, when 40% of the power produced in the United States was hydroelectric, the Federal Power Act was enacted into law. The Act created the Federal Power Commission to regulate hydroelectric power stations on federal land and water. As the power stations became larger, their associated dams developed additional purposes, including flood control , irrigation and navigation . Federal funding became necessary for large-scale development, and federally owned corporations, such as
7380-605: The Tennessee Valley Authority (1933) and the Bonneville Power Administration (1937) were created. Additionally, the Bureau of Reclamation which had begun a series of western US irrigation projects in the early 20th century, was now constructing large hydroelectric projects such as the 1928 Hoover Dam . The United States Army Corps of Engineers was also involved in hydroelectric development, completing
7544-499: The U.S. 1st Division behind German lines near Metz . The operation was planned for February 1919 but the war ended before the attack could be seriously planned. Mitchell conceived that US troops could be rapidly trained to utilize parachutes and drop from converted bombers to land behind Metz in synchronisation with a planned infantry offensive. Following the war, the United States Army Air Service experimented with
7708-569: The Vulcan Street Plant , began operating September 30, 1882, in Appleton, Wisconsin , with an output of about 12.5 kilowatts. By 1886 there were 45 hydroelectric power stations in the United States and Canada; and by 1889 there were 200 in the United States alone. At the beginning of the 20th century, many small hydroelectric power stations were being constructed by commercial companies in mountains near metropolitan areas. Grenoble , France held
7872-598: The airspace is accessible. Formations of airborne forces are limited only by the number and size of their transport aircraft ; a sizeable force can appear "out of the sky" behind enemy lines in merely hours if not minutes, an action known as vertical envelopment . Airborne forces typically lack enough supplies for prolonged combat and so they are used for establishing an airhead to bring in larger forces before carrying out other combat objectives. Some infantry fighting vehicles have also been modified for paradropping with infantry to provide heavier firepower. Protocol I of
8036-506: The potential energy of dammed water driving a water turbine and generator . The power extracted from the water depends on the volume and on the difference in height between the source and the water's outflow. This height difference is called the head . A large pipe (the " penstock ") delivers water from the reservoir to the turbine. This method produces electricity to supply high peak demands by moving water between reservoirs at different elevations. At times of low electrical demand,
8200-400: The water frame , and continuous production played a significant part in the development of the factory system, with modern employment practices. In the 1840s, hydraulic power networks were developed to generate and transmit hydro power to end users. By the late 19th century, the electrical generator was developed and could now be coupled with hydraulics. The growing demand arising from
8364-442: The 11th Airborne Division then launched a coordinated ground attack against a reinforced infantry regiment and conducted several aerial resupply and casualty evacuation missions in coordination with United States Army Air Forces transport aircraft. The exercise was judged by observers to be a great success. McNair, pleased by its results, attributed this success to the great improvements in airborne training that had been implemented in
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#17328834185358528-461: The 11th Airborne and its individual units with further training, as had occurred several months previously in an earlier large-scale exercise conducted by the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. The 11th Airborne, as the attacking force, was assigned the objective of capturing Knollwood Army Auxiliary Airfield near Fort Bragg in North Carolina . The force defending the airfield and its environs
8692-459: The 1st Airborne Division were glider infantry of the 1st Airlanding Brigade , commanded by Brigadier Philip Hicks , and they fared little better. Only 12 out of 137 gliders in Operation Ladbroke landed on target, with more than half landing in the sea. Nevertheless, the scattered airborne troops maximised their opportunities, attacking patrols and creating confusion wherever possible. On
8856-432: The 3rd Battalion of the 504th PIR , Company 'B' of the 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion and the 456th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion , with other supporting units), making their first combat jump. Strong winds encountered en route blew the dropping aircraft off course and scattered them widely. The result was that around half the paratroopers failed to make it to their rallying points. The British airborne troops from
9020-494: The 3rd Zouaves' regimental commander, and is worn today by all members of the 509th Infantry. As part of Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of the island of Sicily, four airborne operations (two British and two American) were carried out, landing during the nights of July 9 and 10 1943. The American paratroopers were from the 82nd Airborne Division, mainly Colonel James Gavin 's 505th Parachute Regimental Combat Team (consisting of
9184-522: The 504th PIR were warming up for takeoff. With Giant II cancelled, Operation Giant I was reactivated to drop two battalions of the 504th PIR at Capua on September 13. However, significant German counterattacks, beginning on September 12, resulted in a shrinking of the American perimeter and threatened destruction of the Salerno beachhead . As a result, Giant I was cancelled and the 504th PIR instead dropped into
9348-402: The Allied military, resulted in the 82nd Airborne artillery commander, Brigadier General Maxwell Taylor (future commander of the 101st Airborne Division), being sent on a personal reconnaissance mission to Rome to assess the prospects of success. His report via radio on September 8 caused the operation to be postponed (and canceled the next day) as troop carriers loaded with two battalions of
9512-557: The Clouds, might not in many Places do an infinite deal of Mischief, before a Force could be brought together to repel them? An early modern operation was first envisioned by Winston Churchill who proposed the creation of an airborne force to assault behind the German lines in 1917 during the First World War . Later in late 1918. Major Lewis H. Brereton and his superior Brigadier General Billy Mitchell suggested dropping elements of
9676-743: The Dutch East Indies campaign, and were rarely used as parachute troops afterward. On 6 December 1944, a 750-strong detachment from Teishin Shudan ("Raiding Division") and the Takachiho special forces unit, attacked U.S. airbases in the Burauen area on Leyte , in the Philippines . The force destroyed some planes and inflicted casualties, but was eventually wiped out. Japan built a combat strike force of 825 gliders but never committed it to battle. Ironically,
9840-558: The Dutch government. From one of these airfields, they were driven out after the first wave of reinforcements, brought in by Ju 52s , was annihilated by anti-aircraft fire and fierce resistance by some remaining Dutch defenders. As a result, numerous crashed and burning aircraft blocked the runway, preventing further reinforcements from landing. This was one of the few occasions where an airfield captured by paratroops has been recaptured. The other two airfields were recaptured as well. Simultaneously,
10004-413: The February 11 1939 issue of the scientific journal Nature that atomic fission was possible and could release immense amounts of energy. By September 1941, the German scientists assigned to the programme had determined how a nuclear reactor could be developed. This required significant quantities of heavy water to act as a neutron moderator to encase the uranium which would be used to provide
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#173288341853510168-635: The German atomic weapons programme. Although the operation had been a failure, it demonstrated the range, flexibility and possibilities of airborne forces and glider operations, and also highlighted equipment failures that were rectified for later operations. This included developing a new version of the Rebecca-Eureka homing device system, the Mk II, which was ready by 1943 and proved to be very successful when used in later airborne operations; during Operation Market Garden and Operation Varsity , aircraft that used
10332-403: The German camp at Slettebø near Egersund. The Allies were unaware of the fate of the operation until they intercepted a German communiqué stating that two gliders and one aircraft had been forced down, and the crews engaged and annihilated. On 11 December they received a message from an SOE agent explaining that the second glider's occupants had all been shot. Many of the details about the fate of
10496-472: The German programme. Several methods for destroying the plant were considered. The first was a mass raid by Royal Air Force (RAF) bombers, but this was rejected due to the difficulty in locating the plant during night bombing , the principal bombing tactic used by the RAF at the time, and the heavy casualties that would be inflicted on the local Norwegian population during a night raid. An attack by Norwegian saboteurs
10660-544: The Germans could arrive, and managed to keep the entire operation secret for almost twenty-four hours. German soldiers, including troops from both the Waffen SS and the Army , arrived the next afternoon on two boats from a nearby camp. They took the British soldiers prisoner, and departed with them on the boats. Despite the grave injuries suffered by some of the soldiers, they were still forced to walk under their own power and ride in
10824-577: The Germans dropped small packets of paratroopers to seize the crucial bridges that led directly across the Netherlands and into the heart of the country. They opened the way for the 9th Panzer Division. Within a day, the Dutch position became hopeless. Nevertheless, Dutch forces inflicted high losses on German transportation aircraft. Moreover, 1200 German elite troops from the Luftlandekorps taken prisoner around The Hague, were shipped to England just before
10988-626: The Halifax aircrew were reburied at Helleland. The head of the Gestapo in Oslo, who had signed the order for the prisoners' executions, killed himself several days prior to 1st Airborne Division's arrival in May 1945, but several Wehrmacht personnel implicated in the decision to execute the prisoners were put on trial and found guilty: Dr Seeling was shot 10 January 1946 at Akershus Prison, Oslo; Hauptscharführer Erich Hoffman
11152-463: The IEA released a main-case forecast of 141 GW generated by hydropower over 2022–2027, which is slightly lower than deployment achieved from 2017–2022. Because environmental permitting and construction times are long, they estimate hydropower potential will remain limited, with only an additional 40 GW deemed possible in the accelerated case. In 2021 the IEA said that major modernisation refurbishments are required. Most hydroelectric power comes from
11316-484: The Royal Navy. However, the losses were so great that Adolf Hitler forbade their use in such operations in the future. He felt that the main strength of the paratroopers was novelty, and now that the British had clearly figured out how to defend against them, there was no real point to using them any more. One notable exception was the use of airborne forces in special operations. On September 12, 1943, Otto Skorzeny led
11480-487: The SOE agents who had arrived earlier in the month. Because the operation was considered to be extremely important, and its results vital to the Allied war effort, security efforts were extremely thorough. A cover story was provided for the sappers as they conducted their training; a rumour was spread that they were training to compete against a company of American engineers in a fictional 'Washington Cup' athletic event, which involved
11644-510: The U.S. 11th , 13th , 17th , 82nd , and 101st Airborne Divisions . By 1944, the British divisions were grouped into the 1st Airborne Corps under Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Browning , while the American divisions in the European Theatre (the 17th, 82nd, and 101st) were organized into the XVIII Airborne Corps under Major General Matthew Ridgway . Both corps fell under the First Allied Airborne Army under U.S. Lieutenant General Lewis H. Brereton. The first U.S. airborne operation
11808-574: The U.S. 82nd Airborne Division northwest of Rome, to assist four Italian divisions in seizing the Italian capital. An airborne assault plan to seize crossings of the Volturno river during the Allied invasion of Italy , called Operation Giant, was abandoned in favor of the Rome mission. However, doubts about the willingness and capability of Italian forces to cooperate, and the distance of the mission far beyond support by
11972-464: The ability to transport particles heavier than itself downstream. This has a negative effect on dams and subsequently their power stations, particularly those on rivers or within catchment areas with high siltation. Siltation can fill a reservoir and reduce its capacity to control floods along with causing additional horizontal pressure on the upstream portion of the dam. Eventually, some reservoirs can become full of sediment and useless or over-top during
12136-564: The aim of transferring into the armed forces if needed. Planning progressed to the point that Corps-size drops were demonstrated to foreign observers, including the British Military Attaché Archibald Wavell , in the Kiev military district maneuvers of 1935. One of the observing parties, Nazi Germany , was particularly interested. In 1936, Major F. W. Immans was ordered to set up a parachute school at Stendal (Borstel), and
12300-409: The airborne troops, and the possibility that they could be widely dispersed if they were dropped by parachute, the airborne troops would still be trained for a possible parachute insertion if the landing zone for the gliders was found to be unsuitable. Because of the complicated and technical nature of the operation, which would see the plant rigged with explosives and then detonated, it was believed that
12464-466: The aircrew were killed instantly. Workmen in the area heard the plane pass overhead shortly before crashing and alerted the German authorities, who arrived quickly. Finding no survivors, the Germans threw the bodies of the aircrew into a nearby bog and left the area. Released just before the tow aircraft crashed, the second glider spiralled out of control and crash-landed in the mountains between Helleland and Bjerkreim . The two RAAF pilot and copilot of
12628-608: The airfield at Youk-les-Bains near the Tunisian border. From this base, the battalion conducted combined operations with various French forces against the German Afrika Korps in Tunisia. A unit of French Algerian infantry, the 3rd Regiment of Zouaves, was present at Youk-les-Bains and awarded the American paratroopers their own regimental crest as a gesture of respect. This badge was awarded to the battalion commander on 15 November 1942 by
12792-427: The area with exceptional outdoors skills, underwent extra outdoor training in Scotland as well as learning the skills necessary to operate in occupied territory; including sabotage , radio transmitting and "irregular warfare" . The Grouse team were ready to be inserted by October. Several flights were made but aborted due to bad weather, before the team finally dropped on 18 October. The team landed at Fjarefit on
12956-411: The area. The Germans had erected three iron hawsers across the valley to prevent low flying bombing raids but on the ground most of their defences were positioned to prevent an assault from the ridge above the plant, the direction from which they believed an attack was most likely. Minefields and booby traps predominantly protected this side of the plant, but there were also searchlights on the roof and
13120-418: The argument that von Falkenhorst had likewise striven to pardon the ten Norwegians condemned to death. The sentence was later commuted to twenty years' imprisonment. Falkenhorst was released from Werl Prison on 23 July 1953, due to bad health and died in 1968. Airborne forces The main advantage of airborne forces is their ability to be deployed into combat zones without a land passage, as long as
13284-571: The assaults along the Western Front . One of the most famous of airborne operations was Operation Neptune, the assault of Normandy, part of Operation Overlord of the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944. The task of the airborne forces was to secure the flanks and approaches of the landing beaches in Normandy. The British glider transported troops and paratroopers of the 6th Airborne Division, which secured
13448-595: The balance between stream flow and power production. Micro hydro means hydroelectric power installations that typically produce up to 100 kW of power. These installations can provide power to an isolated home or small community, or are sometimes connected to electric power networks. There are many of these installations around the world, particularly in developing nations as they can provide an economical source of energy without purchase of fuel. Micro hydro systems complement photovoltaic solar energy systems because in many areas water flow, and thus available hydro power,
13612-532: The battle that ended Germany's paratrooper operations had the opposite effect on the Allies. Convinced of the effectiveness of airborne assaults after Crete, the Allies hurried to train and organize their own airborne units. The British established No.1 Parachute Training School at RAF Ringway near Manchester , which trained all 60,000 European paratroopers recruited by the Allies during World War II. An Airlanding School
13776-466: The beachhead on the night of September 13 using transponding radar beacons as a guide. The next night the 505th PIR was also dropped into the beachhead as reinforcement. In all, 3,500 paratroopers made the most concentrated mass night drop in history, providing the model for the American airborne landings in Normandy in June 1944. An additional drop on the night of September 14–15 of the 509th PIB to destroy
13940-493: The bridges immediately to the south of the 10th Panzer Division 's route of march through the southern Ardennes . In Belgium, a small group of German glider-borne troops landed on top of the Belgian fortress of Eben Emael on the morning of May 10, 1940, and disabled the majority of its artillery. The fort held on for another day before surrendering. This opened up Belgium to attack by German Army Group B . The Dutch were exposed to
14104-552: The capitulation of the Dutch armed forces. The Fallschirmjägers' greatest victory and greatest losses occurred during the Battle of Crete . Signals intelligence, in the form of Ultra , enabled the British to wait on each German drop zone, yet despite compromised secrecy, surviving German paratroops and airlanded mountain troops pushed the Commonwealth forces off the island in part by unexpected fire support from their light 75 mm guns , though seaborne reinforcements were destroyed by
14268-410: The combination flew into thick clouds approximately 40 miles (64 km) northwest of Rjukan , and ice began to form on both aircraft and glider, as well as the towing rope connecting the two. At this point the combination began to lose altitude, and the towing rope snapped, setting the glider free; low on fuel, the aircraft was forced to turn back after signaling to Skitten at 23:55 that it had released
14432-483: The concept of carrying troops on the wings of aircraft, with them pulled off by the opening of their parachutes. The first true paratroop drop was by Italy in November 1927. Within a few years, several battalions were raised and eventually formed into two 185th Infantry Division "Folgore" and 184th Infantry Division "Nembo" divisions. Although they later fought with distinction in World War II , they were never used in
14596-404: The daily rise and fall of ocean water due to tides; such sources are highly predictable, and if conditions permit construction of reservoirs, can also be dispatchable to generate power during high demand periods. Less common types of hydro schemes use water's kinetic energy or undammed sources such as undershot water wheels . Tidal power is viable in a relatively small number of locations around
14760-505: The dams, sometimes destroying biologically rich and productive lowland and riverine valley forests, marshland and grasslands. Damming interrupts the flow of rivers and can harm local ecosystems, and building large dams and reservoirs often involves displacing people and wildlife. The loss of land is often exacerbated by habitat fragmentation of surrounding areas caused by the reservoir. Hydroelectric projects can be disruptive to surrounding aquatic ecosystems both upstream and downstream of
14924-433: The distance required and then returning to their base. The SOE agents selected a landing zone for the sappers, which was approximately 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from the Norsk Hydro plant and could not be observed by German patrols. The plan for the operation called for the sappers to land in the two gliders at the landing zone, guided in by the SOE agents equipped with Eureka radio beacons . Once they had successfully landed,
15088-518: The eastern flank during Operation Tonga . This operation included the capture of the Caen canal and Orne river bridges , and the attack on the Merville gun battery . The American glider and parachute infantry of the 82nd (Operation Detroit) and 101st Airborne Divisions (Operation Chicago), though widely scattered by poor weather and poorly marked landing zones in the American airborne landings in Normandy, secured
15252-690: The effect of forest decay. Another disadvantage of hydroelectric dams is the need to relocate the people living where the reservoirs are planned. In 2000, the World Commission on Dams estimated that dams had physically displaced 40–80 million people worldwide. Because large conventional dammed-hydro facilities hold back large volumes of water, a failure due to poor construction, natural disasters or sabotage can be catastrophic to downriver settlements and infrastructure. During Typhoon Nina in 1975 Banqiao Dam in Southern China failed when more than
15416-753: The end the survivors were interrogated and executed within a few hours of their capture at the German barracks at Bekkebø. They were taken into nearby woods and shot one by one, each being forced to listen to the man before him being executed. Their bodies were stripped and thrown into an unmarked grave. All of the executions were conducted in accordance with the Commando Order issued by the Wehrmacht High Command in October 1942, which stated that all Allied commando troops were to be killed immediately upon capture. The local Norwegian population were unable to prevent
15580-650: The evening of July 13, 1943, more than 112 aircraft carrying 1,856 men and 16 gliders with 77 artillerymen and ten 6 pounder guns, took off from North Africa in Operation Fustian . The initial target of the British 1st Parachute Brigade , under Brigadier Gerald Lathbury , was to capture the Primosole bridge and the high ground around it, providing a pathway for the Eighth Army , but heavy anti-aircraft fire shot down many of
15744-399: The excess generation capacity is used to pump water into the higher reservoir, thus providing demand side response . When the demand becomes greater, water is released back into the lower reservoir through a turbine. In 2021 pumped-storage schemes provided almost 85% of the world's 190 GW of grid energy storage and improve the daily capacity factor of the generation system. Pumped storage
15908-517: The first large scale airborne attack in history. During the invasion of the Netherlands , the Germans threw into battle almost their entire Luftlandekorps , an airborne assault army corps that consisted of one parachute division and one division of airlanding troops plus the necessary transport capacity. The existence of this formation had been carefully kept secret until then. Two simultaneous airborne operations were launched. German paratroopers landed at three airfields near The Hague , hoping to seize
16072-436: The first nation to organize women in an airborne unit, recruiting 200 nurses who during peacetime would parachute into natural disaster zones but also as reservists who would be a uniformed medical unit during wartime. Several groups within the German armed forces attempted to raise their own paratroop formations, resulting in confusion. As a result, Luftwaffe General Kurt Student was put in overall command of developing
16236-568: The flight over Norway the Rebecca receiver , which was supposed to pick up the transponder signal from the Eureka beacons being used by the Norwegian SOE agents, developed a mechanical problem and was unable to pick up the signal. This left the aircrew with only map-reading available to locate the landing zone, but the poor weather made this almost impossible. On a second attempt to find the correct area,
16400-486: The forces. Seven of the 39 C-47s landed far from Oran from Gibraltar to Tunisia , and only ten actually delivered their troops by parachute drop. The remainder off-loaded after 28 C-47 troop carriers, short on fuel, landed on the Sebkra d'Oran dry lake, and marched overland to their objectives. One week later, after repacking their own chutes, 304 men of the battalion conducted a second combat jump on 15 November 1942 to secure
16564-534: The forest is inundated, substantial amounts of greenhouse gases may be emitted. Construction of a hydroelectric complex can have significant environmental impact, principally in loss of arable land and population displacement. They also disrupt the natural ecology of the river involved, affecting habitats and ecosystems, and siltation and erosion patterns. While dams can ameliorate the risks of flooding, dam failure can be catastrophic. In 2021, global installed hydropower electrical capacity reached almost 1,400 GW,
16728-472: The glider, Norman Davies and Herbert Fraser, were killed instantly and the rest were injured to varying degrees, one of whom, 25 year old Driver Ernest Pendlebury, died soon after. The survivors were unwilling to leave the seriously wounded so two of the British soldiers left the crash site to search for help. After searching for some time, they arrived in the hamlet of Helleland about 2 miles (3.2 km) from where they had crashed, and made contact with one of
16892-531: The glider, and only just succeeded in landing back in Britain. Shortly after releasing the glider, the aircraft broadcast a second message, "Glider in sea", indicating the air crew's belief that the glider had crashed. The Royal Navy was asked to begin a search-and-rescue mission, but had no ships in the area; an aerial search of the area was instead conducted, but did not find the glider. The glider crash-landed in an area called Fyljesdal , overlooking Lysefjord . Of
17056-485: The gliders and tugs were operated by aircrews attached to HQ No. 38 Wing RAF . The tugs and gliders managed to reach the Norwegian coast, but neither was able to reach their objective. The first pair suffered from navigational difficulties and severe weather, which resulted in the tow rope snapping and the first glider crash-landing, with its Halifax tug aircraft returning to base. Three airborne troops were killed and
17220-607: The ground anywhere in the world within hours for a variety of missions. Benjamin Franklin envisioned the danger of airborne attack in 1784, only a few months after the first manned flight in a hot air balloon : Five Thousand Balloons capable of raising two Men each, would not cost more than Five Ships of the Line : And where is the Prince who can afford so to cover his Country with Troops for its Defense, as that Ten Thousand Men descending from
17384-481: The head the next day. All four bodies were dumped at sea. The five uninjured men were held at Grini concentration camp until 18 January 1943, when they were taken to nearby woods, blindfolded and executed by the Gestapo. The German Wehrmacht and the Gestapo argued over the fate of the prisoners from the second glider. The Wehrmacht believed they should be treated in accordance with the Geneva Convention , but in
17548-506: The highest among all renewable energy technologies. Hydroelectricity plays a leading role in countries like Brazil, Norway and China. but there are geographical limits and environmental issues. Tidal power can be used in coastal regions. China added 24 GW in 2022, accounting for nearly three-quarters of global hydropower capacity additions. Europe added 2 GW, the largest amount for the region since 1990. Meanwhile, globally, hydropower generation increased by 70 TWh (up 2%) in 2022 and remains
17712-519: The largest renewable energy source, surpassing all other technologies combined. Hydropower has been used since ancient times to grind flour and perform other tasks. In the late 18th century hydraulic power provided the energy source needed for the start of the Industrial Revolution . In the mid-1700s, French engineer Bernard Forest de Bélidor published Architecture Hydraulique , which described vertical- and horizontal-axis hydraulic machines, and in 1771 Richard Arkwright 's combination of water power ,
17876-731: The largest, producing 14 GW , but was surpassed in 2008 by the Three Gorges Dam in China at 22.5 GW . Hydroelectricity would eventually supply some countries, including Norway , Democratic Republic of the Congo , Paraguay and Brazil , with over 85% of their electricity. In 2021 the International Energy Agency (IEA) said that more efforts are needed to help limit climate change . Some countries have highly developed their hydropower potential and have very little room for growth: Switzerland produces 88% of its potential and Mexico 80%. In 2022,
18040-408: The local residents, Trond Hovland. The soldiers told Hovland about their injured comrades, and asked if he could help them find a doctor. Hovland agreed to help, but informed them that the nearest doctor lived 9.3 miles (15.0 km) away, in the town of Egersund . In order to contact him, Hovland would have to use the telephone system, controlled by the German authorities, which would alert them to
18204-426: The material for a nuclear weapon . Heavy water was extremely scarce and difficult to produce, and Germany only possessed a small amount which had been produced in laboratories. Norway possessed a large stockpile which was produced by the Vemork Norsk Hydro chemical plant near the village of Rjukan , but the Norwegian government would not sell more than three gallons of heavy water a month, becoming suspicious of
18368-415: The members of Operation Grouse slipped away into the wilderness of Hardangervidda . They later contributed to the successful Operation Gunnerside in February 1943, when a small team of Norwegian SOE agents were parachuted into the area and destroyed much of the heavy water equipment in Vemork plant. The plant eventually resumed operation, but further bombing raids ensured it produced little heavy water for
18532-506: The men were provided with civilian clothes (to be worn after the operation), simple Norwegian phrases (in the hope no German they encountered would speak Norwegian) and escape sets containing money and maps. They were also ordered to shave any moustaches and grow their hair long in order to blend in with Norwegian men. Training began in early October in Wales and was designed to be extremely arduous, not only to ensure that those who took part were at
18696-485: The months following Operation Husky. As a result of the Knollwood Maneuver, division-sized airborne forces were deemed to be feasible and Eisenhower permitted their retention. Italy agreed to an armistice with the Allies on September 3, 1943, with the stipulation that the Allies would provide military support to Italy in defending Rome from German occupation. Operation Giant II was a planned drop of one regiment of
18860-438: The most efficient way to plant explosives in the Norsk Hydro plant to cause maximum damage. Training also took place at Port Sunlight , where they were shown how to destroy large condensers of the kind found in the plant. The sappers were given detailed briefings on the plant and the surrounding area, and were trained on large models and mock-ups of the buildings that the plant was composed of, all based on information provided by
19024-478: The night of 11 July, a reinforcement drop of the 82nd, consisting of the 504th Parachute Regimental Combat Team (composed of the 1st and 2nd Battalions, the 376th Parachute Field Artillery and Company 'A' of the 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion), under Colonel Reuben Tucker , behind American lines at Farello airfield resulted in heavy friendly fire casualties when, despite forewarnings, Allied anti-aircraft fire both ashore and aboard U.S Navy ships shot down 23 of
19188-682: The night of November 16/17 1941 in preparation for a stealthy attack on the forward airfields of Gambut and Tmimi in order to destroy the Axis fighter force on the ground before the start of Operation Crusader , a major offensive by the British Eighth Army . A Würzburg radar site on the coast of France was attacked by a company of 120 British paratroopers from 2 Battalion, Parachute Regiment, commanded by Major John Frost , in Operation Biting on February 27, 1942. The key electronic components of
19352-509: The only parachute-trained Royal Engineers unit in existence at the time, 1st Parachute Squadron Royal Engineers, was already deployed in North Africa with 1st Parachute Brigade . Both of the duplicated units that were to participate in the operation were to be commanded by officers from the Royal Engineers; the first by Lieutenant A.C. Allen and the second by Second-Lieutenant M.D. Green, who was later replaced by Lieutenant D.A. Methven when he
19516-455: The operation from being conducted entirely. The first aircraft–glider combination took off from the airfield at 17:50, with the second following at 18:10; after circling the airfield several times the two combinations headed out across the North Sea towards their objective. The first combination flew through poor weather conditions and managed to reach Norway and fly towards its objective. During
19680-474: The operation scheduled to commence two days later. On the evening of 19 November, Group Captain Cooper, with the aid of a Norwegian meteorologist and regular reports from the SOE agents stationed near the landing zone, decided that although the weather was not perfect, it would be best to launch the operation that night; Cooper believed that if it were delayed, the weather might deteriorate on subsequent days and prevent
19844-412: The operation. In early October Generaloberst Nikolaus von Falkenhorst , the commander in chief of the German forces in Norway , had visited the plant. While there he warned the local garrison that he believed the plant was a likely target for British commando raids, but crucially he did not have the resources to increase the manpower there. Although Einar Skinnarland had observed a garrison of 100 men in
20008-502: The other hand, were very impressed by the potential of paratroopers, and started to build their own airborne divisions. The first United States airborne combat mission occurred during Operation Torch in North Africa on 8 November 1942. 531 men of the 2nd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment flew over 1,600 miles (2,600 km) at night from Britain, over Spain, intending to drop near Oran and capture two airfields. Navigation errors, communications problems, and bad weather scattered
20172-549: The other two towed gliders. Each group took off from a different airfield in the Carolinas. The four groups deployed a total of 4,800 troops in the first wave. Eighty-five percent were delivered to their targets without navigational error, and the airborne troops seized the Knollwood Army Auxiliary Airfield and secured the landing area for the rest of the division before daylight. With its initial objectives taken,
20336-463: The paratroopers and airlifters , and so extensive planning is critical to the success of an airborne operation. Advances in VTOL technologies ( helicopter and tiltrotor ) since World War II have brought increased flexibility, and air assaults have largely been the preferred method of insertion for recent conflicts, but airborne insertion is still maintained as a rapid response capability to get troops on
20500-439: The peak of their physical and mental fitness, but also to eliminate any men unable to cope with the long marches and difficult terrain that would be encountered during the operation. When this portion of the training had been completed, the sappers were then transferred to the area around Fort William in Scotland, where they were familiarised with a hydroelectric plant similar in design to the one in Norway, and received training on
20664-504: The performance of airborne units in North Africa and more recently Sicily. However, other high-ranking officers, including the Army Chief of Staff George Marshall , believed otherwise. Marshall persuaded Eisenhower to set up a review board and to withhold judgement until the outcome of a large-scale maneuver, planned for December 1943, could be assessed. McNair ordered 11th Airborne Division commander Major general Joseph May Swing to form
20828-633: The plant site. Generation of hydroelectric power changes the downstream river environment. Water exiting a turbine usually contains very little suspended sediment, which can lead to scouring of river beds and loss of riverbanks. The turbines also will kill large portions of the fauna passing through, for instance 70% of the eel passing a turbine will perish immediately. Since turbine gates are often opened intermittently, rapid or even daily fluctuations in river flow are observed. Drought and seasonal changes in rainfall can severely limit hydropower. Water may also be lost by evaporation. When water flows it has
20992-450: The plant. Once the weather improved and snow began to melt, providing enough water to create sufficient hydroelectric power, production continued. By mid-1942 it had come to the attention of the British government that the plant had begun to produce large quantities of heavy water and was stockpiling it for later use. The decision was therefore taken that the plant and the stockpiles of heavy water would have to be destroyed in order to impede
21156-500: The presence of the soldiers. Believing that there was no alternative, the soldiers agreed to contact the Germans, expecting that they would be taken as prisoners of war . A party from the Norwegian Labour Service arrived at the crash site shortly afterwards and helped tend to the injured soldiers who burned all of their sensitive documents and materials. A German party arrived about twenty minutes later. Unwilling to abandon
21320-469: The prisoners being executed, but tended the graves of the dead until the end of the war. Although the Allied soldiers believed that they had burnt all of their maps, one from the second glider was missed. When the Germans found it they were able to identify the Vemork plant as the target and increased their defence accordingly. German reprisals started instantly and 200 armed Gestapo agents swept into Rjukan where they arrested 21 Norwegians for questioning, but
21484-450: The rainfall regime, could reduce total energy production by 7% annually by the end of the century. Lower positive impacts are found in the tropical regions. In lowland rainforest areas, where inundation of a part of the forest is necessary, it has been noted that the reservoirs of power plants produce substantial amounts of methane . This is due to plant material in flooded areas decaying in an anaerobic environment and forming methane,
21648-435: The sappers would be escorted to the plant by the SOE agents, demolish the plant and its stocks of heavy water, and then cross the Norwegian border into neutral Sweden . Combined Operations initially suggested the men should fight their way to the Swedish border, but MI9 believed their chances of survival were better if they attempted to disguise themselves as Norwegians and travel in pairs. In order to facilitate their escape
21812-412: The seventeen men on board, three were killed outright. Thorvald Fylgjedalen, a local farmer, found some of the injured soldiers from the glider, but knew no English, and was unable to communicate with them. Nonetheless, Fylgjedalen and his neighbour Jonas Haaheller decided that they would assist the wounded soldiers, and did not contact the German authorities. After contacting more of the local residents,
21976-458: The soldiers asked for their assistance in escaping to Sweden, but Haaheller and others convinced them that this would be impossible, as it would involve travelling across the entirety of Norway. Thus, the Norwegians sheltered and gave medical attention to the injured soldiers, but did not allow any of them to leave. The Norwegians also burned all of the maps and documents from the glider crash before
22140-491: The sudden increase in demand for the water by the German government. When Norway was invaded and occupied by Germany in April 1940 this obstruction ended; the Vemork plant was captured and began producing heavy water for the German atomic weapons programme. Production of heavy water was slowed initially due to the effects of the fighting in Norway and a drought in the area, which led to a lack of water to provide hydroelectric power for
22304-403: The survivors were captured shortly after the crash. The second pair fared even worse, with both the aircraft and glider crashing into a mountain after the aircraft flew low in search of the first glider. Both members of the glider crew were killed instantly, while one soldier passenger died soon afterwards from his injuries. Those who survived the crashes were captured by German forces and killed as
22468-567: The system reported a 95% success rate. When 1st Airborne Division arrived in Norway in May 1945, they were informed of the fate of the prisoners, and cooperated with the Norwegian government to have the men buried with full military honours. The five from the first glider were re-interred at the Commonwealth War Graves plot at Vestre Gravlund near Oslo. The second glider's occupants were reburied at Eiganes churchyard in Stavanger and
22632-494: The system were dismantled by an English radar mechanic and brought back to Britain for examination so that countermeasures could be devised. The result was a British victory. Of the 120 paratroopers who dropped in the dead of night, there were two killed, six wounded, and six captured. This was the last large-scale airborne assault by Hitler and the Germans. The German paratroopers had such a high casualty rate that Hitler forbade any further large-scale airborne attacks. The Allies, on
22796-409: The team reconnoitred the area to help Combined Operations decide the best way to attack the plant. The geography of the area around the village and the plant meant that attacking the plant and destroying the existing stocks of heavy water would be extremely difficult. Both were situated in a deep valley which possessed thickly–forested sides that rose almost vertically from a narrow river–bed, and which
22960-472: The transports as they flew over the beachhead. Despite a catastrophic loss of gliders and troops loads at sea, the British 1st Airlanding Brigade captured the Ponte Grande bridge south of Syracuse . Before the German counterattack, the beach landings took place unopposed and the 1st Airlanding Brigade was relieved by the British 5th Infantry Division as it swept inland towards Catania and Messina . On
23124-456: The two glider combinations were only discovered after the war had ended. None of the soldiers or aircrew who survived the crashes remained alive for very long. Of the soldiers from the first glider, three of the four injured men were tortured by the Gestapo and later killed by Stabsarzt [Dr] Werner Fritz Seeling who injected air into their bloodstreams. The fourth injured man was shot in the back of
23288-422: The unsheltered boats in the cold. The dead soldiers were buried in a shallow grave. The second combination managed to reach the coast of Norway, but fared even worse than the first combination; because of a turn in the weather, the tow aircraft (second Halifax) piloted by Flight Lieutenant Roland Parkinson, RCAF, released the glider and then crashed into a mountain at Hestadfjell in high winds, rain and hail. All of
23452-500: The use of airborne forces after the many misdrops and the deadly friendly fire incident. General Dwight D. Eisenhower reviewed the airborne role in Operation Husky and concluded that large-scale formations were too difficult to control in combat to be practical. Lieutenant General Lesley J. McNair , the overall commander of Army Ground Forces , had similar misgivings: once an airborne supporter, he had been greatly disappointed by
23616-463: The village of Rjukan, 20 at the dam and about 55 near the main plant during the summer, by October this had been reduced to about 12 at the plant, 12 at the dam and approximately 40 in Rjukan. Most of the men were elderly or infirm Austrians under the command of an elderly captain, although well trained German regulars periodically passed through Telemark. Skinnarland also believed that Gestapo agents were in
23780-541: The western flank of U.S. VII Corps with heavy casualties. All together, airborne casualties in Normandy on D-Day totaled around 2,300. Hydroelectric power Hydroelectricity , or hydroelectric power , is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity , almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and also more than nuclear power . Hydropower can provide large amounts of low-carbon electricity on demand, making it
23944-524: The world are hydroelectric power stations, with some hydroelectric facilities capable of generating more than double the installed capacities of the current largest nuclear power stations . Although no official definition exists for the capacity range of large hydroelectric power stations, facilities from over a few hundred megawatts are generally considered large hydroelectric facilities. Currently, only seven facilities over 10 GW ( 10,000 MW ) are in operation worldwide, see table below. Small hydro
24108-539: The world. The classification of hydropower plants starts with two top-level categories: The classification of a plant as an SHP or LHP is primarily based on its nameplate capacity , the threshold varies by the country, but in any case a plant with the capacity of 50 MW or more is considered an LHP. As an example, for China, SHP power is below 25 MW, for India - below 15 MW, most of Europe - below 10 MW. The SHP and LHP categories are further subdivided into many subcategories that are not mutually exclusive. For example,
24272-427: The wounded and doubting their chances of escaping to Sweden, Lieutenant Allen chose to surrender, believing that they would be treated as POWs. Underneath their uniforms, the soldiers wore civilian clothing and had been told to grow their hair and beards. With this, and the fact that sabotage equipment was found, Colonel Probst, the head of the Wehrmacht in the Stavanger district, had all survivors executed as partisans at
24436-593: Was a combat team composed of elements of the 17th Airborne Division and a battalion from the 541st Parachute Infantry Regiment . The entire operation was observed by McNair, who would ultimately have a significant say in deciding the fate of the parachute infantry divisions. The Knollwood Maneuver took place on the night of 7 December 1943, with the 11th Airborne Division being airlifted to thirteen separate objectives by 200 C-47 Skytrain transport aircraft and 234 Waco CG-4A gliders. The transport aircraft were divided into four groups, two of which carried paratroopers while
24600-413: Was able to roughly identify the disposition of German troops and other defences. Additionally SOE decided to send an advance party of Norwegian agents into Telemark, and began intensively training a four-man team over the summer. The party, code-named Operation Grouse, was led by Jens-Anton Poulsson and also included Knut Haugland , Claus Helberg and Arne Kjelstrup . The Norwegians, all people local to
24764-481: Was allocated a number of Junkers Ju 52 aircraft to train on. The military had already purchased large numbers of Junkers Ju 52s which were slightly modified for use as paratroop transports in addition to their other duties. The first training class was known as Ausbildungskommando Immans . They commenced the first course on May 3, 1936. Other nations, including Argentina , Peru, Japan , France and Poland also organized airborne units around this time. France became
24928-573: Was allowed to provide irrigation and power to citizens (in addition to aluminium power) after the war. In Suriname , the Brokopondo Reservoir was constructed to provide electricity for the Alcoa aluminium industry. New Zealand 's Manapouri Power Station was constructed to supply electricity to the aluminium smelter at Tiwai Point . Since hydroelectric dams do not use fuel, power generation does not produce carbon dioxide . While carbon dioxide
25092-489: Was also a problem. Nonetheless, the Soviets maintained their doctrinal belief in the effectiveness of airborne forces, as part of their concept of "deep battle" , throughout the war. The largest drop during the war was corp-sized (the Vyazma airborne Operation , the 4th Airborne Corps ). It was unsuccessful. Airborne formations were used as elite infantry units however, and played a critical role in several battles. For example, at
25256-416: Was also ruled out, as was landing troops by PBY Catalina flying boat on Lake Møsvatn , 15 miles (24 km) from the target, the latter due to the steepness of the surrounding mountain slopes and the inability of flying boats to land on the ice. It was decided that a raid by glider -borne airborne troops would have the greatest chance of success. The area around the plant would be difficult to land on, but
25420-588: Was also set up in New Delhi , India , in October/November 1941, at the then-Welllingdon Airport (now the defunct Safdarjang Airport ) to train paratroopers for the British Indian Army which had been authorised to raise an airborne-capable formation earlier, resulting in the formation of the 50th Indian Parachute Brigade . The Indian airborne forces expanded during the war to the point that an airborne corps
25584-720: Was by the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion in November 1942, as part of Operation Torch in North Africa. The U.S. 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions saw the most action in the European Theater , with the former in Sicily and Italy in 1943, and both in Normandy and the Netherlands in 1944. The 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team was the principal force in Operation Dragoon in Southern France. The 17th Airborne Division deployed to England in 1944 but did not see combat until
25748-538: Was crucial for the Luftwaffe for operations over Norway. In Norway, a company of paratroopers dropped at Oslo's undefended airstrip. Over the course of the morning and early afternoon of April 9, 1940, the Germans flew in sufficient reinforcements to move into the capital in the afternoon, but by that time the Norwegian government had fled. In the Battle of France , members of the Brandenburg Regiment landed by Fieseler Fi 156 Storch light reconnaissance planes on
25912-462: Was decided that a small airborne force composed of sappers from the Royal Engineer units attached to 1st Airborne Division would land by glider, a short distance from the plant, demolish it with explosives and then escape over the Norwegian border into Sweden. After an extensive training period, the airborne force took off in two aircraft–glider combinations on the night of 19 November 1942. Both
26076-524: Was formed from No 2 Commando and subsequently became 1st Battalion, The Parachute Regiment) dropped into southern Italy from converted Whitley bombers flying from Malta and demolished a span of the aqueduct near Tragino in a daring night raid named Operation Colossus . 54 effectives of 'L' Detachment, Special Air Service Brigade (largely drawn from the disbanded Layforce ) mounted a night parachute insertion onto two drop zones in Bir Temrad, North Africa on
26240-660: Was hanged 15 May 1946 in Hameln, Germany; whilst Unterscharführer Fritz Feuerlein who had shot a prisoner in the back of the head was sentenced to life imprisonment but was extradited to the Soviet Union for alleged abuse conducted against Soviet prisoners. The commander of the German forces in Norway ;– Generaloberst Nikolaus von Falkenhorst – was also found guilty of two of the Freshman deaths during his war crimes trial. Sven Hedin intervened on his behalf on 4 December 1946, with
26404-422: Was injured during a training accident three days before the operation was to begin. The Royal Air Force unit selected to transport the sappers was 38 Wing, which was commanded by Group Captain T.B. Cooper; it was provided with a special allotment of three Handley Page Halifax heavy bombers for the operation, which were the only British aircraft in existence at the time which were capable of towing Horsa gliders
26568-524: Was overlooked by Gaustatoppen , a mountain approximately 5,400 feet (1,600 m) high; the plant itself had been built on a broad rock shelf 1,000 feet (300 m) above the river bed. Einar Skinnarland had observed the German defences over the summer and passed the information back to SOE. Later reconnaissance by Torstein Skinnarland and the Grouse team was also transmitted to London in the weeks leading up to
26732-415: Was planned bringing together the 2nd Indian Airborne Division and the British 6th Airborne Division , but the war ended before it could materialize. A fundamental decision was whether to create small airborne units to be used in specific coup-de-main type operations, or to organize entire airborne divisions for larger operations. Many of the early successful airborne operations were small, carried out by
26896-428: Was tasked with devising a plan for the glider-borne assault on the plant, as it had been with previous airborne and commando operations, such as Operation Biting . This was the first British airborne operation ever to use gliders; all previous operations had been conducted solely with parachutists. The staff decided that although gliders would be the most suitable for the operation due to the heavy loads to be carried by
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