Operation Doomsday

Operation Doomsday
Part of Second World War Allied occupation of Norway
British airborne troops just disembarked from Stirling aircraft at Gardermoen airfield near Oslo
Date 9 May – August 1945 Location Norway
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Andrew Thorne Roy Urquhart	Franz Böhme
Strength
6,000	Approximately 350,000

For the album by MF DOOM, see Operation: Doomsday

Operation Doomsday was the successful air-transported portion of the Allied occupation of Norway, undertaken by the British 1st Airborne Division in May 1945 following the end of the Second World War in Europe. The division landed at airfields near Oslo and Stavanger between 9th-11th May without any resistance from the German forces in Norway, and maintained law and order in the surrounding areas until the arrival of the rest of the occupation force. Planning for the occupation of Norway had begun in mid-1943, with the units assigned to it known as Force 134. The British contingent for Doomsday was initially 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division, but was later replaced by the understrength 1st Airborne Division, recovering after the heavy casualties it had taken during Operation Market Garden. During the occupation, the division would be tasked with supervising the surrender of the German forces in Norway, as well as maintaining law and order in the country and preventing the sabotage of vital military and civilian facilities. By the beginning of May the division had been reinforced, and on 7 May Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz ordered the surrender of all German military forces.

The next day the German Instrument of Surrender was delivered to General Franz Böhme, the commander of all German forces stationed in Norway, and after a delay of twenty-four hours the division began to land at airports in Oslo and Stavanger on 9 May. The majority of the transport aircraft carrying the division landed safely, but one crash caused a number of fatalities. Despite fears of continued German resistance, the division encountered few problems and the German forces co-operated fully. During its time in Norway, the division helped welcome back King Haakon VII of Norway, as well as look after Allied ex-prisoners of war held captive prior to the German surrender, and protect the German troops from reprisals by the Norwegians. It was also able to discover what had happened to the British airborne troops that had taken part in Operation Freshman, an attempt to disrupt the German atomic weapons programme in November 1942. The division remained in Norway until the end of August, when it transferred back to Britain and was eventually disbanded two months later.

Background

The Western Allies had been developing plans for the occupation of Norway in the aftermath of the unconditional surrender of Germany since mid-1943. The occupation was planned under the code-name Operation Apostle and the force allocated to it was designated Force 134. This was composed of Norwegian troops who were stationed in Scotland, as well as a British contingent (initially 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division) and a small number of American troops. Also included were some 12,000 Norwegian police troops currently stationed in neutral Sweden. In the event of an emergency, then Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force would deploy troops into Norway from Germany. The entire operation came under the command of Headquarters Scottish Command, which had been commanded by General Andrew Thorne since his appointment on 7 May, 1941. One of the reasons behind Thorne's appointment to Scottish Command, which he regarded as "being banished to Scotland" may well have been Thorne's acquaintance with Adolf Hitler; they had met several times when Thorne had been British Military Attache in Berlin between 1934–1935, and Hitler held Thorne and his military abilities in high regard. In the wake of British Commando raids in Norway during 1941, Hitler had ordered substantial reinforcements to be transferred to Norway, and British high command hoped that Thorne taking command of Scottish Command would "help to focus the Fuhrer's attention on the threat posed to Scandinavia" and Norway in particular.

Two separate scenarios were considered in planning for Operation Apostle. The first, known as 'Rankin C (Norway)' was based on the assumption that all German forces occupying Norway would surrender as part of a more general unconditional surrender by Germany. The second was known as 'Rankin B' and assumed that there was no surrender, and that only parts of Norway would be abandoned by the Germans in order to reinforce their troops stationed in North-Western Europe against Allied advances there; in this scenario, Force 134 would encounter heavy German resistance. Either scenario would be difficult for Thorne to accomplish however, as the troops allocated to Force 134 were meagre; from late 1943 onwards the majority of military resources were dedicated to the campaign in North-West Europe. In September 1944 Thorne was even deprived of 52nd Lowland Division, which was attached to the 1st Allied Airborne Army by the War Office and earmarked for Operation Market Garden. In its place Thorne was later given the 1st Airborne Division, under the command of Major General Roy Urquhart. However, owing to the heavy casualties the division had suffered during Market Garden it would not be combat ready until 1 May, 1945 after being heavily reinforced. In order to bolster his forces, Thorne would therefore have to rely on Milorg, the Norwegian Resistance.

1st Airborne Division

By early May, 1st Airborne Division had been brought up to strength, albeit mainly with inexperienced replacements. 4th Parachute Brigade had been disbanded and its battalions merged with those of 1st Parachute Brigade in the aftermath of the Battle of Arnhem. It was replaced by 1st Independent Polish Parachute Brigade. However on 4 May Urquhart was ordered to despatch 1st Independent Polish Brigade to Dunkirk, and to detach 1st Parachute Brigade from the division; one of the brigade's battalions would immediately be transported to Denmark for occupation duties, with the rest of the Brigade remaining in Britain as a reserve formation. At the same time the rest of the division was warned that it would be soon be transported by air to Norway as part of the occupation force, with the Special Air Service Brigade being temporarily attached to the division to replace 1st Parachute Brigade. Urquhart informed Thorne that the division could be ready for deployment in 48 hours, far less time than Thorne and his staff had expected. When it entered Norway, the division would be responsible for maintaining law and order in the areas it occupied, ensuring that German units followed the terms of their surrender, securing and then protecting captured airfields, and finally preventing the sabotage of essential military and civilian structures. To achieve this, the division would be formed of three brigades: 1st Airlanding Brigade, Special Air Service Brigade and an ad hoc Artillery Brigade formed from divisional troops.

1st Airlanding Brigade would land near to the Norwegian capital, Oslo, and occupy the city alongside other elements of Force 134. The brigade's commander, Brigadier R. H. Bower, would become Commander, Oslo area for the duration of the division's time in Norway. Oslo was chosen because it was the Norwegian capital, as well as being the centre of Norwegian and German administration. Similarly, the Artillery Brigade would land at Stavanger and its commanding officer Brigadier R.G. Loder-Symonds would become Commander, Stavanger area. Stavanger was the closest airfield to Britain, and would also be useful as a fighter base. Finally, Special Air Service Brigade would also land in Stavanger, from where it would advance to, and occupy, the area around Kristiansand. This was an important port which would be used by the Royal Navy to sweep the surrounding waters for mines. The division's operations would be divided into four phases over four consecutive days. On 8 May, fifteen transport aircraft would carry advance parties to airfields at Gardermoen, near Oslo, and Sola airfield by Stavanger; this was to be completed by the evening. The second phase, on 9 May, would see seventy Handley Page Halifaxes transport 1st Airlanding Brigade and elements of Headquarters 1st Airborne Division to both airfields, and another seventy-six C-47 Dakotas land the Artillery Brigade at Sola. On 10 May, the third phase would see Special Air Service Brigade would land at Sola, and finally stores and vehicles would be landed at both airfields on 11 May. Before the division began to land in Norway, specially selected Allied representatives known as 'Heralds' would accompany German diplomatic delegates to Norway; only when they signaled that the airfields were clear to land on would the first transport aircraft take off from Britain.

Occupation

Arrival

In the early hours of 7 May, Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz gave the order for all German military forces to unconditionally surrender, and on 8 May the German Instrument of Surrender was delivered to General Franz Böhme, the commander of all German forces stationed in Norway. The Germans were to withdraw from all Norwegian towns and the Swedish border and gradually redeploy to areas pre-designated for disarmament; simultaneously, all senior Nazi party officials and security personnel were to immediately be arrested. Force 134 would be greatly outnumbered during its task; a total og 30,000 Allied troops would have to supervise the disarmament of more than 350,000 German troops. There were fears that the German forces might refuse to surrender and instead resist the Allied occupation forces, and there were particular concerns about what the large detachment of Kriegsmarine personnel at the port of Trondheim might do.

Although the first phase of the operation had been scheduled for 8 May, no word was received from the 'Heralds' and so Doomsday was postponed by twenty-four hours. Contact was successfully established on 9 May and the first units belonging of Force 134 arrived in Norway to begin their occupation, including the first elements of 1st Airborne Division–all but one of the transport aircraft belonging to the first phase took off and landed in Norway without incident. Phase II was accelerated to compensate for the delay, with aircraft scheduled to leave Britain between 02:00 and 13:30. Unfortunately after approximately 07:00 poor weather occurred over Oslo, causing many transport aircraft heading for the airfield there to return to Britain, although all of those destined for Stavanger landed successfully. Several crash-landed, and one was reported missing. The remaining aircraft took off again on 11 May, with one crashing on takeoff and another going missing; of the two missing aircraft, one landed at another airfield in Norway, but the other had crashed killing all of its occupants, including Air Vice-Marshal Scarlett-Streatfield. The aircraft belonging to the next two phases suffered no more casualties, although a number of them were again delayed by inclement weather over the Norwegian airfields. 1st Airborne Division suffered one officer and thirty-three other ranks killed, and one other rank wounded, and the Royal Air Force six killed and seven injured. All of these losses had occurred after the general surrender had been declared.

Occupation duties

Crown Prince Olaf addressing the welcoming crowd at Oslo, accompanied by Major General Urquhart.

The original plan for the division called for two of the airborne battalions to march through Oslo on 10 May, but the delay meant that only a few troops had arrived by this date. Instead two platoons from 2nd Battalion The South Staffordshire Regiment and four Military Policemen on motorcycles accompanied Urquhart, who rode in a commandeered German staff car. Although somewhat nervous given the group's small size, they were greeted enthusiastically by the Norwegian population in Oslo, and encountered only minor resistance from German troops. The only resistance came from the captains of several U-boats at Trondheim, and apart from this 1st Airborne Division encountered no trouble from the German forces in Norway, who co-operated fully with the airborne troops. They were disarmed without problem, allowed themselves to be transferred to collection camps and also assisted in the clearing of numerous minefields they had sown during their occupation, which resulted in several German casualties.

Until the arrival of other units from Force 134, as well as the Headquarters of Allied Forces, Norway, Major General Urquhart and his headquarter staff had complete control over all Norwegian activities. This meant that it was Urquhart who welcomed Crown Prince Olaf of Norway when he arrived on a Royal Navy destroyer, and the division also took part in the celebrations when King Haakon VII of Norway returned to his country from exile. Other duties for the division included rounding up war criminals, ensuring that German troops were confined to their camps and reservations and, with Royal Engineer assistance, clearing buildings of mines and other boobytraps. They were also given the responsibility of assisting Allied personnel who had, until the German surrender, been prisoners of war in Norway, a large number of whom were Russian. There were more than 80,000 Russian ex-prisoners of war, and many needed medical treatment because of the inhumane conditions of the camps in which they had been imprisoned. When a parade was held in late June to celebrate the Allied liberation, many of the Russians participated, wearing uniforms with Red Star badges they had made themselves. During the division's time in Norway, some 400 paratroopers under the command of Major Frederick Gough were temporarily transferred to the Netherlands, where they helped take part in Theirs Is the Glory, a documentary about the Battle of Arnhem.

The Norwegian resistance co-operated fully with 1st Airborne Division, often providing liaisons and performing guard duties, and the Norwegian population as a whole gave a warm welcome to the airborne troops. The resistance also helped the division discover the fate of 1st Airborne Division troops assigned to Operation Freshman, a failed attempt in November 1942 to sabotage the Norsk Hydro chemical plant at Vemork, which produced heavy water for Nazi Germany's atomic weapons programme. Two gliders had been assigned to the operation, and both had crash-landed after being released by the aircraft towing them. None of the men who survived the crashes remained alive for very long, and were executed shortly after capture. Although the local Norwegian population could not prevent the prisoners being executed, they later recovered their remains and reinterred them in marked graves. When it arrived, 1st Airborne Division was informed of the fate of the operation and cooperated with the Norwegian government to have a memorial erected and the fallen men buried with full military honours at Stavanger and Oslo.

Aftermath

The remaining units of Force 134 entered Norway throughout the rest of May, gradually reinforcing the airborne troops. On 10 May elements of the 12,000 strong Norwegian police force began to enter the country from Sweden, having been raised from young Norwegians who had fled to Sweden after Norway had been occupied in 1940. General Thorne arrived with the rest of his headquarters on 13 May, and took up his position as Commander-in-Chief Allied Liberation Forces. In the next two weeks further elements of Force 134 arrived, including a composite American regiment, a Norwegian brigade, and two British infantry brigades composed of re-trained anti-aircraft gunners who replaced the Special Air Service Brigade. Thorne was the de facto Head of Government of Norway until 7 June, when King Haakon returned, and from then until his departure at the end of October was Commander-in-Chief of all military forces in Norway.

1st Airborne Division was stationed in Norway until the end of the summer. It returned to Britain at the end of August, and its personnel sent on leave. Initial plans had called for the division to be used as an Imperial Strategic Reserve, as it was believed that 6th Airborne Division would be required in the Far Eastern Theatre; however, when Japan surrendered in August it negated the need for 6th Airborne Division to be transferred. This created a problem, as two airborne divisions existed, but only one was included in the planned post-war British Regular Army. Although the tradition of seniority might have called for 6th Airborne Division to be disbanded as the junior airborne formation, 1st Airborne Division was still understrength after Operation Market Garden and not fully trained. As such, the division spent the next two months training and transferring troops to 6th Airborne Division, and was then disbanded on 15 November, 1945.

Bibliography

Books

• Baynes, John (1993). Urquhart of Arnhem: The Life of Major General R E Urquhart CB, DSO. Brassey's. ISBN 0080413188.
• Dahl, Per F. (1999). Heavy Water and the Wartime Race for Nuclear Energy. London: CRC Press. ISBN 1844157369.
• Lynch, Tim (2008). Silent Skies: Gliders At War 1939–1945. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 0750306335.
• Madsen, Chris (1998). The Royal Navy and German naval disarmament, 1942-1947. Frank Cass Publishers. ISBN 0714643734.
• Middlebrook, Martin (1995). Arnhem 1944: The Airborne Battle. Penguin. ISBN 0-14-014342-4.
• Otway, Lieutenant-Colonel T.B.H (1990). The Second World War 1939-1945 Army - Airborne Forces. Imperial War Museum. ISBN 0-90162-75-77.

Journals

• Hart, Stephen Ashley. "The Forgotten Liberator: The 1939-1945 Military Career of General Sir Andrew Thorne". Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. 79 (Autumn 2001): 233–249. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)