An Ordinary Life; An Extraordinary Hero

To me, the best stories are ones of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

History is full of these kinds of stories. Maybe that's why I love it so much.

I was drawn to this story when I heard of the recent passing of a World War II hero, Joachim Ronneberg.

Ronneberg was born in Norway in 1919. When Germany invaded his country, April 1940, he was working for a fish export company. He and some friends fled to Britain aboard a fishing boat, but he was determined to return to fight.

He did return and was trained in the art of sabotage. Ronneberg himself became an instructor for new recruits and rose in the ranks.

When he was just twenty-three years old, he was enlisted to lead Operation Gunnerside. He was commanding men who were older than him and more experienced.

At this time, Germany was in a race against the Allies to produce an atomic bomb. Another team had already attempted to destroy it, but were met with failure and death. It was time for another mission, with Ronneberg as the leader.

This mission involved parachuting onto a plateau, skiing across the country, descending into a ravine and crossing an icy river before using the railway line to get into the plant and set their explosives.

It was successful.

After the explosion, the men were chased by some 3,000 German soldiers, but were able to escape by skiing 200 miles to neighboring Sweden.

Ronneberg and his men did not understand the full scope and importance of their mission until the atomic bomb was dropped on Japan in 1945.

He was reluctant to discuss his time as a resistant fighter. However, he did state later in his life: “A few years ago I realized that I am part of history. Having been more or less silent for years, now I realize it is important and quite natural for people to ask about the past so they can plan for the future. People must realize that peace and freedom have to be fought for every day.”

Ronneberg was given the gift of a long life, that could have been cut short back in 1943 from a German gun or a suicide pill he had if the mission went wrong. That was not his story though. He passed away at age 99 on October 21, 2018.

An ordinary man, who became an extraordinary hero.