AUDIENCES will this week have the chance to hear how a Clacks man was involved in a WWII operation aimed at thwarting the German nuclear programme.

Operation Freshman, which ended in tragedy, will be the subject of a lecture hosted by Tullibody History Group on Thursday, May 4.

Involved in the raid to destroy a heavy water production facility near Telemark in German-occupied Norway, was RAF First Sergeant Thomas Conacher, whose mother ran a pub in Clackmannan and who would later marry and settle in Tullibody.

Those heading along will hear from Dr Bruce A Tocher, who has been tracing surviving relatives of the 48 servicemen involved, from 7.30pm on the night at Tullibody Heritage and Community Centre.

Conacher, who was born near Airdrie in 1916, was a member of 296 Squadron in 1942 when the top secret operation took place and flew as the rear gunner in a Halifax A – the only aircraft which safely returned from the mission.

He and fellow survivor Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) pilot Eric Otto apparently stayed in the Clackmannan pub for a week after their return.

Operation Freshman was an attempt to destroy the heavy water production facility at Vemork Norsk Hydro and came a few months before the well-known and successful sabotage which inspired the 1965 film Heroes of Telemark.

The plant was producing heavy water as a by-product, vital to the Nazi programme to develop an atomic bomb.

All men taking part were volunteers and it is believed this was the first British operation utilising Airspeed Horsa gliders.

They were towed by Halifax A and B aircraft which took off from RAF Skitten, near Wick in Caithness – each gilder holding 15 Royal Engineer Commandos and two RAF and RAAF pilots.

What then happened will be the subject of what is promised to be a “fascinating and moving lecture” by Dr Tocher, who was born in Aberdeen but has lived in Norway for many years.

He has been interested in the operation for some time and has done a great deal of research on it, organisers said.

It is hoped the lecture will increase awareness of the operation while honouring the memory of the brave volunteers who took part in it.

Indeed, in September last year, Dr Tocher arranged for 67 relatives, representing 23 families of the servicemen, to visit Norway and see various sites connected with the operation.

He has also supplied most of the material about Operation Freshman for an exhibition about all of the WWII heavy water actions which opened this March at the NIA Museum in the former Vemork Norsk Hydro.

Tickets to the lecture cost £3. All those looking to book are asked to contact chair Chris Calder via chriscalder@btinternet.com.