Page 317 - Demo

Nuclear Weapons of the Atomic AgeWorld War II Heavy-Water Poster StampsDuring World War II, the Allies wanted to prevent Germany from developing an atomic bomb by keeping them from obtaining heavy water which was used in Plutonium-239 production. In Norway the Norsk-hydroelectric power plant at Vemork was the world's first site to massproduce heavy water, and the Allies were afraid the facility%u2019s production would be diverted to Germany. Therefore, they planned to destroy the plant%u2019s ability to produce heavy water.In Operation Grouse, Britain%u2019s Special Operations Executive (SOE) placed an advance team of four Norwegians above the plant in October 1942. The following month in Operation Freshman, British paratroopers were to rendezvous with the Norwegians. However, their military gliders crashed, and the crew was captured and interrogated, then executed by the Gestapo. Finally in February 1943, in Operation Gunnerside, a team of SOE-trained Norwegian commandos were able to destroy the production facility. This was followed by Allied bombing raids. When the Germans attempted to remove the remaining heavy water, Norwegian resistance forces sank the ferry transporting it on Lake Tinn.This set of 10 poster stamps was produced by the Swiss company, Nestl%u00e9-PeterCailler-Kohler Chocolate, in the mid-1950s. It was a part of a series of labels which collectors could place into a special album. The set is from series #72, which was titled %u201cSciences, Discoveries & Explorations.%u201d It depicts scenes and diagrams relating to heavy water, and the sabotage of the Norwegian heavy-water facility.No. 1 The Ch%u00e2tillon heavy-water pile in France.Reverse of stamps are similar