The Shetland 'Bus' by Stephen Wynn

Author:Stephen Wynn [Wynn, Stephen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: World War II, Military, General, Europe, Great Britain, history, Naval, HISTORY / Military / Naval
ISBN: 9781526735355
Google: F0wfzgEACAAJ
Publisher: Pen & Sword Books Limited
Published: 2021-04-15T23:46:40.866915+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

Allied Military Operations in Norway

Several Allied military operations took place throughout Norway during the course of the Second World War. Those that are known are shown in chronological order.

Operation Wilfred: April 1940

As part of Operation Wilfred, it was agreed that Norwegian territorial waters would be mined by the Royal Navy. The mining of Norwegian waters was originally due to take place on 5 April 1940, but there was an untimely, and what turned out to be a rather unfortunate, delay, with a new date set for 8 April. What was unknown to the British at the time was that on 1 April 1940, Adolf Hitler had ordered the German invasion and occupation of Norway, which then began in earnest on 9 April.

As the British began laying their mines in Norwegian waters on 8 April, it was clear that both sides were unaware of each other’s intentions as far as Norway was concerned. The irony was that one of the reasons behind Operation Wilfred was the hope that it would provoke a German response in relation to Norway. It would appear that Germany beat her to it.

The intended follow up operation to Wilfred was known as Plan R 4; a contingency plan that was also due to begin in April 1940 and was only to be launched if Germany invaded Norway. The plan was to land troops and occupy the Norwegian towns of Narvik, Bergen, Stavanger and Trondheim. This caused much debate amongst British politicians because they knew that the implementation of either plan would mean the violation of a neutral country’s sovereignty.

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