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author: behemoth.

continuing from the previous issue (part 1291)

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in the initial plan, the attack on vagso island will also be accompanied by a large-scale operation. while conducting a raid on the main island of vagso island, the british royal navy will demonstrate its combat strength in norwegian waters to deter the germans in one fell swoop. ensure the safety of the sea area. to this end, they plan to deploy a sizable fleet near the lofoten islands, cut off germany's sea transportation lines, and attack german ships passing here. after that, a 3,500-person landing force will land in the lofoten islands, occupy a series of islands and villages, and then establish a series of coastal artillery positions and air defense positions. during this period, the entire fleet will occupy an anchorage, complete refueling operations here, and stay near the lofoten islands for at least 3 weeks. due to the distance of the lofoten islands from scotland, aircraft flying from scottish air bases would not be able to provide air support for the operation, so when bombed by the luftwaffe, each ship would have to rely on its own anti-aircraft firepower to fight back.

this is undoubtedly a very bold plan, and because the plan requires a large number of ships to be put into combat, this plan must be approved by john tovey, the then commander of the british home fleet.John Tovey) admiral’s approval. after seeing this plan, tovey expressed great concern about the air defense settings in the plan. in his opinion, the luftwaffe would move much faster than expected, and german ground forces would soon arrive on the battlefield. therefore, he proposed to reduce the scale of the operation, reduce the number of landing troops, and strengthen the number of anti-aircraft weapons on each ship to provide anti-aircraft firepower. moreover, he also stated that due to the obstruction of the high mountains around the fjord, the difficulty of the german air attack will also be greatly increased, and it can also serve as a cover to a certain extent.

in order to carry out this operation, the british royal navy organized a force code-named "j fleet" (Force J) task force, which is quite large in size, including 1 cruiser, 4 fleet destroyers, the "hunter" class (Hunt Class) 4 escort destroyers (2 of them from the polish navy in exile), 2 norwegian gunboats, 3 minesweepers, 1 submarine, 1 survey ship, 1 ocean-going tugboat, 2 oil tankers, 2 assault transport ships and 1 danish-flagged cargo ship. as for the landing force, these personnel were mainly drawn from the 12th commando group, which also included some personnel from the special operations division as advisors and members from the 1st free norwegian brigade (Free Norwegian 1st Brigade) personnel.

such a plan was approved by the joint staff, but it was codenamed "operation anklet" (Operation Anklet) plan is basically consistent in purpose with the previous plan, but some people still have different opinions on it. as pound said, "there is no doubt that the enemy's sea routes to northern norway will be cut off, especially from narvik (Narvik) port needs to be changed. "he believed that the three weeks should also be shortened, although the purpose of the previous mission was not a "hit and run" operation, but a long-term occupation for a period of time, and effectively hit the german transportation lines and severely defeat the german army. morale.

however, at the same time, the raid on vagso island was unanimously approved by the joint operations command, the royal navy and the royal air force, and was then placed in front of the chiefs of staff of the joint staff. unless they believe that such an action is in line with britain's overall strategy and give it the go-ahead, any further action will be difficult to achieve. by mid-november, the plan was approved. naval interest in the vagso raid was particularly high, especially as it was possible that the operation would be conducted simultaneously with operation anklet, which would make it effective to conduct simultaneous operations in lofoten and vagso. to distract the luftwaffe. at the same time, vagso island is just within the strike range of the royal air force air base in scotland. in this way, the landing troops will receive effective air support, and it will be difficult for luftwaffe fighters to attack northward near the lofoten islands. british warship. in this way, preparations for the vagso island raid were put on the fast track, and "operation archery" was obtained (Operation Archery) code name.

the primary purpose of "operation archery" is to destroy the fish oil processing plant on south vagso island. before that, in order to remove the threat to the landing force, the coastal defense artillery position on malloy island must first be destroyed, and two other coastal artillery batteries and a shore defense torpedo launcher had to be eliminated simultaneously. after that, the commandos will break into the villages and towns on vagso island, eliminate as many german defenders as possible, and completely occupy these villages and towns. after clearing the german troops on the island, they will destroy the radio stations on the island and collect intelligence, especially try to find all valuable secret documents, code books and cipher machines, and eliminate all norwegians who colluded with the germans - the so-called "quislingers", and try to capture some who returned to britain to do this the purpose is naturally obvious. on the one hand, a lot of valuable information can be obtained from the mouths of these people. on the other hand, by eliminating these people, it will attack the german army and force other quislings to no longer dare to blatantly assist. german army.

as the action planning continues to deepen, various combat attacks are constantly being improved. according to the plan, operation archery will begin on november 21, but it was not until november 6 that the candidates for each unit commander were finally determined. tovey himself will serve as the overall commander of "operation anklet" and "operation archery", and in terms of front-line command, the 10th cruiser squadron commander harold boehler (Harold Burrough) rear admiral was appointed as the maritime fleet commander of "operation archery". he will be based on the flagship "kenya" (HMS Kenya), responsible for escorting transport ships and landing ships throughout the sea voyage, and conducting shore bombardment after the operation began to provide fire support for the commandos. the commando commander will still be harden, who has performed well before. he will unified command the personnel of various units involved in the landing operation. as for operation anklet, since the operation was led by the navy, it was led by frederick dalrymple-hamilton (Frederick Dalrymple-Hamilton) vice admiral of the navy shall provide unified command of the maritime fleet and landing forces.

figure 1. boehler (1889~1977), the sea commander of "operation archery". boehler joined the royal navy in 1903. during world war i, he served as the gunnery officer of the light cruiser "southampton" and participated in the war with the ship. after the battle of jutland, he successively served as captain of the heavy cruiser "london", commander of the 5th destroyer detachment, and assistant to the admiralty. after the outbreak of world war ii, boehler participated in commanding the convoy operations on the arctic route and performed outstandingly in the "archery operation"

although some details of the battle are still being discussed, the training of the troops participating in the battle has not been relaxed. the personnel selected to participate in the assault went through months of training together and repeatedly practiced each step of the amphibious landing. due to confidentiality reasons, many people do not know the ultimate combat goal, but they already know the role they play in the combat. the main force participating in the war was john dunford-slater (John Durnford-Slater) the 3rd commando under the command of lieutenant colonel, in order to strengthen the combat effectiveness of the unit, the 3rd commando is also equipped with some other units from other commandos and even military branches, such as 2 companies from the 2nd commando (these the troops will serve as a mobile reserve force in the hands of harden during the operation, reinforcing where needed during the battle), the royal army medical service from 4 commando group (Royal Army Medical Corps), a medic from a company of the 1st free norwegian brigade, from the royal engineers of 6th commando (Royal Engineer) members, as well as members from mi9 (Military Intelligence 9，MI9) observer.

among these units, the norwegian company, whose commander is martin ringer (Martin Linge) captain, the personnel are all from norwegians who retreated to the british mainland, including residents of the lofoten islands who were rescued by british commandos in the previous "operation broadsword" and returned to the united kingdom. as the company commander, ringer himself participated in the previous action to resist the german invasion and was seriously injured in the battle. at the last moment, he boarded the british hospital ship and arrived in the uk with the ship. after screening by the british intelligence agency, it was confirmed that he was not a "mole" sent to britain by nazi germany. therefore, he was favored by the british and asked him to try to organize personnel among the norwegians who retreated to britain to establish a norwegian army. he established an organization at the norwegian embassy in london and began early recruitment efforts under the leadership of the special operations branch. these recruits received a series of skills required for special operations in the training camp, such as demolition attacks, organizing underground resistance networks, and gathering intelligence. after passing the training, they were incorporated into the british commandos. because of their professional special operations skills, combined with their familiarity with local conditions in norway, they were involved in a series of tasks such as contacting locals and capturing german collaborators, so they were involved in every raid on norway. outstanding performance.

figure 2. dunford-slater (1909~1972, center in the picture) talking with colleagues. dunford-slater was born into a family with a military tradition. he entered wydington school at the age of 13, passed the royal military college in 1927, and began his military career as an artillery second lieutenant. when world war ii broke out, he served as an anti-aircraft artilleryman in southwest england. he was one of the first batch to sign up to form the "gomande" unit and served as the commander of the 3rd commando force.

figure 3. ringe (1894~1941) in norwegian army uniform. ringer was born in norddal, a small town in norway. he graduated from the trondheim military school in 1915. after retiring, he went to the trondheim theater to study drama and became a theater and film and television actor. after returning from the battle of norway, he returned to the army to participate in the war, and then retreated to the uk to join the free norwegian forces. unfortunately, he was killed in "operation archery" and was posthumously awarded the war cross with swords.

the training of the landing force was very effective, and the training of the navy also achieved the expected results. the main task of naval ships is of course to escort transport ships and cover their landings, but in terms of specific division of labor, each ship has its own tasks. as the flagship, the light cruiser "kenya" has 12 152 mm caliber main guns, so it is mainly responsible for shore bombardment tasks, especially against the german coastal defense guns deployed near vagso island. after the battle begins, they must be completely suppressed. in addition, the "kenya" will serve as the communications center for the entire operation during the battle. both boller and harden will command the troops on the "kenya" so that the two sides can maintain close communication. in the report after the operation, there was this description of such an arrangement: "this cruiser can be regarded as an excellent command center, and the bridge can also be regarded as the best place to issue orders. here, not only can one you can also make judgments based on the received information and keep in touch with various signals and radio terminals as soon as possible. although the entire ship is shrouded in gunfire when the main gun fires, even so, it is still very suitable for organizing a battle. "

in addition to the "kenya", the fleet also includes 4 destroyers, namely the o-class fleet destroyer "onslow" (HMS Onslow), "little antelope" (HMS Oribi) number, "arcana" (HMS Offa) and the second batch of "hunter" class escort destroyers "chiddingfold" (HMS Chiddingfold)number. among them, the o-class destroyer is equipped with four 120 mm caliber main guns and four "bang bang" (pom-pom) anti-aircraft guns and 8 20 mm caliber anti-aircraft guns, with strong firepower, each ship is relatively short in age, has a maximum speed of 36 knots, has strong maneuverability, and can efficiently perform escort and air defense missions. the "chiddingfold" had just been commissioned in march 1941, equipped with six 100 mm caliber main guns and four "bang bang" anti-aircraft guns. during the battle, in addition to escort and air defense missions, two of them will break into the internal waters between the islands and attack any german ships found. in addition to capturing valuable ships among them, the remaining ships will be captured. all ships were sunk. in addition to these combat ships, the protagonists of this operation were two assault transport ships-the former north sea ferry "prince charles" (HMS Prince Charles) and "prince leopold" (HMS Prince Leopold)number. the commandos will sail across the north sea on these two assault transports, and then transfer to landing craft to carry out landing operations when approaching the target. for reasons of concealment and maneuverability, part of the voyage will be conducted at night. in order to better navigate, the british royal navy also sent "tuna" (HMS Tuna) submarine went out to the norwegian coast and will serve as a navigation beacon during the operation to provide more accurate navigation for the maritime formation.

figure 4. "kenya" light cruiser

figure 5. "onslow" destroyer, pay attention to the marine camouflage sprayed on its hull

figure 6. royal navy destroyer escort hms chiddingfold

the naval personnel responsible for escorting and transporting the commando team have added some new training based on the experience of previous raid operations. especially in the last two weeks before the operation, the training reached a climax, whether it was navigation plan, cruise time, shore the cooperation among the ships in terms of bombardment tactics, escort duties, and landing methods has reached a very tacit level.

figure 7. commandos undergoing transfer training in the waters near scotland. during the official operation, each commando must know his or her position on the landing craft and be familiar with the process of getting on and off the boat, so as to complete the transfer operation in the shortest possible time.

figure 8. the landing craft formation undergoing ferry training after being released

as mentioned before, threats from the air have always been a headache for the british army during operations. although the escort ships have relatively strong anti-aircraft firepower, it is still obvious how difficult it is to withstand the air attacks of the luftwaffe, especially the dive bombing that the luftwaffe is good at, with these anti-aircraft guns alone. therefore, air superiority over the fleet relied largely on the support of the royal air force. however, since the two air force bases closest to the british mainland from vagso island are located in the shetland islands (Shetland Islands) of samburg (Sumburgh) air base and wick (on the mainland of scotland)Wick) air force base is 250 miles and 400 miles away from vagso island respectively. this means that even fighter planes taking off from these two air force bases can only stay for a short period after arriving over the theater. time must return - the dilemma faced by the german air force during the battle of britain has now happened to the british themselves. however, the royal air force is not helpless in this situation - at coastal command (Coastal Command) has a large number of "blenheim" (Blenheim) and "handsome warrior" (Beaufighter) such a twin-engine fighter/bomber. during the battle, these aircraft will attack in multiple batches at certain intervals. in this way, when the first batch of fighters must return, the latter batch of fighters can just take their place and continue to complete the escort mission.

as the saying goes, "offence is the best defense." relying solely on these fighter planes for escort can only be said to be a temporary solution. to cure the root cause, the key lies in whether the threat of the german air force can be nipped in the bud. therefore, in addition to dispatching these fighter planes for escort, the british army also plans to send bombers to bomb the german air base near vagso island in order to suppress the german air force.

due to various reasons, there were only two weeks left for the staff to perfect the plan before the operation officially started. fortunately, some of the previous preparations have been basically completed, so the remaining time can be used to finalize some details. by late november, dunford-slater went to joint operations command to learn the final details of the raid. during this period, mountbatten himself asked him whether the operation could be successful, because mountbatten believed that with the strength of the german troops on the island, dunford-slater's troops might not be able to prevail. dunford-slater replied that with the support of the navy and air force, he and his men would be able to destroy the german army and complete the mission. mountbatten was very satisfied with his answer and believed that this operation would be his first major victory after taking over the joint operations command.

figure 9. commandos undergoing combat training. one of the commandos is holding the famous fairbairn-sykes combat knife.

according to the plan, the landing force will sail to norway by ship. in addition to the two assault transport ships, some people will also board the destroyer "antelope". according to different tasks, they will be divided into 5 combat groups:

1st assault group: composed of 1 company of the 3rd assault group, this unit will be located in hollevik (Hollevik) and completely wipe out harnosvik (Halnoesvik) area and nearby german artillery positions. after completing the mission, the unit will immediately reach south vagaso island along the coast road, join the 2nd combat group, and use it as its reserve force.

the 2nd assault group: composed of the main force of the landing force, including three companies of the 3rd assault group, this unit landed in the southwest of south vagso island, then invaded villages and towns, and destroyed the industrial facilities on the island after eliminating the german troops. , factories, houses and other things of value to the germans.

the 3rd assault group: including the remaining two companies of the 3rd assault group, will land on malloy island after the operation begins and attack the german coastal defense artillery positions, barracks and fish oil processing plants.

the 4th assault group: includes 2 companies from the 2nd assault group. as the general reserve under the control of harden himself, it is always ready to invest in the required areas at the required time.

5th assault group: this unit is responsible for cutting off coastline roads and other traffic communications, and then entering vagso island from the north, conducting combat patrols on north vagso island, and eliminating all remaining enemies.

finally, after careful planning, the personnel and units of various services and arms participating in "operation archery" were as follows:

navy ships:

"fiji" (Fiji)-class light cruiser "kenya";

o-class fleet destroyer "onslow";

o-class fleet destroyer uss oryx;

o-class fleet destroyer "offa";

the second batch of "hunter" class escort destroyer "chiddingfold";

assault transport hms prince charles;

assault transport "prince leopold";

t-class fleet submarine "tuna"

landing troops:

special commando operations command (Operational HQ Special Service Brigade）；

special assault brigade signal detachment (Special Service Brigade Signal Section）；

3rd commando;

the 2nd commando team has 2 companies under its jurisdiction;

the military doctor under the command of the 4th commando group;

the 1st free norwegian brigade has one company under its command;

members of the 6th commando team;

mi9 (Military Intelligence 9，MI9) observer;

war correspondents for propaganda units;

the total number of personnel is: 51 officers and 525 soldiers (including non-commissioned officers)

air force:

10 "hamptons" (Hampden) bomber from no. 50 squadron, royal air force;

blenheims from 235, 236, 248, 254 and 404 squadrons raf (Blenheim) bomber and "handsome warrior" (Beaufighter) type heavy fighter;

19 blenheim bombers from no. 114 squadron, royal air force

according to the plan, the commando team will complete the transfer operation near the coast before dawn, using the cover of night to avoid the sight and shooting range of the observation post of the german coastal defense artillery position on malloy island. after this, the "kenya" and other destroyers will carry out shore bombardment of all known german positions. at the same time, air force bombers will also bomb the german troops to jointly cover the landing of landing craft. in order to avoid accidental damage to the landing troops, the signalman will fire a signal flare when the landing is about to notify the navy to stop the shore bombardment. after that, each unit landed at the predetermined location and started the operation. after the operation was completed, the retreat was completed according to the predetermined plan. during this period, all captured german prisoners and quislings were escorted and evacuated with as many hopes as possible. residents of norway.

by the second week of december, troops participating in operation archery began to gather. except for "onslow" and "chiddingfold", the other ships have already been assembled in scapa flow. as of december 15, dunford-slater's troops had also been assembled and arrived at scapa flow on the "prince charles" and "prince leopold". on december 16, all unit commanders held a mission briefing on the "kenya". although the specific details of the operation have not yet been reported to the grassroots soldiers, "there will be a big mission soon." rumors still spread like wildfire among the soldiers. of course, such rumors were soon verified. in order to further verify the overall combat effectiveness before the operation, all participating troops held two large-scale exercises in the uk, code-named " the first exercise of "l" began at dawn on december 17. under the cover of naval artillery fire and the smoke screen released by the air force "hampton" bombers, the landing force successfully encountered malloy in a place in scapa flow. the island is very similar to the island where the landing was made. the exercise was a complete success. it not only tested the combat effectiveness in a real combat environment, but also brought the morale of the participating troops to its peak.

after that, the navy and air force also conducted a series of other exercises aimed at shore suppression. however, due to weather and other reasons, the second exercise, code-named "l2", was eventually canceled. as the start of the operation approached, the participating troops also began to learn a series of combat details one after another. in order to become more familiar with the intended combat objectives, the joint operations command produced a panoramic model of vagso island based on photos taken by reconnaissance aircraft and other intelligence obtained from norwegian resistance groups. on this model, all houses, factories and other buildings are reproduced in detail. of course, for confidentiality reasons, the names of these targets were not noted. in the following days, soldiers from each assault group watched the model and conducted a series of sandbox exercises based on the model. in addition to an in-depth understanding of their respective targets, their respective attack routes and retreat routes were also planned. in addition, each commander has clarified the various steps in the operation, and all non-commissioned officers have also clarified their responsibilities so that when an officer is injured or killed, they can take over the command promptly and lead the troops to complete the mission. as for ordinary commandos, they be informed of the tasks they are expected to perform during the operation.

taking into account the particularity of the operation, the weapons used by the landing troops are also different from those of ordinary troops, especially increasing the proportion of automatic weapons such as machine guns and submachine guns. according to the requirements, each commando will carry 100 rounds of ammunition, and each "bren" (Bren) the light machine gun group must carry 50 magazines. however, since each commando will help carry a certain number of magazines, the number of machine gun rounds in actual combat will be higher. at the same time, in order to suppress the german machine guns, small artillery and other fortification bunkers, the landing force also carried a certain number of 76.2 mm mortars. in addition to the gunners, everyone else also carried a certain number of shells. what is more special is the engineer blaster. in addition to carrying the necessary weapons, they also carry a certain amount of explosives to destroy various predetermined targets. as for the officers, they only carried one pistol and 25 rounds of ammunition, although dunford-slater himself believed that such weapons were completely useless for self-defense in combat.

so far, everything is proceeding according to the planned plan. the participating troops and even the joint operations command have very high expectations for this operation. everyone is looking forward to a glorious victory.