Skylark B was a radio communications group that operated in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

during the

German occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until the ...

. The group was established and led by

Erik Welle-Strand Erik August Lindhè Welle-Strand (2 June 1915 – 17 July 2001) was a Norwegian mining engineer and resistance member during World War II. He is best known as leader of the illegal radio post Skylark B. Early life He was born in June 1915 in Berge ...

, who was a student in Trondheim. Preparations were done in 1940, when a transmitter was brought in from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, and the communications were effective from the end of January to September 1941. Their station, called ''Sealion'', was one of two radio stations that maintained the radio communication between Norway and the UK

Secret Intelligence Service The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

in this period. The transmitter was located in Herbernheia in the recreational area

Bymarka Bymarka is a large park and nature reserve on the west side of the city of Trondheim in Trøndelag county, Norway. Location and use Bymarka is situated to the west of the city center and has an area of , with more than of walking tracks. Bym ...

. A large number of telegrams were sent while the group was operational. The group was eventually rolled up by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

in September 1941. Several of the operators were imprisoned. Eleven members of the Skylark B group were sent to German death camps, and seven of these later died in Germany. Others managed to flee from the country, among these were

Leif Tronstad Leif Hans Larsen Tronstad DSO, OBE (27 March 1903 – 11 March 1945) was a Norwegian inorganic chemist, intelligence officer and military organizer. He graduated from the Norwegian Institute of Technology in 1927 and was a prolific research ...

Einar Johansen Oliver (Einar) Johansen (15 August 1915 – 16 October 1996) was a Norwegian engineer and resistance member during World War II. He is known as a member of the illegal radio group Skylark B, and after this was discontinued he set up new radio posts ...

, Bjørn Rørholt an
Olav Skeie

Reports

In February 1941, Skylark B reported on German ships in

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; sma, Trööndelage) is a county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ( no, Trondhjems Amt); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denmar ...

, and on export of

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

from

Narvik ( se, Áhkanjárga) is the third-largest municipality in Nordland county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Narvik. Some of the notable villages in the municipality include Ankenesstranda, Ball ...

. In March, there were telegrams on

pyrite The mineral pyrite (), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Iron, FeSulfur, S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral. Pyrite's metallic Luster (mineralogy), lust ...

shipments from

Thamshavn Thamshavn or Thamshamn is a small port village in the municipality of Orkland in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is the site of the port for the town of Orkanger and the ferrosilicon plant Elkem Thamshavn. It is located right along European route ...

, on large numbers of German troops in

Mosjøen Mosjøen (; sma, Mussere) is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Vefsn Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. Mosjøen is the oldest town in the Helgeland region, with only the Bodø (town), town of Bodø being older within Nordland c ...

, on a

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tec ...

base in

Hommelvik Hommelvik is the administrative centre of the municipality of Malvik in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located at the end of the ''Hommelvika'', a bay off of the Trondheimsfjord. Hommelvik is about southwest of the village of Muruvik ...

, and on German gas ships in Trondheim. During spring 1941, telegrams reported high military activity (German troop movements) which later appeared to reflect preparations for the German attack on the Soviet Union. In May 1941, before the German battleship ''Bismarck'' battle, Skylark reported to SIS that three

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s had arrived in Trondheim. Skylark B also facilitated communication between London and Trondheim regarding the production of heavy water at

Vemork Vemork is a hydroelectric power plant outside Rjukan in Tinn, Norway. The plant was built by Norsk Hydro and opened in 1911, its main purpose being to fix nitrogen for the production of fertilizer. At opening, it was the world's largest power pl ...

References

{{reflist Norwegian resistance movement Radio stations in Norway World War II espionage Radio stations established in 1941 Radio stations disestablished in 1941 Defunct mass media in Norway