Letter from Ned Sparkes
Title
Letter from Ned Sparkes
Description
Letter defending his ideas about German nuclear weapon capability during the war. Writes of attacks on Norsk Hydro Plant, describes V-weapons and draws conclusions.
Creator
Date
1995-03-28
Spatial Coverage
Language
Format
One page printed letter
Conforms To
Is Part Of
Publisher
Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
Identifier
PSparkesW17010003
Transcription
Mr. S I Sparkes
[Redacted]
28TH MARCH 1995.
Dear Sir,
Regarding Mrs Gurney’s letter 27 March 95 in which she accuses me of “Wild Ideas” about German nuclear weapon Capacity. [deleted] Wilst [/deleted] [inserted] WHILST [/inserted] not wishing to fight W.W.2. all over again, herewith the background on which my “Wild Ideas” are based.
In 1942 the NORSK HYDRO PLANT at Vernock in Norway was producing Deuterium oxide (Heavy water) and German demands for this had trebled since 1940,
Because of its mountainous location a bombing attack on this plant had failed as had Glider borne attack. It was later destroyed by Norwegian agents.
In Feb 1945, a desperate enemy was broadcasting threats of devasting new weapons, an enemy that had already produced a number of wonder weapons e.g.
(1) The V2, so far ahead of its time, that Lord Cherwell the Chief Government Scientist called it “A clever German bluff)
(2) The V1 Flying Bomb
(3) The first operational jet and rocket propulsion aircraft.
(4) The first blind Bombing system “Knickerbien in 1940
(5) A radio controlled stand off bomb HS 293 @ FX1400
Knowing these facts and that they had been involved in atomic research since at least 1942, it would have been foolish to assume they had not reached the stage as the Allies in the production of a nuclear device.
I would like to comment on Mrs. Gurney’s “Wild Idea”, in which she states “there Would have been no V2 attacks on Antwerp if that city had been captured instead of allowing Monty’s daft Arnhem plan” In fact Antwerp was captured early 45, 2 weeks before the Arnhem operation. One of its aims was to clear the Scheldt estury [sic] and occupy the V2 bases in Holland.
When discussing history it helps if you get the dates right.
Yours Sincerely
[signature]
[Redacted]
28TH MARCH 1995.
Dear Sir,
Regarding Mrs Gurney’s letter 27 March 95 in which she accuses me of “Wild Ideas” about German nuclear weapon Capacity. [deleted] Wilst [/deleted] [inserted] WHILST [/inserted] not wishing to fight W.W.2. all over again, herewith the background on which my “Wild Ideas” are based.
In 1942 the NORSK HYDRO PLANT at Vernock in Norway was producing Deuterium oxide (Heavy water) and German demands for this had trebled since 1940,
Because of its mountainous location a bombing attack on this plant had failed as had Glider borne attack. It was later destroyed by Norwegian agents.
In Feb 1945, a desperate enemy was broadcasting threats of devasting new weapons, an enemy that had already produced a number of wonder weapons e.g.
(1) The V2, so far ahead of its time, that Lord Cherwell the Chief Government Scientist called it “A clever German bluff)
(2) The V1 Flying Bomb
(3) The first operational jet and rocket propulsion aircraft.
(4) The first blind Bombing system “Knickerbien in 1940
(5) A radio controlled stand off bomb HS 293 @ FX1400
Knowing these facts and that they had been involved in atomic research since at least 1942, it would have been foolish to assume they had not reached the stage as the Allies in the production of a nuclear device.
I would like to comment on Mrs. Gurney’s “Wild Idea”, in which she states “there Would have been no V2 attacks on Antwerp if that city had been captured instead of allowing Monty’s daft Arnhem plan” In fact Antwerp was captured early 45, 2 weeks before the Arnhem operation. One of its aims was to clear the Scheldt estury [sic] and occupy the V2 bases in Holland.
When discussing history it helps if you get the dates right.
Yours Sincerely
[signature]
Collection
Citation
W Sparkes, “Letter from Ned Sparkes,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 28, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/36294.
Item Relations
This item has no relations.