Was there an effort to get atomic bomb materials such as heavy water and industrial diamonds and scientists out of France before the Nazis got them?

Answer 1

No. No one was seriously trying to make an atom bomb at that time and France was not that important a player in the nuclear research that had already been done. Most of the important nuclear scientists were already in the United States. Michael Montagne

NO. There were several reasons:

1. France had no Atomic Bomb research at that time, and the amount of any "Heavy Water" they may or may not have had was unimportant to England or the United States at tha time. Its importance was not recognized.

2. France probably did have industrial diamonds, as did most industrial nations. BUT to be honest the Germans offered France a pretty good deal when compared to the other occupied nations. France was not totally occupied by the Germans. Southern France remained under the control of Frenchmen (granted they were cooperating with the Nazi's but no other defeated nation got such a deal. (Think about it, the French still controlled their own navy, and colonies.) As a result the French made very little effort to defy the Germans in the early days. This included, among other things -- Industrial diamonds.

Hope this helps, John

Yes, see the following: physics.ubc.cal

absolutely, early in 1940, the french armaments ministry (with british support) negotiated with Norsk Hydro in Norway to obtain their supply of heavy water 185kg. Withfrance facing defeat, the water was moved to the college de France, then on to bordaux. In sept 1940, the heavy water, specialized machine tools, $10m in industrial diamonds and 50 french scientists (all rounded up by the earl of suffolk,who was the liaison in France for the british department for scientific and industrial research), were all loaded on the Denholm Lines ship MS Broompark, under the command of Capt. Olaf Paulsen, who was the only ship's captain will to transverse the girod estuary which had been mined by the Germans. The heavy water was placed in wooden crates and lashed to wooden pallets (which would float free if the broompark was sunk). The broompark arrived safely back in Scotland, with its cargo intact and eventually the heavy water was relocated to the university of Chicago. For his actions in saving the heavy water, capt. olaf paulsen was awarded the "Order of the British Empire email me for a more detailed account as well as a photo of the broompark sailing down the girod estuary (you can see the wooden crates on deck that held the heavy water), capt. paulsen was my grandfather, and my mother has the medals he was awarded in ww2.

Captain Paulsen's OBE was for 'saving his ship when it was torpedoed, see the Fourth Supplement to The London Gazette of Friday the 31st January 1941. Available online - do a search for Paulsen. He deserved a decoration for his work at Bordeaux but did not receive it. The ship delivered the goods and the people to Falmouth on 21 June.

Please contact me through this site for further information - EbbandFlow

Six ships sailed from Bordeaux during 17 - 21 June and 12 from Le Verdon at the entrance to the Gironde. Captain Paulsen's OBE was for taking the Broompark through the minefield. Three months later the Broompark was torpedoed and Capt. Paulsen was awarded Lloyds War Medal for Bravery at Sea for saving his ship and all but one crew member.

Would very much like to see Captain Paulsen's record of his trip.

Hey, I'm Bruno Comer, a researcher in Belgium. I've a complete report on the events with the Broompark in June 17-21 1940. The author is Paul Timbal, a banker from the Antwerp Diamond Bank who kept the diamonds that were saved by the Broompark. The report was recently discovered by me when I wrote a company history of the Antwerp Diamond Bank that celebrated its 75th birthday in 2009. The report will be published by the Royal Historical Commission of Belgium. I'd be very pleased to get to know the grandson of capt. Paulsen and I've some interesting information to offer. Of course, all information that will interest the readers of Paul Timbal's report is welcome too. My coordinates are: Bruno Comer Weststraat 35 8340 Damme Belgium (Bruno.comer@telenet.be) tel 00 32 50 50 00 86.