Operation Wilfred
The Operation Wilfred was a military operation of the Royal Navy in the Second World War , with France was planned and aimed to the German Reich to provoke a military operation in Norway.
Conception
To achieve this aim in coastal waters in Norway before the Vestfjord , near Bergen , and if possible in Molde each minefields are designed. Following the expected reaction of the German armed forces - the occupation of Norway - allied troops were to land in Scandinavia as part of Plan R 4 . A few days earlier, notes of protest were sent to Norway and Sweden stating that these countries were not protecting their neutrality .
“On April 3rd, the British Cabinet ratified the decision of the Supreme War Council and the Admiralty was authorized to begin mining Norwegian waters on April 8th. I called this operation 'Wilfred' because it was so small and harmless in itself. "
Units involved
The units involved were combined into three task forces. The task force WS around the auxiliary miner HMS Teviot Bank , which was protected by the four destroyers HMS Inglefield , HMS Imogen , HMS Ilex and HMS Isis , received the order to retreat before the start of the mine-laying on April 8th. As a diversion, a small formation, consisting of the light cruiser HMS Birmingham and the two destroyers HMS Hyperion and HMS Hero , was supposed to simulate a mine laying off the headland of Bud near Kristiansund . The two H-class destroyers of this Einsatzverband WB had previously accompanied the Renown , whose Einsatzgruppe carried out the main part of the operation. The Einsatzverband WV put a mine barrier in front of Bodø . In addition to the battle cruiser HMS Renown , the destroyers HMS Glowworm , HMS Greyhound , HMS Impulsive , HMS Esk , HMS Icarus and HMS Ivanhoe as well as the companion destroyers HMS Hardy , HMS Havock , HMS Hotspur and HMS Hunter belonged to this group. The Glowworm was separated from the other vessels of the Einsatzverband WV in a storm when she stayed behind to rescue a sailor who had fallen overboard.
procedure
In the early morning hours of April 8, 1940, four British destroyers under the protection of the battleship HMS Renown were engaged in mining operations in the waters off Narvik when the destroyer HMS Glowworm reported enemy contact. The Glowworm had lost contact with the association and met the German destroyer Z 11 Bernd von Arnim in the storm , which was soon joined by Admiral Hipper , who severely damaged the Glowworm with several hits. Although the day before aircraft had reported German units heading for Norway, the British Admiralty was not yet convinced of a German attack at that time. The Glowworm sank in the battle with the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper and the British naval forces, completely surprised by the German operation, gradually took up the battle with the German units, but could not prevent the landing of German troops and the occupation of the most important Norwegian ports.
On April 9, the German Reich had started the Weser Exercise operation , which had been decided two days earlier, and subsequently occupied Denmark and Norway.
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ The German Decision to Invade Norway and Denmark . In: Command Decisions . United States Army Center of Military History, 2000, CMH Pub 70-7.
- ↑ In the Daily Mirror's popular comic strip series "Pip, Squeak & Wilfred", the latter character was a little scared rabbit
- ↑ Winston S. Churchill: The Second World War . Alfred Scherz Verlag, Bern 1954, page 240
- ↑ a b Chronicle of the naval war online
- ^ Janusz Piekałkiewicz : Sea War 1939-1949. Weltbild for Bechtermünz Verlag 1998, ISBN 3-8289-0304-5 , pages 73-75