Glomfjord is a small industrial town of about 1,100 people, wedged into a narrow valley so steep that the sun barely reaches it in winter. The best comparison is Rjukan in Telemark: both were built around hydropower, both sit in shadow for months, and both installed a cable car so workers could ride up the mountainside and see daylight during the dark season.
The Glomfjord power plant was built in 1920, designed by architect Olaf Nordhagen. Its two Pelton turbines, at 20 megawatts each, were the largest in operation in Norway at the time. The power fed an aluminium smelter run by Norsk Hydro, and for decades the plant was the reason for the town's existence. Glomfjord peaked in the 1960s and 70s with up to 700 workers; today the community is much smaller, but the power plant still operates, fed by meltwater from the Svartisen glacier above.
During the Second World War, the aluminium produced here was vital to the German war effort, and it made Glomfjord a target. In September 1942, a team of ten British commandos and two Norwegian SOE agents crossed the North Sea aboard the Free French submarine Junon. Their mission, codenamed Operation Musketoon, was to destroy the power plant. They succeeded: the plant was knocked out and remained closed for the rest of the war. But the cost was high. The commandos split into two groups to escape; four men made it to Sweden and eventually home. The other group was captured. One died of wounds. The remaining seven were taken to Germany, interrogated, and executed at Sachsenhausen concentration camp. The raid became one of the incidents that prompted Hitler to issue his infamous Commando Order, directing that all captured commandos be killed without trial.
The Glomfjord power plant was built in 1920, designed by architect Olaf Nordhagen. Its two Pelton turbines, at 20 megawatts each, were the largest in operation in Norway at the time. The power fed an aluminium smelter run by Norsk Hydro, and for decades the plant was the reason for the town's existence. Glomfjord peaked in the 1960s and 70s with up to 700 workers; today the community is much smaller, but the power plant still operates, fed by meltwater from the Svartisen glacier above.
During the Second World War, the aluminium produced here was vital to the German war effort, and it made Glomfjord a target. In September 1942, a team of ten British commandos and two Norwegian SOE agents crossed the North Sea aboard the Free French submarine Junon. Their mission, codenamed Operation Musketoon, was to destroy the power plant. They succeeded: the plant was knocked out and remained closed for the rest of the war. But the cost was high. The commandos split into two groups to escape; four men made it to Sweden and eventually home. The other group was captured. One died of wounds. The remaining seven were taken to Germany, interrogated, and executed at Sachsenhausen concentration camp. The raid became one of the incidents that prompted Hitler to issue his infamous Commando Order, directing that all captured commandos be killed without trial.