The story
British landing ships HMS Queen Emma and HMS Princess Beatrix, escorted by five destroyers, landed 500 British Commandos, Royal Engineers, and Free Norwegian troops at four ports in the Loftoten Islands, off Narvik, Norway at dawn. Operation Claymore, the first large scale commando raid of the war, saw the destruction of fish oil factories (along with 3,600 tons of fish oil, used for high explosives) and nine merchant ships. An unexpected bonus was the discovery of coding rotors for the Enigma cryptographic sysyem found aboard German trawler Krebs. The raiders withdrew without a single casualty along with 228 German captives.
There's more to discover
You have arrived at just one small part of Back to Normandy — a personal project dedicated to preserving stories, images, music and memories of the Second World War.
Every record is a doorway to a larger story. Explore Back to Normandy to discover more, or visit Fred Vogels' personal website to learn about the person and the projects behind it.