Heroines Of Telemark

Community and Charity HEROINES OF TELEMARK

Joanna Young, Senior Director of Clinical Development at Syneos Health & RAF Wife

In March 2022, a group of forces wives is set to make history by becoming the world’s first all-female team to retrace the steps of one of the most important missions in World War II history, the Heroes of Telemark. I am honoured to be one of ten women who were selected to undertake this challenge of remembrance that pays tribute to the Heroes of Telemark.

THE HEROES OF TELEMARK

In February 1943, Hitler’s development of an atomic bomb was sabotaged by a small team of Special Operative Executive (SOE) soldiers in what was effectively a suicide mission that they all survived. Now known as The Heroes of Telemark, these brave Norwegians (who had secretly escaped their occupied country to join Britain’s SOE) were unexpectedly forced to survive unsupported on Norway’s Hardangervidda plateau for four gruelling winter months, sleeping in mountain huts and secretly radioing intelligence back to Britain before going on to achieve what looked like an impossible mission: to destroy Hitler’s supply of an ingredient critical to the creation of an atomic bomb - heavy water. It was a mission that changed the course of history.

As part of the Forces Wives Challenge, we will now pay tribute to The Heroes of Telemark by following their gruelling journey across the plateau to the very same building where they carried out the attack. The journey will take us across the Hardangervidda, one of the wildest and most inhospitable environments on earth, to Vemork. We will cover over 100km on foot at 3,500ft above sea level with over 300kg of kit in below freezing conditions - winds of over 60mph will create a wind chill factor of -20 degrees Celsius. We are honoured to have received special permission to sleep in the very same mountain huts that the Heroes of Telemark slept in themselves 80 years ago.

THE FWC HOT TEAM

Led by The Forces Wives Challenge (FWC), the Heroes of Telemark (HOT) Team is made up of women from the fields of healthcare, life sciences, aerospace, business coaching, defence, make-up artistry, clinical research, and sports rehabilitation. I have a long-standing career in clinical research of medical devices, and I am one of the fortunate few that can take my job with me at each posting. Like many Forces Wives, we (known as the HOT Ladies) are located across the UK due to our partners’ postings - from myself in RAF Halton, to the Scottish Highlands, with one of the women currently based in Saudi Arabia.

In preparation for this challenging event, we are being trained both physically and mentally by a support team that includes a professional endurance coach, ex-military special forces instructors and former guides for Ray Mears’s company Woodlore. You may have seen me pulling my trusty tyre (which I have fondly named ‘Terence’) around camp and Wendover Woods as part of my training. Tyre pulling may seem an unusual type of training for Nordic Skiing however the intent is to simulate the muscle strain that pulling a pulk across the Hardangervidda will exert on the body. Having recently upgraded to a much bigger tyre and having to fit in training around the needs of work, a 5-year-old son and two dogs (while my husband is away on pre-deployment training), the training has really been a challenge in itself.

FORCES WIVES CHALLENGE

FWC (www. forceswiveschallenge.org) was created to unite women with partners in the Armed Forces through adventure and challenge. We passionately believe in the power of physical exercise, teamwork, and the great outdoors to help translate the resilience, adaptability, strength, and skills in the Forces Wives community into high performing female teams.

Moving to RAF Halton in the summer of 2019 was my first real experience of the transient nature of military family life, having remained at our family home in Inverness during previous postings. With COVID hitting soon after the move, this was a very challenging time for me as I juggled home-schooling, full-time work and living far away from friends and family. Having been diagnosed with severe anxiety in my early twenties, I realise how important it is to look after our mental health, particularly during challenging periods. It was during the pandemic that I discovered Forces Wives Challenge and I have really felt the positive empowerment that the community brings. The support and camaraderie from the Forces Wives Challenge members is immense. Being able to escape into the outdoors with kindred souls who understand the struggles and challenges of military life is absolutely invaluable to me and my mental wellbeing. I am very passionate about removing the stigma surrounding mental health, providing a positive example of recovery to those in need and advocating the restorative power of the great outdoors.

As part of this expedition, The FWC World's First Female Heroes of Telemark Team are raising funds for The War Widows Association. As the expedition remembers the men who risked so much for our freedom, our charity remembers and supports the widow(er)s who lost so much. Donations can be made via our JustGiving page https://www.justgiving.com/ fundraising/10k10khot.

Training weekend in the Peak District