6: 1940-45
Raw materials for
the war machine
6:1
The weapons industry needed large quantities of copper and sulphur. Up until World War II, almost all production from the Løkken mine was sold to Germany, which was in the process of building up its military. The German weapons industry was dependent on copper and sulphur from abroad, and Orkla Grube AB became one of its most important suppliers.
Once the war broke out, Germany was concerned with securing access to raw materials, and already in May 1940, a month after the invasion, German forces were in place at Løkken Verk. Orkla’s management chose to adapt and cooperate, and production of copper-rich pyrite continued throughout the war.
Domestic industrial sabotage
6:2
During the occupation, Orkla Grube AB continued exporting copper and sulphur to Germany. Both the Norwegian government-in-exile and the Allies wanted to stop this. They considered bombing Løkken, but it was densely populated, risking heavy civilian casualties. The solution was targeted sabotage by the specially trained soldiers of Kompani Linge.
Initial plans involved hitting the mining site itself at Wallenberg, but this was not possible due to heavy security. Operations were therefore directed at the transport line: the converter station, the quay and the Thamshavn Line. Between 1942 and 1944, Kompani Linge completed four missions against Orkla Grube AB, making it Norway’s most sabotaged industrial target.
The ‘Feather 1’ sabotage mission
6:3
On October 31 1943, Kompani Linge, under the leadership of Peter Deinboll, carried out a sabotage mission called ‘Feather 1’. The goal was to damage the pyrite transport by blowing up several of the railway’s locomotives and vehicles. The group members spread out and placed explosive charges on the equipment at several locations along the line between Løkken and Thamshavn.
Torfinn Bjørnaas from Løkken was responsible for the detonation at Løkken Station. One of the Løkken helpers, Malford Garberg, brought his friend Jon Hoem along to photograph the event.
At precisely 03:00, the bombs were detonated, destroying several locomotives. The friend pressed the button at exactly the right moment, and ‘Feather 1’ thus became the only Norwegian sabotage operation we have a photo of.
Friend or foe?
6:4
What do industrial companies do once they start profiting from war and conflict? The question is always relevant – and the answer rarely simple.
Orkla Grube AB made good money during World War I when Norway remained neutral, and when Germany was preparing for a new war in the 1930s. Once Norway became occupied in 1940, the management chose to keep the wheels turning. Was it about saving important jobs for people and local communities – or was it to secure revenue for the company’s owners?
The dilemmas of war probably also affected most people. How did they navigate right and wrong, true and false? What did they do when the Jewish family next door was deported? And when Norwegian resistance fighters carried out sabotage missions that could lead to the execution of civilians? Who could be trusted? And who was the real enemy?
For five years, Meldal and Orkdal were small communities that, because of their ore, ended up right at the centre of both occupation and resistance.
The Fannrem Prisoners of War
6:5
In the autumn of 1944, 216 prisoners of war (POWs) were sent from Grini to Fannrem. In the bitter winter cold and with little food, they worked long hours on the line. Some days the prisoners would find a milk pail containing warm soup hidden in a tunnel. In this way, people in the village made conditions a little more bearable for the Fannrem POWs.