Operation Big
Encyclopedia
Operation Big was a task force which was part of the overarching Allied effort (called Operation Alsos
) to capture German
nuclear
secrets during the final days of World War II
.
Worried that French forces might beat the US to Werner Heisenberg
's laboratory in Hechingen
, Boris T. Pash
hastily organized a flying column of Sixth Army combat engineers ("Task Force A"). His team reached Horb three days later and headed for Haigerloch
while the French troops occupied themselves with looking for members of the Vichy Government in nearby Sigmaringen
.
Pash and his engineers, accompanied by General Eugene Harrison, the Sixth Army Group's Chief of Intelligence, overran Haigerloch on 23 April 1945. In a laboratory in a cave they found a German experimental nuclear reactor
whose vessel was empty of uranium
and heavy water
. A few drums of heavy water were later found in the laboratory's main chamber and a German scientist told Pash that the reactor's uranium cubes had been concealed beneath hay in a nearby barn.
Pash subsequently had the empty reactor blown up. The task force then proceeded to Hechingen where they found and detained Erich Bagge
, Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker
, Max von Laue
, and Karl Wirtz
, then went on to Tailfingen where they arrested Otto Hahn
. Werner Heisenberg, who had left Hechingen on 19 April, was captured by Pash and a small force at his home in Urfeld, on 3 May 1945.
Pash concluded that the German nuclear program had been years behind the Manhattan Project
and that there was no possibility of them mounting any form of last-ditch nuclear attack. He called it "probably the most significant single piece of military intelligence developed during the war".
Operation Alsos
Operation Alsos was an effort at the end of World War II by the Allies , branched off from the Manhattan Project, to investigate the German nuclear energy project, seize German nuclear resources, materials and personnel to further American research and to prevent their capture by the Soviets, and...
) to capture German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
nuclear
Nuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...
secrets during the final days of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Worried that French forces might beat the US to Werner Heisenberg
Werner Heisenberg
Werner Karl Heisenberg was a German theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to quantum mechanics and is best known for asserting the uncertainty principle of quantum theory...
's laboratory in Hechingen
Hechingen
Hechingen is a town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated about south of the state capital of Stuttgart and north of Lake Constance and the Swiss border.- City districts :...
, Boris T. Pash
Boris Pash
Boris T. Pash was a United States Army officer.-Biography:He was born in San Francisco, California, on June 20, 1900. His father was Rev. Theodore Pashkovsky , a Russian Orthodox priest who had been sent to California by the Church in 1894...
hastily organized a flying column of Sixth Army combat engineers ("Task Force A"). His team reached Horb three days later and headed for Haigerloch
Haigerloch
-Geography:-Geographical situation:Haigerloch lies at between 430 and 550 metres elevation in the valley of the Eyach, which forms two loops in a steep shelly limestone valley...
while the French troops occupied themselves with looking for members of the Vichy Government in nearby Sigmaringen
Sigmaringen
Sigmaringen is a town in southern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Situated on the upper Danube, it is the capital of the Sigmaringen district....
.
Pash and his engineers, accompanied by General Eugene Harrison, the Sixth Army Group's Chief of Intelligence, overran Haigerloch on 23 April 1945. In a laboratory in a cave they found a German experimental nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
whose vessel was empty of uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
and heavy water
Heavy water
Heavy water is water highly enriched in the hydrogen isotope deuterium; e.g., heavy water used in CANDU reactors is 99.75% enriched by hydrogen atom-fraction...
. A few drums of heavy water were later found in the laboratory's main chamber and a German scientist told Pash that the reactor's uranium cubes had been concealed beneath hay in a nearby barn.
Pash subsequently had the empty reactor blown up. The task force then proceeded to Hechingen where they found and detained Erich Bagge
Erich Bagge
Erich Rudolf Bagge was a German scientist. Bagge, a student of Werner Heisenberg for his doctorate and Habilitation, was engaged in German Atomic Energy research and the German nuclear energy project during the Second World War. He worked as an Assistant at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Physik...
, Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker
Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker
Carl Friedrich Freiherr von Weizsäcker was a German physicist and philosopher. He was the longest-living member of the research team which performed nuclear research in Germany during the Second World War, under Werner Heisenberg's leadership...
, Max von Laue
Max von Laue
Max Theodor Felix von Laue was a German physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1914 for his discovery of the diffraction of X-rays by crystals...
, and Karl Wirtz
Karl Wirtz
Karl Eugen Julius Wirtz was a German nuclear physicist. He was arrested by the allied British and American Armed Forces and incarcerated at Farm Hall for six months in 1945 under Operation Epsilon.-Education:...
, then went on to Tailfingen where they arrested Otto Hahn
Otto Hahn
Otto Hahn FRS was a German chemist and Nobel laureate, a pioneer in the fields of radioactivity and radiochemistry. He is regarded as "the father of nuclear chemistry". Hahn was a courageous opposer of Jewish persecution by the Nazis and after World War II he became a passionate campaigner...
. Werner Heisenberg, who had left Hechingen on 19 April, was captured by Pash and a small force at his home in Urfeld, on 3 May 1945.
Pash concluded that the German nuclear program had been years behind the Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
and that there was no possibility of them mounting any form of last-ditch nuclear attack. He called it "probably the most significant single piece of military intelligence developed during the war".