| Norway and World War II |
|---|
| Key events |
|
Weserübung |
| People |
|
Haakon VII of Norway |
|
Vidkun Quisling · Jonas Lie |
| Organizations |
|
Milorg · XU · Linge |
| Supported legitimate exiled government. |
| Supported German occupants and Nasjonal Samling party. |
Operation Wilfred was a British scheme to mine the waters between Norway and her islands[1] in order to prevent German convoys from using the neutral waters to transport high grade Swedish iron ore. The Allies assumed that Wilfred would provoke a German response in Norway. When that occurred, the Allies would implement Plan R 4 and occupy Norway. [1]
Operation Wilfred was put into action on April 8, 1940,[1] but cancelled shortly afterwards due to the following day's German invasion, starting the Norwegian Campaign.
Contents |
History
Operation Wilfred was designed by First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill in 1939 shortly after the German invasion of Poland.[citation needed] Because of its seeming innocence, it was named after a naive character from the popular comic strip Pip, Squeak and Wilfred.[1]
While still at sea on the 9th April, Renown and her destroyers encountered the German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau
Plan R 4
- The naval side of R4 was to be commanded by Admiral Edward Evans.
Forces involved
- Renown Force
- HMS Renown (Vice-Admiral William Whitworth)
- Renown's escort
- 1st Destroyer Flotilla
- 2nd Destroyer Flotilla
- Minelaying force
- 20th Destroyer Flotilla (Captain J.G. Bickford)
- Minelaying escort
- 2nd Destroyer Flotilla (Captain Bernard Warburton-Lee)
- R4 Force (Admiral Edward Evans)
- 1st Cruiser Squadron (Vice-Admiral John H. D. Cunningham)
- 2nd Cruiser Squadron (Vice-Admiral George F. B. Edward-Collins)
References
- ^ a b c Nøkleby, Berit (1995). "Wilfred". in Dahl, Hans Fredrik. Norsk krigsleksikon 1940-45. Oslo: Cappelen. http://mediabase1.uib.no/krigslex/w/w2.html#wilfred. Retrieved 2008-11-07. (Norwegian)
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