Occupying Svalbard

Discussion in 'Scandinavia and Finland' started by Robert-w, Mar 5, 2020.

  1. Robert-w

    Robert-w Banned

    British amphibious operations forced the Germans to abandon their weather station on the Norwegian Arctic territory of Svalbard. This has been said to be the reason why they were unable to forecast the weather break that made D Day possible. Did the Allies occupy the abandoned station to ensure that it was not reestablished?
     
  2. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    interesting post

    a bit here of the importance

    in the meantime, the war for the weather continued. The Germans kept establishing secret weather stations in Svalbard as well as northeast Greenland and Franz Josef Land. Only in 1944-45, with an increasingly difficult situation in Europe, the Germans ran no less than four staffed weather stations in Svalbard, in addition to other, similar ones elsewhere in the north Atlantic! The last German military unit operating anywhere in the world was the station ‘Haudegen’ on Nordaustland, which was evacuated by the Norwegians in September 1945, very much so to the relief of the Germans. The station was manned with a combined crew of military personell and soldiers. Fighting near the stations was not an everyday event, but it did happen and cost the lives of a number of men from both sides.
    The Second World War - Spitsbergen | Svalbard
     
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  3. Robert-w

    Robert-w Banned

    Thanks

    I also remember hearing about automatic stations landed in remote parts of the Canadian Arctic, at least one of which has only been found comparatively recently. Does anyone have any details?
     
  4. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    I didnt realise the importantance of Sverre Petterssen - Wikipedia on D-Day
    The forecast provided by Sverre Petterssen caused Eisenhower to decide at 0430 on 4 June to postpone D-day to 6 June. Initially it was proposed to postpone the operation to 19 June
     
  5. Robert-w

    Robert-w Banned

    German accounts indicate that their weather forecasts showed that a landing in the Normandy area would not be possible until late June by which time the tides would be unfavourable. Numbers of middle ranking officers took some time off and were off seat on 6th June, some being in a jazz club in Caen - who needed the Dirty Dozen!
     
    Last edited: Mar 5, 2020
    CL1 likes this.
  6. Robert-w

    Robert-w Banned

    Ignore - hit wrong key correcting a typo
     
  7. ltdan

    ltdan Nietenzähler

    was on Labrador:
    Weather Station Kurt - Wikipedia

    Also manned stations at
    Franz Joseph Land:
    Secret German World War II Base Rediscovered Near North Pole | Live Science
    Spitzbergen:
    Operation Haudegen - TracesOfWar.com
    Greenland:
    Greenland in World War II - Gpedia, Your Encyclopedia
     
  8. Ewen Scott

    Ewen Scott Well-Known Member

    By 1944 the Germans were also relying on U-boats detailed to provide weather reports. Poolman’s “Escort Carrier- HMS Vindex at War” details how in May 1944 she and the 5th EG were detailed to hunt down these boats in the Atlantic to stop them reporting. Interrogation of prisoners from U-765 sunk by the group revealed that she was one of five deployed at the time.
     
  9. Robert-w

    Robert-w Banned

    Yes well known -it was the fact that intercepted weather reports from U-boats could be identified as such that provided much of the leverage to recrack the enigma cypher system after another rotor was added to the sets on U-boats. Knowing the format and content allowed those at Bletchly to find a key to the cypher. Moral never encypher something that does not need to be in cypher. The Allies already knew the weather in the Atlantic better than the Germans anyway.
     
  10. ltdan

    ltdan Nietenzähler

    As far as I know about the stations were destroyed - with the exception of Haudegen
    1st expedition Unternehmen Knospe 41/41 who also installed automatic stations - evacuated
    2nd expedition Unternehmen Nussbaum 42/42 - evacuated
    3rd expedition Unternehmen Kreuzritter 43/44 - evacuated
    4th expedition Unternehmen Haudegen 44/45 - evacuated (4 September 1945)

    There was an allied station at Barentsberg, destroyed by german naval assets once during Unternehmen Sizilien in September 1943
     
  11. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    Nazi Arctic Bases Captured

    Short Summary : American soldiers capture nazi arctic bases.
    Description : Item title reads - Nazi arctic bases captured.
    C/U as American coast guards lower a depth charge into pack ice to clear way for vessels in the North Pole. L/S depth charge exploding. C/U front of ship with depth charge exploding ice nearby. A boat pulls away to destroy German radio station, they land and the camera pans across German supplies. Boats sail back to American ship with 60 prisoners. They board and the camera pans across them.
     
  12. Andreas

    Andreas Working on two books

    The Germans landed a ground force during Operation Zitronella/Sizilien in September 1943, to destroy the Allied station. After chasing the free Norwegians into the mountains they re-embarked and left, having achieved their objective, which was to make the Kriegsmarine feel better about itself and not be so sad.

    Operation Zitronella - Wikipedia

    All the best

    Andreas
     
  13. davidbfpo

    davidbfpo Patron Patron

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