Operation Surgeon

Operation Surgeon was a British post-Second World War programme to exploit German aeronautics and deny German technical skills to the Soviet Union.

A list of 1,500 German scientists and technicians was drawn up. Policy was to forcibly remove "whether they liked it or not" the scientists from Germany to lessen the risk of them falling into enemy hands.

It was feared that if they were allowed to remain in Germany they might enable the Soviet Union to "achieve a long range bomber force superior to any other in the world".

Of the removed scientists in the years 1946-1947, 100 chose to work for the UK.

Many of the listed scientists had already at the inception of the operation offered their services to British Commonwealth countries, Sweden, Switzerland, Brazil and South America, and regarded working for the Soviet Union as a last resort if stopped from working in Germany and unable to find employment elsewhere in the west.

British records of the operation were made public in 2006.

Notes and references

 * Notes


 * Bibliography