In 1940 the Germans decided to send agents and
saboteur
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identiti ...
s to infiltrate
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
from
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
and northern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
. This plan was given the codename Operation Lobster (german: Unternehmen Hummer). It remained in place despite the collapse of plans for the invasion of Britain in
Operation Sea Lion
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 o ...
(german: Unternehmen Seelöwe).
Military context
After victory in France, the
Abwehr had been tasked with retrieving current, reliable data on British defences and war-making capability. Three days before the end of the German campaign in France on 25 June 1940, Abwehr II's war diary noted:
On the direction of the Head of Division (Lahousen eneralmajor_Erwin_von_Lahousen.html" ;"title="Erwin_von_Lahousen.html" ;"title="eneralmajor Erwin von Lahousen">eneralmajor Erwin von Lahousen">Erwin_von_Lahousen.html" ;"title="eneralmajor Erwin von Lahousen">eneralmajor Erwin von Lahousen Abwehr II's work has in the main been switched over to the war with England. In addition, preparations are being made for work overseas. The only work in the east now concerns looking after the Ukrainian minority and transferring old contacts to Abwehr III. At the same time Abwehr II's work in Holland, Belgium and France is diminishing and being transferred.
The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) issued planning directives asking Abwehr I/II for:
:*Data regarding the state of Britain's defences.
:*Data on the feasibility of a German invasion force landing on the island of Ireland.
:*Data on the creation/insertion of a
fifth column into Britain which could perform
sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...
and link up with any invading German ground troops.
Lobster was controlled by Major Klug of Office WN 2 (Abwehr II) in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
. Lobster involved sending missions to Britain by a variety of means, but generally by sea.
Lobster was in the context of Operation Sea Lion which in turn involved
Plan Green (german: Plan Grün). Before events in the military sphere overtook plans for the launching of Sea Lion, the Abwehr successfully inserted almost twenty agents into Britain and Ireland between the summer and early autumn of 1940.
Notable operations involving Ireland
*
Operation Lobster I
*
Operation Seagull (Ireland)
*
Operation Seagull I
*
Operation Seagull II
*
Operation Whale
Operation Whale (''"Unternehmen Wal"'' or ''"Unternehmen Walfisch"'' in German) was the name of two separate German Intelligence (Abwehr) plans conceived in 1940.Wal & Walfisch have the same meaning in the German language.
*''" Unternehmen Walfisc ...
*
Operation Dove (Ireland)
Operation Dove (''"Unternehmen Taube"'' in German) also sometimes known as Operation Pigeon, was an '' Abwehr'' sanctioned mission devised in early 1940. The plan envisioned the transport of IRA Chief of Staff Seán Russell to Ireland, and on th ...
*
Operation Osprey
Operation Osprey (''"Unternehmen Fischadler"'' in German) was a plan conceived by the German Foreign Ministry and Abwehr II. mid-1942. The plan was an enlargement of Operation Whale (''"Unternehmen Wal"'' in German). Planning took place in th ...
*
Operation Sea Eagle
Operation Sea Eagle (''"Unternehmen Seeadler"'' in German) sometimes referred to as Operation Dove II (''"Unternehmen Taube II"'' in German) was a German Foreign Ministry plan conceived in May 1941 after the collapse of planning around Operation Wh ...
*
Plan Kathleen
*
Operation Mainau
*
Operation Innkeeper
Operation Innkeeper (''"Unternehmen Gastwirt"'' in German) was an aborted plan devised in Autumn 1941 to send two Irish Abwehr agents to London on a sabotage mission.
One of the two agents was John Codd, an Irish national captured while servin ...
See also
*
Operation Green (Ireland)
Operation Green (german: link=no, Unternehmen Grün) often also referred to as Case Green () or Plan Green (), was a full-scale operations plan for a Nazi German invasion of Ireland planned by an unknown German officer known by the alias "Hade ...
*
Irish Republican Army–Abwehr collaboration - main article on IRA-Nazi links
References
Bibliography
* Hull, Mark M. (2003). ''Irish Secrets. German Espionage in Wartime Ireland 1939-1945''.
* Stephan, Enno. (1963). ''Spies in Ireland''. {{ISBN, 1-131-82692-2 (Reprint).
Lobster
Lobster
Lobster
Lobster
Lobster, Operation