11. Operation RYPE Sought to Impede the Evacuation of German Soldiers From Norway
As WWII progressed, the Nazi high tide of the early years receded, and things began to go from bad to worse for the Third Reich. With the Soviets rolling Hitler’s empire from the east and America and her allies doing so from the west, the Nazis grew desperate for military manpower. One potential source was the German occupation garrison in Norway, which numbered in the hundreds of thousands.
As the Nazis’ day of reckoning drew ever closer, the Germans started evacuating their forces from Norway to reinforce their crumbling fronts on the European mainland. The Allies decided to impede that evacuation, and the task was handed to the OSS, which drew up a mission, Operation RYPE (Norwegian for grouse), to parachute a NORSOG team into Norway. Once on the ground, they were to slow the German evacuation by blowing up bridges and links along the vital Nordland Railway, the main ground link to the country’s north. William Colby was put in charge of the operation, whose primary target was to be the Grana Bridge, near the village of Snasa.