Operation Wilfred facts for kids
Operation Wilfred was a secret British plan during World War II. Its main goal was to stop Germany from getting iron ore from Sweden. This ore was vital for Germany to build its weapons like ships, tanks, and planes.
The plan involved placing mines in the waters along the coast of Norway. Norway was a neutral country, meaning it wasn't taking sides in the war. German ships used these sheltered Norwegian waters to carry the iron ore back home. The British hoped that by mining these areas, German ships would be forced into the open sea, where British ships could stop them.
The Allies (Britain and France) thought that this mining operation might make Germany invade Norway. So, they also prepared a separate plan called Plan R 4. This plan was to quickly send Allied troops to occupy important Norwegian cities like Narvik before Germany could.
On April 8, 1940, some of Operation Wilfred was carried out. However, everything changed the very next day. Germany launched its own invasion of Norway and Denmark, called Operation Weserübung. This invasion started the Norwegian Campaign, making Operation Wilfred less important.
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Why Operation Wilfred Was Planned
When World War II began in September 1939, Britain and France started a naval blockade. This was like a sea-based fence to stop Germany from getting important supplies. They wanted to weaken Germany's ability to fight.
Stopping Iron Ore Shipments
One of the most crucial supplies for Germany was iron ore. This ore was needed to make steel, which was used to build ships, tanks, and aircraft. Most of this iron ore came from neutral Sweden.
Winston Churchill, who was in charge of the British Navy at the time, really wanted to stop these shipments. He came up with the idea to mine the "Norwegian Corridor." This was a path of sheltered sea lanes along Norway's coast. German ships used these safe waters to transport the ore. Churchill hoped that by mining these areas, the ore ships would have to go into the open sea. There, British ships could easily find and stop them.
Britain and France were also worried that Germany might take over Scandinavia (Norway and Denmark). If Germany did this, it would make the British blockade much less effective. Germany would also get endless supplies of iron ore. Plus, Germany would gain many more seaports and bases. From these bases, German planes could fly bombing and spy missions over Britain. To prevent this, the Allies even thought about invading Norway and Denmark themselves, but this plan never happened.
Linking to Other Plans
By March 1940, Churchill's plan to mine Norwegian waters was still waiting for approval. It became linked with another plan called Operation Royal Marine. This plan involved sending mines down the Rhine River in Germany to destroy German bridges and ships. The British wanted to get back at Germany for using magnetic mines against them. However, France said no to Operation Royal Marine. They were afraid it would make Germany attack them even harder.
German Preparations and Allied Response
On April 3, the British started getting reports. They heard that Germany was gathering many ships and troops in its Baltic Sea ports. The British believed this was a force meant to stop any Allied move into Scandinavia. Germany actually knew a bit about the Allied plans through its own spies.
So, on that day, Britain decided to go ahead with the Norwegian mining plan. They separated it from Operation Royal Marine. The date for the British Navy to start the mining was set for April 8.
The Allies expected that Operation Wilfred would make Germany very angry. So, they ordered a separate plan, Plan R4. This plan aimed to stop German landings in Norway. Strong British and French forces would occupy key Norwegian ports like Narvik, Stavanger, Bergen, and Trondheim. After that, they would march to the Swedish border and take control of the iron ore mines.
The plan was named Operation Wilfred because it seemed small and harmless. It was named after a simple character in a popular newspaper comic strip called Pip, Squeak and Wilfred.
How Operation Wilfred Happened
On April 3, four British cruisers (HMS Berwick, York, Devonshire, and Glasgow) sailed to Rosyth. They picked up soldiers from the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment. These troops were ready to go to Norway as part of Plan R4 if needed. More troops boarded transport ships in the River Clyde in Scotland. Other troops were kept ready until it was clear what Germany was going to do.
On April 5, a large group of warships left the main British naval base at Scapa Flow. This group included ships for both Operation Wilfred and Plan R4. It was escorted by the battlecruiser HMS Renown and the cruiser HMS Birmingham. They sailed towards the Norwegian coast.
Laying the Minefields
The plan was to lay two minefields.
- The first minefield (Operation WV) was to be placed near the Lofoten Islands. This was at the entrance of the Vestfjorden, a channel leading directly to the port of Narvik. Iron ore was shipped from Narvik.
- The second minefield (Operation WS) was to be about three-quarters down the western Norwegian coast. It would be near the Stadtlandet peninsula.
As a trick, a third minefield (Operation WB) would be faked. This would happen off the Bud headland, south of Kristiansund. On April 7, the British force split up. Some ships went to Narvik, while others went to carry out the operations to the south.
The British ships had clear orders about what to do if Norway got involved. If the Norwegians cleared the minefields, the British would lay new ones nearby. If Norwegian ships challenged the British, the British were to say they were there to protect merchant ships. Then, the British would leave, letting the Norwegians guard the area.
Here were the ships assigned to each part of the operation:
Force WV (Mouth of Vestfjord)
- Renown – a large battlecruiser
- Glowworm – a destroyer
- Greyhound – a destroyer
- Impulsive – a minelaying destroyer
- Esk – a minelaying destroyer
- Icarus – a minelaying destroyer
- Ivanhoe – a minelaying destroyer
- Hardy – an escort destroyer
- Havock – an escort destroyer
- Hotspur – an escort destroyer
- Hunter – an escort destroyer
Force WB (Bud headland)
- Birmingham – a light cruiser
- Hyperion – a minelaying destroyer
- Hero – a minelaying destroyer
Force WS (Off Stadtlandet)
- Teviot Bank – an auxiliary minelayer (a ship that helps lay mines)
- Inglefield – a minelaying destroyer leader
- Imogen – a minelaying destroyer
- Ilex – a minelaying destroyer
- Isis – a minelaying destroyer
Only one minefield was actually laid. As the WS force sailed on April 7, German ships were seen heading towards Norway. Because of this, the mine-laying off Stadtlandet was cancelled.
Early on April 8, the day the mining was supposed to happen, Britain told Norway about its plan. Soon after, Force WB pretended to lay mines off the Bud headland. They used oil drums and patrolled the area to "warn" other ships. Force WV successfully laid its minefield at the mouth of Vestfjord.
At 5:15 AM that morning, the Allies announced to the world why they were doing this. They also showed where the minefields were. The Norwegian government strongly protested and demanded the mines be removed. But the German fleet was already moving up their coasts. Events then moved so fast that the minefields became unimportant.
Later that day, a German iron ore ship, Rio de Janeiro, was sunk in the Skagerrak by the Polish submarine Orzeł. This ship was secretly carrying German troops, horses, and tanks for the invasion of Norway. About half of the 300 men on board drowned. The survivors told Norwegian fishermen who rescued them that they were going to Bergen to defend it from the British. A few hours later, two other German ships were also sunk in the same area.
What Happened After Operation Wilfred
Operation Wilfred was mostly finished. The southern British ships (Force WS and WB) rejoined the main British fleet. They helped with screening duties, military support, and protecting convoys. This was all part of Britain's bigger response to Germany's move on Norway.
The northern force (WV) immediately got involved in the first battles against the German landings.
Glowworm had become separated from the main force on April 6 while looking for a man who fell overboard. It then met the German heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper. Glowworm bravely attacked with torpedoes. After being heavily damaged by German fire, it rammed Admiral Hipper. Glowworm sank soon after, with 111 men killed. Its commander, Lieutenant-Commander Gerard Broadmead Roope, was given the Victoria Cross (a very high award) after his death.
Meanwhile, HMS Renown, which had gone to help Glowworm, fought with the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. This happened about 80 nmi (148 km) west of the Lofoten Islands. Both sides were damaged, but the Germans missed their chance to sink the older British battlecruiser.
German Invasion of Norway
Despite news of these battles, Norway was largely unprepared for the German attack the next day. The invasion began with German troops landing in key Norwegian cities like Stavanger, Oslo, Trondheim, Narvik, and Bergen.
On the same day (April 9), Icarus sank the Europa. This was another German ship that was carrying men and equipment to Norway. The 2nd Destroyer Flotilla, which had helped lay mines in the Vestfjord, later fought in the First Battle of Narvik. They sank several German warships.
On April 11, while fierce naval battles were still happening off Norway, Winston Churchill gave a speech. He spoke to the British Parliament about the situation and explained why Operation Wilfred was necessary:
There has been no greater problem for stopping Germany's supplies than this Norwegian corridor. It was true in the last war, and it is true in this war. The British Navy has been forced to watch endless German and neutral ships carrying all sorts of illegal goods to Germany. At any moment, they could have stopped these ships, but they were not allowed to.
So, it was finally decided to stop this traffic and make the ships go into the open seas. Every care was taken to avoid any danger to neutral ships or any loss of life, even to enemy merchant ships. We laid minefields, and British patrol boats were even stationed around them to warn all ships away from these dangerous areas.
The Nazi Government has tried to say that their invasion of Norway and Denmark happened because we closed the Norwegian corridor. However, it can definitely be proven that their preparations were made almost a month before. Also, their actual movements of troops and ships began before the British and French minefields were laid. No doubt they suspected the mines were going to be laid. It must have seemed strange to them that they had not been laid much earlier. Therefore, in the last week of March, they decided to use the Norwegian corridor to send empty ore ships northward. These ships were filled with military supplies and soldiers hidden below deck. Their plan was to seize the various ports on the Norwegian coast that they thought were important for military reasons.
British and French troops landed at Narvik on April 14 to help the Norwegians. They pushed the Germans out of the town and almost forced them to surrender. Despite more Allied landings between April 18 and 23, the Norwegians surrendered on June 9, 1940.
Even though Operation Wilfred didn't stop Germany from getting iron ore at first, it had an unexpected result. Once Germany occupied Norway, Norway was no longer neutral. This meant British ships and aircraft were free to enter Norwegian waters and attack German ships whenever they wanted.
See also
- Operation Catherine (a proposed British naval operation in the Baltic Sea)
