Operation Fish
| Operation Fish | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Second World War | |||||
 HMS Bonaventure was forced to remain stationary for a time to protect a treasure ship | |||||
| |||||
| Belligerents | |||||
 United Kingdom Canada |
 Germany | ||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||
| 0 ships sunk | |||||
Operation Fish was the relocation of British money and gold ingots from the
Background
In September 1939, the British government decreed that all people living in the UK had to declare their securities with the Treasury.[2] Even before Operation Fish, convoys had been sent with gold and money worth millions of pounds to purchase weapons from the United States. One such run involved Commodore Augustus Willington Shelton Agar and his ship HMS Emerald. At 23:18 on 3 October 1939, HMS Emerald dropped anchor in Plymouth, England. A short time later, Agar was being briefed by Rear-Admiral Lancelot Holland on his mission. The written instructions are below.
Two million pounds[clarification needed] in gold bars [GBP116,000,000 in 2021] is to be embarked in each ship to Halifax. A railway truck is expected to be placed alongside each ship about 01.00 October 7. Each truck is expected to contain 148 boxes each weighing 130 lbs. The total number of boxes is numbered Z 298 to Z 741 inclusive. Guards are to be put on each truck on arrival at the ship. Embarkation is to commence about 06.30 or as soon as daylight permits. Adequate steps are to be taken for supervision of each box from unloading from truck to stowage in ship. Finally a receipt is to be forwarded to C in C Western Approaches on the attached form.[3]
On 7 October 1939, Emerald sailed from Plymouth for
Another Operation Fish convoy sailed[where?] on 5 July 1940, comprising five ships loaded with $1.7 billion (US$36.97 billion in 2023),[clarification needed] which was the largest movement of wealth in history.[1] Offshore, they met their escort, which included the battleship HMS Revenge, a cruiser and several destroyers. Trouble arose when one of the convoy ships, a Polish ship, the Batory, loaded with treasure, had engine trouble and had to drop out of the convoy, escorted by only HMS Bonaventure; the two ships then encountered heavy fog and, because of the dangers of icebergs, came to a halt, making them easy targets for any U-boats that might find them; eventually, repairs were made and both ships were able to make it to Halifax days after the other treasure ships had landed.[1]
Storage
The British securities were locked in a specially constructed underground vault that was rushed into existence three storeys beneath the Sun Life Building in Montreal, and were guarded around the clock by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. A persistent rumour that the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom were stored there was deliberately spread in Montreal to account for increased activity at the building.[5] The extremely secretive United Kingdom Security Deposit, operating in the vault, arranged for the sale of Britain's negotiable securities on the New York Stock Exchange over the next few years to pay for Britain's war expenses. The 5,000 employees of Sun Life never suspected what was stored in their basement,[dubious ] and while unloading the treasure ships, not one crate of the cargo went missing. Even though thousands of people were involved, Axis intelligence agencies never found out about the operation.[6] Hundreds of government accountants and bankers worked tirelessly to catalogue the contents of thousands of crates taken off the ships. When they were finished it was determined that $2.5 billion (US$54.37 billion in 2023) had been shipped from the UK to Canada without one gold bar being lost.[1]
Commemoration
A stone plaque on the outer wall of Martins Bank on Water Street in Liverpool commemorates the gold stored there en route to Canada: "In May 1940 when this country was threatened with invasion part of the nation's gold reserve was brought from London and lowered through the hatch for safe keeping in the vaults of Martins Bank."[7]
In fiction
The 1993 BBC drama
Operation Fish features significantly in the 2022 crime novel The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett.[9]
See also
- Gold reserves of the United Kingdom
- Flight of the Norwegian National Treasury
- Moscow gold (Spain) – gold reserves sent by Republican Spain to the Soviet Union during the Spanish Civil War
- Romanian Treasure, gold reserves sent (alongside other valuables) by Romania to Russia for safekeeping during World War I, but never returned
References
- ^ a b c d Breuer 2008, p. 62
- ^ Breuer 2008, p. 60
- ^ a b Draper 1979, p. 37
- ^ a b Breuer 2008, p. 61
- ^ Draper 1979, pp. 255–257
- ^ Library and Archives Canada 2013
- ^ Stone plaque № 7875 in Liverpool
- IMDb
- ^ Janice Hallett, The Twyford Code, Viper, 2022.
Bibliography
- ISBN 9780785819516. - Total pages: 244
- Draper, Alfred (1979). Operation Fish: The Fight to Save the Gold of Britain, France and Norway from the Nazis (1979 ed.). General. ISBN 9780773600683. - Total pages: 377
- Library and Archives Canada (2013). "Hiding British Gold". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
External links
- Low, Robert (May 8, 2018). "Operation Fish". Bank of Canada Museum.