Faroe Islands in World War II
The Danish North Atlantic archipelago Faroe Islands was in World War II on 11 April 1940 at the framework of the so-called Operation Valentine of Great Britain occupied after April 9 Denmark invaded and occupied by the Germans had been.
This led to a complete isolation of the then Danish administrative district from the mother country and ultimately the autonomy of the Faroe Islands in 1948. While the Faroe Islands experienced enormous economic growth through fishing under British occupation , their seafarers paid a high price for it. 150 Faroese , about 0.5% of the population, remained at sea.
At times, up to 8,000 British soldiers were stationed in the Faroe Islands, which then had around 30,000 inhabitants.
Review article: History of the Faroe Islands
Strategic location of the Faroe Islands
While the British naval blockade against Germany between the Orkney , Shetland Islands and Bergen in neutral Norway was established during the First World War , the strategic situation in the North Atlantic during the Second World War was after the so-called Operation Weser Exercise - the German occupation of Denmark and Norway on April 9, 1940 - more complicated.
Great Britain now had to build up its blockade between Shetland, the Faroe Islands and Iceland , while Germany had the long Norwegian coast as a base of operations. After the occupation of Denmark and Norway, from the British point of view, speed was of the essence in order not to lose this strategic post.
The strategic importance of the Faroe Islands in the Cold War (and to this day) also determines the political fortunes of the country again and again.
Outbreak of war
Preparations
Already after the start of the war in Europe in 1939, preparations were made in the Faroe Islands for possible consequences with regard to the supply situation. A control council was set up to ensure that essentials such as salt (on which the fishing industry depended) and fuel, as well as clothing and food, were available in sufficient quantities.
Since the beginning of 1940, Danish ships fell victim to the German submarine war, and so the connection between the Faroe Islands and Denmark deteriorated. The last mail arrived from Denmark in February. The connection was only restored after the end of the war.
On March 11, 1940, the Control Council urged all Faroese to be extremely frugal and to grow more potatoes and vegetables for the islands' own needs. At the same time, coal was rationed as an import commodity (later also the local coal from Hvalba ) and an appeal was made to the residents to revive the tradition of peat cutting , which had been believed to be almost forgotten . Landowners were also required to provide landless fishermen with plots of land where they could grow potatoes themselves.
The fleet activities in the North Atlantic became more and more intense at the end of March and beginning of April, so that one prepared immediately for the worst.
Chronology of events
Tuesday, April 9, 1940. In the early hours of the morning, the Faroe Islands' telegraph connection with Denmark breaks down. In the morning the Danish radio reports on the invasion of the German armed forces , the pointless resistance and the capitulation of the king and the government.
About 3000 Faroese are in Denmark at this time. They won't see their homeland again until 1945. There is still no sign of the war in the Faroe Islands itself.
Coincidentally, the newly elected Løgting on January 30th is currently meeting . The Danish bailiff (governor) Carl Aage Hilbert consult immediately with the local representatives on the newly created situation.
Meanwhile, the sloop Eysturoy under captain Hans Mikkelsen is setting sail from Klaksvík to bring a cargo of frozen fish to Aberdeen .
Wednesday April 10th. In the morning Hilbert addresses the Faroese people on Radio Tórshavn . He says that the Danish surrender is not the Faroe Islands' surrender and that, together with the Løgting, he will keep the government of the country in hand. The Løgtingspräsident Kristian Djurhuus then addressed the audience. He promises that Løgting will do everything possible to ensure that the fishery can continue.
Hilbert also forbids all Danish ships to leave the Faroe Islands without his permission. Their cargoes are confiscated for self-sufficiency in the islands, but the yield is less than hoped.
In the afternoon, the People's Party ( Fólkaflokkurin ) tries a coup d'état : Hilbert's authority for the Faroe Islands is unilaterally terminated and the Løgting is proclaimed the country's sole authority. An ultimatum is issued until 6 p.m. from which the Faroe Islands declaration of independence must be acknowledged. The coup failed due to the rejection of all the other parties that form the majority in Løgting.
The sloop Eysturoy has now entered British waters and is seized by a Royal Navy warship near the Orkney . The skipper Hans Mikkelsen is asked to paint the Dannebrog . The problem is that the British Navy has been commissioned to intercept the ships from occupied Denmark, but they don't want any problems with the Faroe Islands. The British ask him if he doesn't have a different flag. He won't be told twice, sets the flag of the Faroe Islands - until then illegal from Denmark's point of view - and is allowed to continue the journey to Aberdeen. There are many boats from the Faroe Islands in the harbor. When Eysturoy comes into view with the Faroese flag, the Dannebrog is hauled in on all boats and Merkið is hoisted. The lettering DANMARK on the ship's sides, which was forced by the war, is replaced by FAROES - FØROYAR on all boats .
Thursday April 11th. UK Prime Minister and Secretary of the Navy Winston Churchill stated in the House of Commons (and via the BBC ):
“We are […] in the process of occupying the Faroe Islands, which belong to Denmark and are of the greatest strategic importance. The Faroese people have signaled that we will be welcomed with warmth. We want to protect the Faroe Islands from the horrors of war and stay there with adequate sea and air forces until the islands can be returned to the Danish Crown and the Danish people - after they have been freed from the bondage to which they were subjected by the German attack . "
On the same day, a Royal Air Force reconnaissance aircraft appeared over Tórshavn .
Friday April 12th. At around noon the British destroyers HMS Havant (H32) and HMS Hesperus (H57) anchor off Tórshavn. The two commanders go to Hilbert, who receives them in the presence of Kristian Djurhuus. The British call on the Faroese to prepare for the marines to land in Tórshavn and Skálafjørður . Given the situation, Hilbert explains that there is no other alternative.
Saturday April 13th. The Løgting formally protested at the British Consul in Tórshavn against the occupation of the Faroe Islands. This protest is seen by all sides as purely formal, because the population is unanimously relieved that it is the British and not the Germans who are occupying their country.
Censorship will be imposed on telegraphs and radio and the overseas postal service will be suspended. Blackout is ordered for Tórshavn.
In the afternoon the first 200 Royal Marines land with two armed trawlers accompanied by the cruiser HMS Suffolk .
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Sunday April 14th. The marines are transferred to Skálafjørður, where the British set up a naval base . The headquarters will be located in the old Tórshavn fortress Skansin . The large ship cannons there still bear witness to that time.
Sunday April 21st. The first fishing boats with the flag of the Faroe Islands come back from Aberdeen . Official Hilbert tries to have this "rebel flag" replaced by a green signal flag. This immediately led to violent demonstrations in Tórshavn. Hilbert bows to the will of the people.
Monday April 22nd. All Faroese lighthouses are switched off and only temporarily put into operation in the following years on the instructions of the Allies to show ship associations the way.
Thursday April 25th. About BBC gives Royal Navy announced that the flag of the Faroe Islands for the rest of the war on Faroese vessels is to be performed.
Saturday April 27th. Hilbert signs an order that the Faroese flag should be used at sea, but that the Dannebrog will continue to be used on land.
The British order on the flag is intended to remain the only interference in the internal affairs of the Faroe Islands. Since then, April 25 has been celebrated as a non-working holiday (flag day of the Faroe Islands). There is no evidence that the British side was aware of the domestic political clashes in the past that it ended.
25. May. The Marines are replaced by 500 Lovat Scouts from Scotland who land on the transport ship Ulster Prince . This regiment was to stay here until June 10, 1942. They were replaced by the Scottish Cameronians , among others , who stayed until 1943.
War events
British activities in the Faroe Islands
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The presence of the Allied forces in the Faroe Islands had two strategic goals.
- The sea blockade in the North Atlantic
- Fight against the German submarine weapon
The actions emanating from the Faroe Islands were correspondingly maritime.
With the construction of Vágar airport, the British Royal Air Force made an important contribution to the development of the country's infrastructure, which is still the only airport today (see there) . Before the airport was completed, the neighboring large lake Sørvágsvatn served as a seaplane base with a pier at Vatnsoyrar , where most of the British were stationed at the same time. Vágar was also the most heavily fortified island in the Faroe Islands. The residents were given special identity cards, and anyone wishing to visit Vágar needed a special security pass. Dilapidated concrete bunkers are a reminder of this time, as is the British military cemetery near the airport.
Between 1942 and 1944 the greatest concentration of troops was in the Faroe Islands, at times up to 8,000 men. This led to a surprisingly few incidents with the approximately 30,000 local residents. A few isolated attacks due to drunkenness or the like have been jointly and consensually pursued by the Royal Military Police and the Provisional Government of the Faroe Islands.
Loss and damage on land
Air strikes
The attacks against the Faroe Islands themselves remained relatively limited. The German Air Force flew the most devastating attack on February 21, 1941, in which the British armed trawler Lincoln City was sunk by two German bombers in the port of Tórshavn . Eight British navy personnel were killed. The ship sank within a very short time. Immediately after the first detonation, all available Faroese boats rushed to the spot to rescue the rest of the crew while the bombardment was still taking place. One of the two planes was shot down by the anti-aircraft battery in Skálafjørður shortly afterwards.
There have been other air strikes against the Faroe Islands, but the damage has always remained, albeit significant by Faroese standards, such as the destruction of the Borðan lighthouse in 1941.
Floating mines
A completely different threat loomed from mines floating in the sea and other explosive charges that were washed up on the Faroese coast and occasionally exploded there. Around 200 to 300 houses were damaged in the course of the war. In 1941 there were two serious accidents while handling such mines, whereby a total of five inexperienced Faroese were killed.
As a consequence, warning signs were set up and rifles were distributed to the best shooters in the villages, with which they could destroy the mines before they reached the bank. About 850 mines were rendered harmless in this way.
Fisheries and losses at sea
| year | Danish crones |
|---|---|
| 1940 | 13,207,000 |
| 1941 | 38,367,000 |
| 1942 | 44,123,000 |
| 1943 | 41,123,000 |
| 1944 | 49,294,000 |
| 1945 | 30,174,000 |
While it was comparatively peaceful on land, the Faroese fishermen were at particular risk. As usual, the Faroese initially fished the waters in the north around Iceland and Greenland with their sloops , schooners and trawlers , in order to then export the catch either as salt fish or clipfish .
Due to the war, Norway, then Europe's largest fishing nation, was completely cut off from the British market. The Faroe Islands, Iceland , Ireland and Great Britain became the only countries on the British fish market. The British fishing fleet had to cede almost all trawlers to the Royal Navy , eliminating strong competition in the North Atlantic.
From a Faroese point of view, the UK market was now the only one, and there the demand for unsalted fish was a reason to switch the Faroese fishing industry. In addition, the Icelanders refused to bring fish to the UK without air support. This task was then taken over by the Faroese sloops and schooners. The Faroese fishing base at Færingehavn in West Greenland was then abandoned for the duration of the war.
This business was extremely profitable. About 20% of UK fish consumption was supplied by the Faroe Islands.
The exchange rate of the Danish krone against the pound sterling was fixed at 22.40 to 1 during the war. While the Faroe Islands had 248,000 pounds sterling in British banks in January 1941, it was 2,792,000 pounds in July 1945.
Due to the effects of the war, however, there were painful losses among the fishermen. 21 Faroe Islands fishing vessels were sunk, killing 132 seafarers. The seaman Zacharias Müller from Porkeri tells in his memoirs (2003):
“In 1940 I went on the sloop Aldan , a sailing ship with an auxiliary engine. We invited fish in Vágur , which we sailed to Aberdeen . We did five or six tours and made a lot of money. Once, when we were supposed to be from Vágur to Aberdeen, the two of us from Porkeri, Johan Christiansen (now 90 years old) and I, hired as helmsmen. When we were about to sail from Vágur, Johan and I went to Porkeri to say goodbye to the family. Shortly south of the city, Johan suddenly said: 'I'm not coming with you'. 'What do you say!' I said, 'the ship is fully loaded with fish and ready to cast off, and so a helmsman is now missing!' 'No, I'm not going with you!' He said. I went back to my wife and told her that Johan didn't want to come with me. She said: 'Then you won't go either!' She was pregnant. I still wanted to go with them, but she was steadfast and forbade me to go with them - in the end I gave in. A brother-in-law of the skipper drove in my place. Aldan never came back. It was the first Faroese ship to be lost. They sailed from Vágur and never came home. There were rumors that the Germans had captured them and dragged them to Norway, but that was only guesswork. You ran safely on a mine and went under with man and mouse. "
With the Aldan , the first six Faroese seamen died in July 1940 due to the war. The largest single loss was the trawler Nýggjaberg from Miðvágur , which disappeared without a trace on March 28, 1942 off Iceland with its 21 men crew. A German submarine attack is suspected behind it.
The Faroese fishing boats were also exposed to danger from the air. In order to be able to defend against air attacks, from April 21, 1941, all boats were equipped with two light machine guns and sufficient ammunition. This offer was voluntary, could be accepted after a briefing at least two crew members in every British port and was then regularly checked for functionality by the headquarters on Skansin . This armament had a certain deterrent effect when you compare what a German warplane is worth compared to a Faroese sloop . In one case, the sloop skipper Georg Joensen from Eiði was shot down on board the Thor from Sørvágur on June 12, 1941. He fetched a German Heinkel from the sky 15 nautical miles north of Rattray Head (then a Royal Navy air base near Aberdeen ) and received it from King George VI in 1942 . awarded the British Order of MBE ( Member of the Order of the British Empire ).
A memorial in Tórshavner Stadtpark commemorates the civilians who stayed at sea.
Faroese on the German side
Of the approximately 3,000 Faroese remaining in Denmark, a handful of volunteers for the Waffen-SS signed up during the war : Sverri Djurhuus (1920–2003), Richard Joensen (killed in Narva 1944), Johannes Toftum (killed in Narva) and Leivur Restorff. There is said to have been another volunteer who deserted and of whom Sverri Djurhuus is said to have said later: That was not a real Faroese . S. Djurhuus also told of a stay in Berlin, where he happened to meet some Faroese nurses during a bomb attack.
From time to time German radio broadcast propaganda programs in Faroese from Berlin. They were read by the German Scandinavian Theophron Runze , who was believed to have died in a bomb attack in Berlin in 1944. Runze had the pseudonym Jógvan í Garði in the radio broadcasts . Contemporary witnesses describe his Faroese as fluent, but with a German accent. He is said to have been to the Faroe Islands in the 1930s and learned the language that way.
Supply situation of the population
| year | Catches | Whales | Skinn |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1940 | 10 | 2,847 | over 8,564.50 |
| 1941 | 28 | 4,482 | over 24,929.00 |
| 1942 | 9 | 1.931 | over 8,639.50 |
| 1943 | 8th | 1,041 | 6,074.50 |
| 1944 | 11 | 1,386 | 7,589.00 |
| 1945 | 10 | 1,558 | 9,758.50 |
The supply situation in the Faroe Islands was comparatively good throughout the war. The supply in the villages was slightly better than in Tórshavn . Goods such as sugar, coffee, tea and margarine were rationed, but the population never suffered material hardship.
Almost all of the fishing by the deep sea fleet was exported to Great Britain, so that coastal fishing with the small boats in the villages formed the backbone of self-sufficiency from the sea. In addition, the native potatoes were just as vital as catching birds and pilot whales ( grindadráp ) , in which, according to tradition, the British soldiers took part. The catch of Sandur on October 10, 1940 was the largest grindadráp in the history of the Faroe Islands with 1200 pilot whales killed. The Skinnatal (Faroese unit of weight for pilot whale meat and bacon) has not been determined, so it is not complete for this year.
The supply of clothing was not a big problem due to the still intact old domestic village economy. Here one could lean on the Faroese wool . Only shoes became more expensive towards the end of the war.
Faroese politics
Shortly before the British occupation, a new Løgting was elected on January 30, 1940 . The newly founded, then decidedly separatist Fólkaflokkurin (People's Party) led by Jóannes Patursson emerged stronger from this. It was able to triple its two seats from 1936 to six. Sjálvstýrisflokkurin , (the older Independence Party) lost half of their seats and only had four. Sambandsflokkurin (Unionists) kept their eight seats, Petur Mohr Dams Javnaðarflokkurin (Social Democrats) also got six seats unchanged.
Provisional Government of the Faroe Islands
As mentioned above, on April 10 of that year, one day after the German occupation of Denmark, the People's Party attempted a coup and the declaration of independence of the Faroe Islands. This failed because of the resistance of the other three parties, which formed the majority. Nevertheless, the People's Party insisted on its demands, and so on May 9, 1940, a provisional government of the Faroe Islands (Bráðfeingisskipan) was agreed - all this with the tolerance of the British military administration, which stayed out of the internal affairs of the Faroe Islands and, on the contrary, was happy was that everything went smoothly.
The current Danish laws remained in force, only the bailiff and a three-member Løgtingskommitee ruled wherever a ministerial resolution from Copenhagen would have been necessary. Legislative initiatives could come from both the bailiff and the Løgting, but in any case had to be advised by the Løgting, passed by a majority and ratified and announced by the bailiff. In addition to the legislative power, the Faroe Islands also received their own jurisdiction.
Own currency policy
At the end of 1940 the Faroe Islands Provisional Government entered into diplomatic negotiations with London on the issue of the Danish currency and its convertibility. To this end, a delegation traveled to Great Britain and, together with the Danish ambassador there, Eduard Reventlow, agreed that Great Britain would continue to provide all financial support that had previously come from Denmark for the time of the war. A fixed minimum price for Faroese fishery products was agreed, as was a fixed exchange rate between the Danish krone and the pound sterling . However, the Faroe Islands got their own provisional banknotes.
The British steamer SS Sauternes sank in a storm off Svínoy on December 7, 1941 when it was supposed to bring not only Christmas presents for the soldiers but also urgently needed coins to the Faroe Islands, which were also produced in England.
Rise of the People's Party
The temporary independence from Denmark and the economic upswing subsequently took advantage of the new People's Party ( Fólkaflokkurin ) . In the elections to the Danish Folketing in 1943 she got a relative majority ahead of Samband and the Social Democrats, but the elected MP could not travel to Copenhagen to take his place there because of the war.
In the Løgtings elections in the same year, the People's Party captured 12 of the 26 seats. While the People's Party was in opposition to the provisional government (a coalition of the three other parties), it now got a seat there. Since the other parties in Løgting continued to have a majority, Fólkaflokkurin's further independence efforts were ineffective.
End of war
When in 1944 it became more and more apparent that the Allies would win the war and the front was now shifting to the continent in Western Europe, large contingents were withdrawn from the Faroe Islands. Many British soldiers left the islands on March 18, 1944 with the troop transport Empress of Russia .
In the end, only about 400 military personnel were stationed in the Faroe Islands, who looked after the aircraft on Vágar and the naval base in Skálafjørður until the end.
On Friday, May 4th, 1945, at 8:45 p.m., the Faroe Islands received the news that the Wehrmacht had capitulated in Denmark, the Netherlands and Northern Germany. Spontaneously the people in Tórshavn flocked to the streets to celebrate - after all, it was the liberation of their motherland and the hope of a quick reunion with the Faroese compatriots who stayed in Denmark, and from whom you can only get through the post of the Red Cross ( about neutral Sweden ).
The following day there were thanksgiving services across the country, while the Løgting telegraphed his loyalty to King Christian X. The telegraph connection was fully re-established by May 7th, and now the Danish government thanked Hilbert and the Løgting for their self-organization and at the same time guaranteed that self-administration would continue. The resulting need for negotiations led to the constitutional crisis in the Faroe Islands .
The Wehrmacht had not yet surrendered in Norway . So the general joy was dampened a little, which was reinforced by the fact that on the same day a German plane coming from Norway attacked a Faroese fishing boat. This last act of aggression against the Faroe Islands was unsuccessful and Norway was liberated on May 8th.
On May 13th a great victory parade of the remaining British troops took place in Tórshavn, and on September 16th the last soldiers left the country. About 170 soldiers had married in the Faroe Islands and were now taking their wives with them to Great Britain. But there were also two or three husbands who stayed on the Faroe Islands.
In the 1946 fishing season, Faroese fishing was resumed off Færingehavn . The decimated and outdated fishing fleet was fundamentally renewed in the 1950s. As a result, the Faroe Islands made it to the top of the world, but remained - until today - almost exclusively dependent on fishing and the associated industry.
literature
- Eric Linklater : The Northern Garrisons: The Army at War. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1941, (description of the locations in Iceland and the Orkney, Shetlands and Faroe Islands, written in the form of a travel report).
- John F. West : Faroe. The Emergence of a Nation. Hurst, London a. a. 1972, ISBN 0-8397-2063-7 (basis for this article).
- Niels Juel Arge : Stríðsárini 1940-1945. 6 volumes. Hvessingur, Tórshavn 1985–1990 (Faroese standard work).
- Jákup Thorsteinsson: Løgting og amtmaður 1940–1945. In: Løgtingið 150. Løgtingið, Tórshavn 2002, ISBN 99918-966-3-5 , Volume 2, p. 77 ff., ( PDF download, Faroese, 379 pages, over 38 MB ( Memento from 4 January 2014 on the Internet Archives )).
- James Miller: North Atlantic Front. Orkney, Shetland, Faroe and Iceland at war. (The Northern Isles at War). Birlinn Limited, Edinburgh 2003, ISBN 1-84341-011-7 .
- Kári Jespersen, Jens Pauli A. Nolsøe: Føroya søga 1940–1998 - Tráður til keldusavn. Føroya Skúlabókagrunnur 2000, Internet edition 2005 (PDF; 232 kB).
Web links
- Fiskimannafelag.fo - List of fishermen's losses (Faroese) ( Memento from August 4, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- Frikorps-Danmark.dk (website about the Danish volunteers on German side, Danish and German)
- Faroestamps.fo: Merkið, the flag of the Faroe Islands (German) ( Memento from February 28, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ BBC: WWII people's was Sole Survivor. December 30, 2005 (about the sole survivor of the November 9, 1942 plane crash)
- ↑ Syd History. Archived from the original on August 3, 2008 ; Retrieved July 13, 2012 (Danish).
