8. After Blowing Up a German Bridge, This Hero and His Men Had to Ski For Their Lives
Soon as William Colby and his men blew up the Tangen Bridge, the Germans sent up a spotter plane to find them. Before long, 50 German mountain troops were hot on their tail. Bluntly warned that “if you can’t outski the Germans, you will not return“, our hero and his men skied for their lives.
After 56 grueling hours, they managed to lose their pursuers by making their way up a steep hill, which they nicknamed “Benzedrine Hill” after the tablets they took to keep them awake and going. On April 18th, 1945, the NORSOGs crossed into the safety of Sweden, where they were reunited with their five teammates who had been mistakenly parachuted there. Reinforced and resupplied, Colby’s men returned to Norway, and blew up a half-mile stretch of the Nordland Railway on April 23rd.