Operation Doomsday
Operation Doomsday | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of Second World War Allied occupation of Norway | |||||||
British airborne troops, just disembarked from Stirling aircraft at Gardermoen airfield near Oslo | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United Kingdom Norway | Germany | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Andrew Thorne Roy Urquhart | Franz Böhme | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
British 1st Airborne Division | German 20th Mountain Army | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
6,000 | ~350,000[1] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
47 killed and injured | All surrendered |
In Operation Doomsday, the British
The
Background
Since 1943 the Western Allies had been developing plans for the occupation of Norway, code-named Operation Apostle, after Germany's surrender.[2] Force 134, the occupation force, was composed of Norwegian troops who were stationed in Scotland, as well as a British contingent (initially the 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division), a few American troops,[3] and some 12,000 Norwegian police troops stationed in neutral Sweden.[1] In the event of an emergency, the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force would deploy troops into Norway from Germany.[4]
The operation came under Headquarters
Two separate scenarios were considered in planning for Operation Apostle. The first, known as 'Rankin C (Norway)' was based on the assumption that all German forces occupying Norway would surrender as part of a more general unconditional surrender by Germany. The second was known as 'Rankin B' and assumed that there was no surrender and that only parts of Norway would be abandoned by the Germans in order to reinforce their troops stationed in north-western Europe against Allied advances there; in this scenario, Force 134 would encounter heavy German resistance.[2] The development of plans for the liberation and administration of Norway were complicated by it being difficult to predict whether the landings would be opposed by German forces and the extent of damage resulting from Allied bombardments and any German "scorched earth" demolitions. As a result, planning for the administration of Norway was detailed and flexible.[7]
Either of the two 'Rankin' scenarios would be difficult for Thorne to accomplish however, as the troops allocated to Force 134 were meagre; from late 1943 onwards the majority of military resources were dedicated to the campaign in north-west Europe. In September 1944 Thorne was even deprived of 52nd Lowland Division, which was attached to the
Prelude
Allied preparations
By early May 1945, 1st Airborne Division had been brought up to strength, albeit mainly with inexperienced replacements. 4th Parachute Brigade had been disbanded and its battalions merged with those of 1st Parachute Brigade in the aftermath of the Battle of Arnhem.[10] It was replaced by 1st Independent Polish Parachute Brigade.[3] The Norwegian Parachute Company was also attached to the 1st Airborne Division.[11] However, on 4 May, Urquhart was ordered to despatch 1st Independent Polish Brigade to Dunkirk, and to detach 1st Parachute Brigade from the division; one of the brigade's battalions would immediately be transported to Denmark for occupation duties, with the rest of the Brigade remaining in Britain as a reserve formation. At the same time the rest of the division was warned that it would soon be transported by air to Norway as part of the occupation force, with the Special Air Service Brigade being temporarily attached to the division to replace 1st Parachute Brigade. Urquhart informed Thorne that the division could be ready for deployment in 48 hours, far less time than Thorne and his staff had expected.[3][12] When it entered Norway, the division would be responsible for maintaining law and order in the areas it occupied, ensuring that German units followed the terms of their surrender, securing and then protecting captured airfields, and finally preventing the sabotage of essential military and civilian structures. To achieve this, the division would be formed of three brigades: 1st Airlanding Brigade, Special Air Service Brigade and an ad hoc Artillery Brigade formed from divisional troops.[13]
1st Airlanding Brigade would land near to the Norwegian capital,
Axis preparations
German forces had started gradual withdrawal to northernmost Finland in early September 1944 in
In May 1945, all German troops in Norway came under the command of the
Occupation
Arrival
In the early hours of 7 May, Dönitz gave the order for all German military forces to unconditionally surrender, and on 8 May the
Although the first phase of the operation had been scheduled for 8 May, no word was received from the 'Heralds' and so Doomsday was postponed by twenty-four hours. Contact was successfully established on 9 May and the first units of Force 134 arrived in Norway to begin their occupation,
Occupation duties
The original plan for the division called for two of the airborne battalions to march through Oslo on 10 May, but the delay meant that only a few troops had arrived by this date. Instead, two platoons from 2nd Battalion The South Staffordshire Regiment and four
Until the arrival of other units from Force 134, as well as the Headquarters of Allied Forces, Norway, Major General Urquhart and his headquarters staff had complete control over all Norwegian activities. This meant that it was Urquhart who welcomed
The Norwegian resistance co-operated fully with 1st Airborne Division, often providing liaisons and performing guard duties, and the Norwegian population as a whole gave a warm welcome to the airborne troops.
Aftermath
The remaining units of Force 134 entered Norway throughout the rest of May, gradually reinforcing the airborne troops. On 10 May elements of the 12,000 strong Norwegian police force began to enter the country from Sweden,
1st Airborne Division was stationed in Norway until the end of the summer.[27] It returned to Britain at the end of August, and its personnel were sent on leave. Initial plans had called for the division to be used as an Imperial Strategic Reserve, as it was believed that 6th Airborne Division would be required in the Far Eastern Theatre; however, when Japan surrendered in August it negated the need for 6th Airborne Division to be transferred. This created a problem, as two airborne divisions existed, but only one was included in the planned post-war British Regular Army.[37] Although the tradition of seniority might have called for 6th Airborne Division to be disbanded as the junior airborne formation, 1st Airborne Division was still understrength after Operation Market Garden and not fully trained. As such, the division spent the next two months training and transferring troops to 6th Airborne Division, and then disbanded on 15 November 1945.[38]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e Hart, p.247
- ^ a b c Hart, p.246
- ^ a b c d Otway, p.324
- ^ Madsen, p.65
- ^ a b Hart, p.240
- ^ a b Hart, p.243
- ^ a b Donnison, p.161
- ^ Middlebrook, p.43
- ^ Moore, p.230
- ^ Middlebrook, p.445
- ^ a b c Donnison, p.163
- ^ Baynes, p.174
- ^ Otway, p.325
- ^ Otway, pp.325–326
- ^ Otway, pp.326–327
- ^ a b Otway, p.326
- ^ Ziemke, p.307
- ^ Ziemke, p.309
- ^ Donnison, p.162
- ^ a b c Grier, p.190
- ^ a b c Grier, p.191
- ^ a b Ziemke, p.312
- . Retrieved 4 May 2022.
- ^ a b Hart, p.248
- ^ a b c Baynes, p.175
- ^ a b c Otway, p.327
- ^ a b c d e f Otway, p.328
- ^ "Paradata – Norway (Operation Doomsday) – Article about airborne troops arriving in Oslo". 2007. Retrieved 10 October 2009.
- ^ Baynes, p.177
- ^ Donnison, pp.164–165
- ^ Otway, pp.72–73
- ^ Lynch, p. 35
- ^ Otway, p.72
- ^ Otway, p.73
- ^ Dahl, p.342
- ^ a b Hart, p.249
- ^ Otway, p.329
- ^ Otway, pp.329–330
References
- Baynes, John (1993). Urquhart of Arnhem: The Life of Major General R E Urquhart CB, DSO. Brassey's. ISBN 0-08-041318-8.
- Dahl, Per F. (1999). Heavy Water and the Wartime Race for Nuclear Energy. London: CRC Press. ISBN 1-84415-736-9.
- Donnison, F.S.V. (1961). Civil Affairs and Military Government North-West Europe 1944–1946. History of the Second World War. United Kingdom Military Series. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
- Hart, Stephen Ashley. "The Forgotten Liberator: The 1939–1945 Military Career of General Sir Andrew Thorne". Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. 79 (Autumn 2001): 233–249.
- Grier, Howard D. (2007). Hitler, Dönitz, and the Baltic Sea: the Third Reich's last hope, 1944-1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-345-1.
- Lynch, Tim (2008). Silent Skies: Gliders At War 1939–1945. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 978-0-7503-0633-1.
- Madsen, Chris (1998). The Royal Navy and German naval disarmament, 1942–1947. Frank Cass Publishers. ISBN 0-7146-4373-4.
- Moore, Bob (2000). Resistance in Western Europe. Berg. ISBN 1-85973-279-8.
- Middlebrook, Martin (1995). Arnhem 1944: The Airborne Battle. Penguin. ISBN 0-14-014342-4.
- Otway, Lieutenant-Colonel T.B.H. (1990). The Second World War 1939–1945 Army – Airborne Forces. Imperial War Museum. ISBN 0-901627-57-7.
- Ziemke, Earl (1959). The German Northern Theater of Operations 1940-1945. United States Government Printing. ISBN 0-16-001996-6.