border into neutral Sweden. Combined Operations initially suggested the men should fight their way to the Swedish border, but MI9 believed their chances of survival were better if they attempted to disguise themselves as Norwegians and travel in pairs. In order to facilitate their escape the men were provided with civilian clothes (to be worn after the operation), simple Norwegian phrases (in the hope no German they encountered would speak Norwegian) and escape sets containing money and maps. They were also ordered to shave any moustaches and grow their hair long in order to blend in with Norwegian men. Training Training began in early October in Wales and was designed to be extremely arduous, not only to ensure that those who took part were at the peak of their physical and mental fitness, but also to eliminate any men unable to cope with the long marches and difficult terrain that would be encountered during the operation. When this portion of the training had been completed, the sappers were then transferred to the area around Fort William in Scotland, where they were familiarised with a hydroelectric plant similar in design to the one in Norway, and received training on the most efficient way to plant explosives in the Norsk Hydro plant to cause maximum damage. Training also took place at Port Sunlight, where they were shown how to destroy large condensers of the kind found in the plant. The sappers were given detailed briefings on the plant and the surrounding area, and were trained on large models and mock-ups of the buildings that the plant was composed of, all based on information provided by the SOE agents who had arrived earlier in the month. Because the operation was considered to be extremely important, and its results vital to the Allied war effort, security efforts were extremely thorough. A cover story was provided for the sappers as they conducted their training; a rumour was spread that they were training to compete against a company of American engineers in a fictional 'Washington Cup' athletic event, which involved a long route march to be completed either by glider or parachute, followed by a complex demolition task and finally a demanding endurance test. The departure airfield was also sealed off to civilians and non-essential military personnel, and all mail and telephone calls were censored. Operation After their training had been completed, on 17 November the