Christmas Eve on the Hardangervidda plateau
On the 19th of October 1942, four young lads from Rjukan (Jens Anton Poulsson, Arne Kjelstrup, Knut Haugland and Claus Helberg), were parachuted down near Songadalen, west of Rjukan. They were to prepare the sabotage of the heavy water plant, and radio messages to England. The group was originally called “Grouse”, but after an unsuccessful British operation (“Freshman”) on the 19th of November 1942, the group had to change its name to “Swallow”. The group had to withdraw far into the desolate Hardangervidda plateau for the winter, waiting for further instructions from England. Food was their main concern. They finished most of the provisions that they had brought with them from England, apart from some coffee and a few other bits and pieces. The last fortnight before Christmas they had to eat moss to make their food go further, and they were undernourished and weak. Skiing 3-4 kilometres in search of food was a struggle. Skiing 10-20 kilometres was a feat of willpower. Each day they would go hunting without success.
On the 23rd of December 1942 they had good weather for the first time in weeks, but they were hungry and tired. All they had was some porridge and salted fish, even though the next day was Christmas Eve. They were facing a depressing Christmas. Jens Anton sets out on skis to go hunting. Suddenly he freezes, and lifting his binoculars to his eyes he catches sight of a huge flock of deer. He sets off after them, forgetting his tiredness in the excitement of the chase. He lies down behind a big rock, waiting for the flock to calm down. Time passes, it is cold and he is freezing. Finally he is unable to wait any longer, and he sneaks up on the deer. A couple of them discover him, causing the whole flock to take flight, disappearing behind a hillock. Jens Anton puts on his skis and gives chase. He finds the flock again, and creeps up on it. At a distance of 200 metres he shoots at the closest deer. Nothing happens. He shoots again, but still nothing happens. The flock, which contains around 30 animals, takes flight and disappears. Jens Anton is devastated by his awful aim. But when he gets to where the animals were, he sees traces of blood in the snow. He follows them, and 100 metres away he finds a deer lying in the snow. It tries to stand up. Jens Anton doesn’t dare to take any risks, and fires another shot. He misses, of course, but with the next shot he does hit. He has bagged a pretty doe. He smiles and laughs, knowing that they'll have a proper Christmas after all. He drinks some blood straight from the gut before flaying the doe and making up a massive parcel of meat. He leaves the rest of the meat in a pile to be collected later. His backpack is heavy, but although he is dead tired, Jens Anton is happy.
In the evening he gets back to the cabin where the others are. Jens Anton pretends that nothing special has happened. The lads don’t ask him anything, as they’re used to him coming back empty-handed. Then Arne goes over and lifts the backpack, and when he feels its weight, he smiles. They all smile; life isn’t that bad after all, now that Christmas Eve has been saved. After that, they were able to eat reindeer in all kinds of dishes: soups, blood, cooked meat, roasted meat, liver and tongue. They had been given the Christmas present they most needed: food!
Taken from Jens Anton Poulsson (1989), Aksjon Vemork. Oslo: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag.