Operation Lobster
Encyclopedia
In 1940 the Germans decided to send agents and saboteur
s to infiltrate Britain from Norway
and Northern France
. This plan was given the codename Operation Lobster . It remained in place despite the collapse of plans for Operation Sea Lion .
had been tasked with retrieving current, firm data on British defenses 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:
The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
(OKW) issued planning directives asking Abwehr I/II for:
Lobster was controlled by Major Klug of Office WN 2 (Abwehr II) in Berlin. 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
. 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.
Saboteur
A saboteur is someone who commits sabotage.It may also refer to:*Morituri , a 1965 film also known as The Saboteur*Saboteur , a card game by Frederic Moyersoen, published in 2004...
s to infiltrate Britain from Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and Northern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. This plan was given the codename Operation Lobster . It remained in place despite the collapse of plans for Operation Sea Lion .
Military context
After victory in France, the AbwehrAbwehr
The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
had been tasked with retrieving current, firm data on British defenses 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 [Generalmajor Erwin von LahousenErwin von LahousenGeneralmajor Erwin von Lahousen was a high-ranking Abwehr official during World War II, as well as a member of the German Resistance and a key player in attempts to assassinate Adolf Hitler on March 13, 1943 and July 20, 1944.- Background :...
]) 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
Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht was part of the command structure of the armed forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.- Genesis :...
(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 columnFifth columnA fifth column is a group of people who clandestinely undermine a larger group such as a nation from within.-Origin:The term originated with a 1936 radio address by Emilio Mola, a Nationalist General during the 1936–39 Spanish Civil War...
into Britain which could perform sabotageSabotageSabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
and link up with any invading German ground troops.
Lobster was controlled by Major Klug of Office WN 2 (Abwehr II) in Berlin. 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
Operation Green (Ireland)
Operation Green often also referred to as Case Green or Plan Green , was a full scale operations plan for a German invasion of Ireland in support of Operation Sea Lion . Despite its detailed nature, Green is thought to have been designed only as a credible threat, a feint, not an actual operation...
. 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 IOperation Lobster IOperation Lobster I was an Abwehr plan to infiltrate three German agents into Ireland, , in July 1940...
- Operation Seagull (Ireland)Operation Seagull (Ireland)Operation Seagull was an Abwehr II/Brandenburger Regiment sanctioned mission launched in September 1940...
- Operation Seagull IOperation Seagull IOperation Seagull I was an Abwehr II sanctioned mission devised in May 1942. The plan was the brainchild of Kurt Haller and an expert from Abwehr I-Wi...
- Operation Seagull IIOperation Seagull IIOperation Seagull II was an Abwehr II. sanctioned mission planned in June 1942 as a refinement of Operation Seagull I...
- Operation WhaleOperation WhaleOperation Whale was the name of two separate German Intelligence plans conceived in 1940.*" Unternehmen Walfisch" was an aborted plan to land a seaplane on a lake in Ireland...
- Operation Dove (Ireland)Operation Dove (Ireland)Operation Dove also sometimes known as Operation Pigeon, was an Abwehr sanctioned mission devised in early 1940...
- Operation OspreyOperation OspreyOperation Osprey was a plan conceived by the German Foreign Ministry and Abwehr II. mid 1942. The plan was an enlargement of Operation Whale...
- Operation Sea EagleOperation Sea EagleOperation Sea Eagle sometimes referred to as Operation Dove II was a German Foreign Ministry plan conceived in May 1941 after the collapse of planning around Operation Whale .The operation was to involve landing a seaplane on a lake in Ireland to supply the Irish Republican...
- Plan KathleenPlan KathleenPlan Kathleen, sometimes referred to as Artus Plan, was a military plan for the invasion of Northern Ireland sanctioned by Stephen Hayes, Acting Irish Republican Army Chief of Staff, in 1940...
- Operation MainauOperation MainauOperation Mainau was a German espionage mission during the Second World War. It was sanctioned and planned by the German secret service and executed successfully on May 1940...
- Operation InnkeeperOperation InnkeeperOperation Innkeeper was an aborted plan devised in Autumn 1941 to send two Irish Abwehr agents to London on a sabotage mission....
See also
- Operation Green (Ireland)Operation Green (Ireland)Operation Green often also referred to as Case Green or Plan Green , was a full scale operations plan for a German invasion of Ireland in support of Operation Sea Lion . Despite its detailed nature, Green is thought to have been designed only as a credible threat, a feint, not an actual operation...
- IRA Abwehr World War II - Main article on IRA Nazi links