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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Operation Harpune (''Harpoon'') was the major German deception plan of 1941. This operation (like

Operation Haifisch Operation Haifisch (''Shark'') was a German codename for the cover operation against the United Kingdom in World War II, intended (like Operation Harpune) to conceal preparations for Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. Elabo ...

) portrayed the so-called

Operation Seelowe Operation Sea Lion, also written as Operation Sealion (german: Unternehmen Seelöwe), was Nazi Germany's code name for the plan for an invasion of the United Kingdom during the Battle of Britain in the Second World War. Following the Battle ...

("Sealion") as inevitable, to conceal preparations for the invasion of the Soviet Union, called

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

. ''Harpune'' had two parts, ''Harpune Süd'' (Harpoon South) operated from Norway, Denmark, and France, while ''Harpune Nord'' (Harpoon North) did the same in Norway.''AOK Norwegen, Ia, Nr. 6/41, Operationsbefehl Nr. 1 für die Vorbereitung der Unternehmung 'Harpune,' '' in ''Tätigkeitsberichte für Monat Mai.'' AOK 20 12564/7 in Ziemke, Earl F., ''The German Northern Theater of Operations 1940-1945,'' Washington DC, US Government Printing Office, 1959, 138

References

Harpune,Operation Harpune {{Germany-WWII-stub