Thread by @LydiaJane13

On 4.3.1941, #OpClaymore was launched against targets in the Lofoten Islands with troops from 3 & 4 Commando. Mission: destroy oil installations & enemy shipping, take German prisoners & Quislings, & recruit Norwegian volunteers #Lofoten41 1/8

Force Rebel comprised HMS Nelson, George V, Bedouin, Eskimo (which had been blown up in the Battle of Narvik but miraculously rebuilt), Legion, Somali, Tartar, submarine HMS Sunfish & transports HMS Princess Beatrix & Queen Emma #Lofoten41 2/8

500 commandos were on board, plus 52 Norwegians (including former actor and resistance hero Capt Martin Linge) & 52 Royal Engineer demolition experts #Lofoten41 3/8

3 Commando, under the command of John Durnford Slater, were to attack the fishing ports of STAMSUND & HENNINGSVAER. 4 Commando, under Major LISTER, were sent to SVOLVAER & BRETTESNES ~
#Lofoten41 4/8

The raids were captured on film by an official camera team, for propaganda purposes. You can watch that film here #Lofoten41 5/8
film.iwmcollections.org.uk/record/1435

For the British, the raids were a huge success. For the Norwegians, many of whom lost their livelihoods & businesses that day, the implications were horrific. The Gestapo burned houses in retaliation & arrested 64 men, who were taken to the Grini concentration camp in Oslo 6/8

314 Lofoten Islanders, including 8 women, left their homes and families and travelled back with the British that morning. Nearly all went on to serve with Norwegian & British forces – Army, Navy, Air Force, Merchant Navy. Many lost their lives #Lofoten41 7/8

Among the many accounts of the raids (a further raid would take place on 26.12.41) in British military history, the aftermath - from the Norwegian perspective- is one which rarely gets told in any detail. I aim to change that… #Lofoten41 /ends