Operation Archery, also known as the Måløy Raid, was a British Combined Operations raid during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

against

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

positions on the island of Vågsøy, Norway, on 27 December 1941.

British Commandos The Commando, Commandos, also known as the British Commandos, were formed during the World War II, Second World War in June 1940, following a request from Winston Churchill, for special forces that could carry out Raid (military), raids against ...

of No. 3 Commando, two troops of No. 2 Commando, a medical detachment of No. 4 Commando, a demolition party from 101 Troop (canoe) of

No. 6 Commando No. 6 Commando was a battalion-sized British Army commando unit of the Second World War. Although it was raised to conduct small-scale raids and harass garrisons along the coast of German-occupied France, it was mainly employed as a highly trained ...

, and a dozen

Norwegians Norwegians ( no, nordmenn) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nation native to Norway, where they form the vast majority of the population. They share a common culture and speak the Norwegian language. Norwegians are descended from the ...

from Norwegian Independent Company 1 conducted the raid. The

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

, led by the

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...

, with the destroyers , , and , provided fire support.''London Gazette'', 2 July 1948. The submarine was in support as the force navigational check. and transported the troops. Also in support were

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

bombers and fighter-bombers.

Objectives

Central to the operation was the destruction of fish-oil production and stores which the Germans used in the manufacture of high explosives. Another intention was to cause the Germans to maintain and increase forces in Norway, which would reduce forces deployed on the Eastern Front, thereby giving a numerical advantage to Allied forces. The commando force of 570 troops was divided into five parties to # Secure the area north of the town of

Måløy Måløy () is a town in the municipality of Kinn in Vestland county, Norway. Måløy is located on the southeastern side of the island of Vågsøy, about northeast of the village of Holvika and about south of the village of Raudeberg. The M� ...

in South Vågsøy and engage any enemy reinforcements # Subdue and secure Måløy town # Eliminate the enemy on Måløy Island which dominated the town # Eliminate the enemy strongpoint at Holvik west of Måløy # Provide a floating reserve offshore

Raid

The dawn landing was preceded by a very effective naval bombardment and objectives were achieved, except in

. German opposition in the town was much stiffer than expected as, unknown to the British, a ''

Gebirgsjäger ''Gebirgsjäger'' () are the light infantry part of the alpine or mountain troops (''Gebirgstruppe'') of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The word '' Jäger'' (meaning "hunter" or "huntsman") is a characteristic term used for light infantry in ...

'' (mountain troops) unit of experienced troops from the Eastern Front was there on leave. The defenders' experience in

sniping A sniper is a military/paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with high-precision r ...

and street fighting caused the operation to develop into a bitter

house-to-house battle Urban warfare is combat conducted in urban areas such as towns and city, cities. Urban combat differs from combat in the open at both the Military operation, operational and the Military tactics, tactical levels. Complicating factors in urban war ...

. The British commander, John Durnford-Slater, called on the floating reserve and troops from Vågsøy Island. Several local citizens assisted the commandos by acting as porters for

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weapo ...

grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade g ...

s and other explosives and in carrying away the wounded. At around 14:00, the commandos started their withdrawal having destroyed four factories, the fish-oil stores, ammunition and fuel stores, the

telephone exchange telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a telecommunications system used in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It interconnects telephone subscriber lines or virtual circuits of digital syste ...

and various military installations, leaving much of the town in flames. The naval assault force of one cruiser and four destroyers had sunk 10 vessels, some found in the act of being scuttled to prevent capture. Technical difficulties had prevented the German

coastal artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form o ...

from being fully effective, with one of their three guns scoring one hit on the cruiser. File:Raid on Vaagso, 27 December 1941 N451.jpg, Commandos with POWs File:Raid on Vaagso, 27 December 1941 N459.jpg, British troops watch an oil factory burn

Aftermath

No Royal Navy ships were lost but the navy suffered four men killed and four wounded. The Commandos sustained 17 killed and 53 wounded. The commander of the Norwegian Independent Company 1, Captain Martin Linge, was killed in an attack on the local German headquarters and eight Royal Air Force aircraft were shot down. (A Norwegian civilian was hit by shrapnel during the raid, and died from the resulting injuries the following night). The commandos accounted for at least 120 defenders killed and returned with 98 prisoners and a complete copy of the German Naval Code. Captain O'Flaherty was hit by sniper fire and lost an eye, later wearing an eye-patch as a brigadier. Several

Quislings ''Quisling'' (, ) is a term used in Scandinavian languages and in English meaning a citizen or politician of an occupied country who collaborates with an enemy occupying force – or more generally as a synonym for ''traitor''. The word ori ...

and over 70 loyal Norwegians (Jøssing) were also brought back. In conjunction with this raid, Operation Anklet was mounted by No. 12 Commando on the

Lofoten Islands Lofoten () is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches and untouched lands. There are two towns, Svolvæ ...

as a diversion. The raid was enough to persuade

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

to divert 30,000 troops to Norway and to build more coastal and inland defences. Hitler thought that the British might invade northern Norway to put pressure on Sweden and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

Notes

External links

"SUPPLEMENT to The ''London Gazette'' Of FRIDAY the 2nd of July 1948 RAID ON MILITARY AND ECONOMIC OBJECTIVES IN THE VICINITY OF VAAGSO ISLAND.
ibiblio.org
Combined Operations: Operation Archery

I Was There! – We Went to Vaagso with the Commando Men
'' The War Illustrated'', 20 January 1942.
Newsreel coverage of the raid
{{DEFAULTSORT:Archery 1941, Operation Conflicts in 1941 World War II British Commando raids Battles and operations of World War II involving Norway Military history of Norway during World War II 1941 in Norway Norwegian resistance movement Military operations of World War II involving Germany History of Vestland Articles containing video clips Amphibious operations of World War II December 1941 events Amphibious operations involving the United Kingdom

Objectives

Raid

Aftermath

Notes

Further reading

External links