Greenland in World War II
The fall of Denmark in April 1940 left the Danish colony of Greenland an unoccupied territory of an occupied nation, under the possibility of seizure by the United Kingdom, United States or Canada. To forestall this, the United States acted to guarantee Greenland's position. With the entrance of the United States into the war in December 1941, Greenland became a combatant.
From 1941 until 1945, the United States established numerous and extensive facilities for air and sea traffic in Greenland, as well as radio beacons, radio stations, weather stations, ports, depots, artillery posts, and search-and-rescue stations. The United States Coast Guard also provided a considerable portion of civilian resupply along both coasts.
Economically, Greenland traded successfully with the United States, Canada and Portugal, which, supplemented by the cryolite exports, caused a reanimation and permanent realignment of the island's economy.
Neutrality
Before the war, Greenland was a tightly controlled colony of Denmark, otherwise closed off to the rest of the world. After the invasion of Denmark on 9 April 1940, Greenland was left on its own, because the Royal Navy seized any ships arriving from Axis-controlled Europe. The United Kingdom and Canada initially laid plans to occupy points of interest on the island, but the United States, still neutral, firmly rejected "third party" intervention there. The sheriffs ("landsfogeder") of South and North Greenland, Eske Brun and Aksel Svane, invoking the emergency clause of a 1925 law specifying how Greenland was ruled, declared Greenland a self-ruling territory, believing this to be in the best interests of the colony as Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany. This step was taken in coordination with the Danish ambassador to the United States, Henrik Kauffmann, and the U.S. State Department, and comported with the American declaration of 1920 that no third nation would necessarily be accepted as a sovereign in Greenland. This diplomatic stance was seen as an extension of the Monroe Doctrine.[1]
Although the Danish government continued in power and still considered itself neutral, it was forced to obey German wishes in foreign policy matters. Kauffmann immediately recognized that his government was unable to exercise its full sovereignty, and therefore began to act in an independent capacity. On 13 April he took counsel with the Greenland sheriffs, and after some controversy they agreed to recognize him as their representative in the United States. Since the United States would not offer diplomatic recognition and aid to Greenland unless the local administration was independent, the sheriffs informed the local advisory parliament ("Landsraad") on 3 May that "there was no choice" but to act as a sovereign nation. The Danish Government continued to send orders to the colony via radio and through Portugal, but these messages were ignored.[2] In this decision they were influenced by their determination to avoid becoming subject to a Canadian occupation and thus being drawn into the war.[1]
The Greenlanders were also aware of the heavy
In 1940, the chief concern of all interested parties was to secure the strategically important supply of cryolite from the mine at Ivigtut. Cryolite was a key component used in the production of aluminum.[5] Due to diplomatic considerations, no American soldiers could be used to protect the mines, so the U.S. State Department recruited fifteen Coast Guardsmen who were voluntarily discharged and in turn hired by the mine as guards. Three-inch naval deck guns were supplied by Campbell and the recently arrived USCGC Northland along with eight machine guns, fifty rifles, and thousands of rounds of ammunition.[6] In this way the United States maintained neutrality and still preempted British-Canadian plans for the island.
The Dane, Eske Brun, decided that Greenland should undertake its own measures to ensure its sovereignty. He made an appeal to the Greenland's guides and hunters to join an elite unit tasked with patrolling the most remote areas of the colony.[3] Using the rifles left by the Americans, he directed the creation of what became the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol (Slædepatruljen Sirius). The 15 man volunteer team was made up of native Inuit, Danish colonists, and Norwegian expatriates.[7]
Germany made no attempts to reach Greenland in 1940. However, three Norwegian vessels reached Norwegian stations on the East Coast. Two were intercepted by the Royal Navy, one (which was released) by the U.S. Coast Guard. In violation of Greenlandic neutrality, the Royal Navy demolished the Norwegian stations, drawing an American protest, and a German reconnaissance plane made a flight over the East Coast in November to check on a Norwegian station that had not been heard from.
In 1941, the situation shifted towards delivery of Lend-Lease aircraft to Britain via the North Atlantic island "stepping stones." Again, the United Kingdom and Canada pressed for an operation to establish an airfield near Cape Farewell. This led the United States and the Greenland government to formalize an American protectorate to preserve the island's neutrality. Following surveys in 1940 and 1941, two locations for air bases were located, and a naval base established close to Ivigtut. The American bases and stations were codenamed under the Bluie West and Bluie East moniker.
President
Greenland enters the war
When the United States entered the war with Germany on 11 December, Greenland became a warring nation. Remaining contact with Copenhagen was broken off, rationing and daylight saving time was introduced, and local currency and stamps printed. In 1942, the U.S. Army took over protection of the Ivigtut mine, and combat patrols began to be flown from
The Greenland population, which had been 18,000 natives and fewer than 500 Danes, was augmented by thousands of U.S. servicemen. Relations with the Americans were excellent, as they provided news, provisions, humanitarian aid, and entertainment in addition to greatly expanding the island's infrastructure.[
German weather stations
Both the
The German weather station
The Germans attacked Eskimonaes on 23 March, seized it and then burned the station two days later. Though unhurt in the firefight, the entire Sledge Patrol contingent based there was forced to make a 400-mile trek to the station at Ella Island without sleds, food, or equipment. On 26 March, while returning to Sabine Island, the Germans ambushed Corporal Eli Knudsen at Sandodden, and accidentally killed him with a machine-gun burst meant for his dogs.[3][10][11] In late April, Lieutenant Hermann Ritter, the officer in command of the German detachment, was taken prisoner by Marius Jensen, a member of the Sledge Patrol, and brought to the Americans after a long journey to Scoresby Sound.[12]
The German base on Sabine was bombed by USAAF bombers from Iceland.[13] It was then seized by a Coast Guard landing party, but all German personnel save one person had already been evacuated by a Dornier Do 26.[14] Apart from fire exchanged between German aircraft and American ships, this was the only offensive air attack on the Greenland mainland. An American air force formation attacked the station on 14 May to make sure it could be of no use to the Germans.[15] On 22 April 1944, six Sledge Patrol members attacked the Bassgeiger weather station and in the ensuing skirmish a German lieutenant died. The station was subsequently evacuated on 3 June.[16]
The last German weather station, Edelweiss II, was captured by U.S. Army forces and its crew taken prisoner on 4 November 1944. The American troops landed from the icebreaker USCGC Eastwind, which later transferred the prisoners to USCGC Storis. The German transport ship Externsteine, which was resupplying the station, was seized by Eastwind, renamed Eastbreeze and commissioned in the United States Coast Guard.[17][18]
Greenland played an important role in North Atlantic air traffic during the war, but the island's role as a major base for anti-submarine warfare assets was hampered by adverse weather, winter darkness, and difficult logistics. For a long period, a flight of six
Aftermath
On 5 May 1945, Greenlanders celebrated the liberation of Denmark in Nuuk.
The Greenland Sledge Patrol suffered only one casualty during the war - Corporal Eli Knudsen in March 1943.[11][22][23]
The remains of the police station in Eskimonæs exists to this day. The only fully remaining structure is the outhouse, as it was not burnt by the Germans.[24] The rest is well-preserved in the arctic environment.[15]
In fiction
The film Vores mand i Amerika (The Good Traitor) covers the signing of the agreement over Greenland between Henrik Kauffmann and the United States.
A scene in the thriller The Manchurian Candidate includes an American veteran of the struggle against the German weather stations in Greenland giving a rather fanciful account of his experiences.
The novel Ice Brothers by former U.S. Coast Guard officer Sloan Wilson tells of the experiences of the crew and the hardships they faced aboard a small Coast Guard cutter that was part of the Greenland Patrol.[25]
Notes
- ^ a b c Walling (2004), p 6
- ^ Howarth, p 8
- ^ a b c d Zabecki, p 628
- ^ Legal Status of Eastern Greenland Archived 11 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine, PCIJ Series A/B No. 53 (1933)
- ^ Tilley, p 4
- ^ Walling (2004), p 8
- ^ Northeast Greenland Sledge Patrol warcovers.dk
- ^ Hengeveld: Exploring the Coinage of Greenland
- ^ Howarth, 1957 edition, pp 72–90
- ^ Howarth, 1957 ed., pp 108–156
- ^ a b "Sledge Patrol Arctic Journal" (PDF). Arktisk Institut. 2017. p. 12.
- ^ Howarth, 1957 edition, pp 183–211
- ^ Howarth, pp 210–213
- ^ Dege & Barr (2004), p. xx
- ^ a b Olsen, Bjørnar. Pétursdóttir, Þóra. Ruin Memories: Materialities, Aesthetics and the Archaeology of the Recent Past
- ^ Dege, Wilhelm (2004). War North of 80: The Last German Arctic Weather Station of World War II.
- ^ Dege & Barr (2004), p. xxx
- ^ Tilley, p 18
- ^ Ebdrup, Niels (25 September 2012). "Grønland ville selv afskaffe fanger-kulturen". Videnskab dk (in Danish). Valby: Videnskab.dk. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- ^ Grant (2010)
- ^ Lockhart, Katie (27 December 2019). "How This Abandoned Mining Town in Greenland Helped Win World War II". Smithsonian. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Jensen, Jens Fog (2012). "Wehrmacht occupations in the new world: Archaeological and historical investigations in Northeast Greenland". ResearchGate. p. 6 in PDF.
- ^ "Sledge Patrol Members (22.5.2005)". www.warcovers.dk. 2005. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
- ^ Howarth. p. 1
- ^ Wilson; Ice Brothers
References
- "Northeast Greenland Sledge Patrol". warcovers.dk. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
- Dege, Wilhelm; Barr, William (2004). War north of 80: the last German Arctic weather station of World War II. Calgary, Alberta: University of Calgary Press. ISBN 1552381102.
- Grant, Shelagh D. (29 July 2010). Polar Imperative: A History of Arctic Sovereignty in North America. Douglas & McIntyre. ISBN 9781553654186.
- Hengeveld, Dennis (8 July 2016). "Exploring the Coinage of Greenland". Coin Update. Whitman Publishing. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
- ISBN 9781599213224.
- Howarth, David (1957). The Sledge Patrol (1957 ed.). New York: MacMillan.
- Tilley, John A. "The Coast Guard & the Greenland Patrol" (PDF). Library:Our Collections. U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
- Wilson, Sloan (1979). Ice Brothers. New York City, New York: Arbor House. ISBN 0877952329.
- Walling, Michael G. (2004). Bloodstained Sea: the U.S. Coast Guard in the Battle of the Atlantic, 1941–1944. International Marine/McGraw-Hill, Camden, Maine. ISBN 9780071424011.
- Zabecki, David T. World War II in Europe: An Encyclopedia