Operation Claymore Operation Claymore was the codename for a British Commandos raid on the Lofoten Islands in Norway during the Second World War . The Lofoten Islands were an important centre for the production of fish oil and glycerine , used in the German war industry . The landings were carried out on 4 March 1941 , by the men of No . 3 Commando , No . 4 Commando , a Royal Engineers Section and 52 men from the Royal Norwegian Navy . Supported by the 6th Destroyer Flotilla and two troop transports of the Royal Navy , the force made an unopposed landing and generally continued to meet no opposition . The original plan had been to avoid contact with German forces and inflict the maximum of damage to German - controlled industry . They achieved their objective of destroying fish oil factories and some 3 , 600 tonnes ( 800 , 000 imperial gallons ) of oil and glycerine . Through naval gunfire and demolition parties , 18 , 000 tons of shipping were sunk . Perhaps the most significant outcome of the raid , however , was the capture of a set of rotor wheels for an Enigma cypher machine and its code books from the German armed trawler " Krebs " . This enabled German naval codes to be read at Bletchley Park , providing the intelligence needed to allow allied convoys to avoid U - boat concentrations . The British experienced only one accidental injury ; an officer injuring himself with his own revolver ; and returned with some 228 German prisoners , 314 loyal Norwegian volunteers and a number of Quisling regime collaborators . In the aftermath the evaluation of the operation differed , the British and especially Winston Churchill and the Special Operations Executive deeming it a success . In the eyes of the British the value of such actions was mainly to tie up large German forces on occupation duties in Norway . Martin Linge and the other Norwegians involved were more doubtful of the value of such raids against the Norwegian coast . Following Operation Claymore the Norwegian special operations unit Norwegian Independent Company 1 was established for operations in Norway . Background . After the British Expeditionary Force had been evacuated from Dunkirk in 1940 , British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called for a force to be assembled and equipped to inflict casualties on the Germans and bolster British morale . Churchill told the joint Chiefs of Staff to propose measures for an offensive against German - occupied Europe , and stated : " they must be prepared with specially trained troops of the hunter class who can develop a reign of terror down the enemy coast . " One staff officer , Lieutenant - Colonel Dudley Clarke , had already submitted such a proposal to General Sir John Dill , the Chief of the Imperial General Staff . Dill , aware of Churchill ' s intentions , approved Clarke ' s proposal . Three weeks later , the first Commando raid - - Operation Collar — took place . The raiders failed to gather any intelligence or damage any German equipment ; their only success was in killing two German sentries . The Commandos came under the operational control of the Combined Operations Headquarters . The man initially selected as the commander was Admiral Sir Roger Keyes , a veteran of the Gallipoli Campaign and the Zeebrugge Raid in the First World War . In 1940 , the call went out for volunteers from among the serving Army soldiers within certain formations still in Britain , and men of the disbanding Divisional Independent Companies originally raised from Territorial Army Divisions who had seen service in Norway . In November 1940 the new army units were organised into a Special Service Brigade under Brigadier J . C . Haydon , with four Special Service Battalions . By the autumn of 1940 more than 2 , 000 men had volunteered for commando training , and the Special Service Brigade now consisted of 12 units which were called Commandos . After an inauspicious start the first large scale commando raid was to be on the Lofoten Islands , which are just off the Norwegian coast inside the Arctic Circle and about from Britain . Once at the islands the raiders would be landed at four small ports , to destroy fish oil producing factories . All the oil produced was being shipped to Germany who extracted the glycerine , a vital ingredient in the manufacture of high explosives . The commandos would be transported to the islands aboard two new infantry landing ship s , escorted by four Tribal class and one L class destroyer of the 6th Destroyer Flotilla . Mission . The objectives of Operation Claymore were threefold : the overall commander of the raid was Rear Admiral L . H . K . Hamilton . The Royal Navy were tasked to safely escort the transports carrying the landing force to the islands and back . While there they were to destroy or capture any German shipping or Norwegian shipping working for the Germans and provide naval gunfire support for the landing forces . The naval forces taking part were the escorts from the 6th Destroyer Flotilla : , , , and under the command of Captain C . Caslon . There were two newly converted landing ships the and the which were to transport the landing force . The landing force was provided by the Special Service Brigade under command of Brigadier J . C . Haydon . The commandos taking part were 250 all ranks from No . 3 Commando under command Major J . F . Durnford - Slater , 250 all ranks of No . 4 Commando under command of Lieutenant Colonel D . S . Lister . They were supported by a Section of Royal Engineers of No 55 Field Company , under command of Second Lieutenant H . M . Turner , and 4 officers and 48 other ranks of the Royal Norwegian Navy , under the command of Captain Martin Linge . The landing force were to destroy the oil producing facilities in the ports of Stamsund , Henningsvær , Svolvær and Brettesnes , engage the German garrison and attempt to make prisoners of war and personnel found in the area . They were also to detain any supporters of the Norwegian Quisling party and persuade the local population to leave with them and join the Free Norwegian Forces . The force started gathering at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands on 21 February 1941 and remained there for almost a week before leaving for Norway just after midnight on 1 March 1941 . The landing force was distributed amongst the ships , headquarters Special Service Brigade were transported on HMS " Somali " . No . 4 Commando which had been assigned landings at Svolvær and Brettesnes were on board HMS " Queen Emma " . No 3 Commando which had been assigned landings at Stamsund and Henningsvær were on board HMS " Princess Beatrix " . The Royal Engineers and Norwegian forces were divided between both the landing ships . The time they had spent at Scapa Flow was used getting acquainted with the transport ships and the Assault Landing Craft they would be using to reach the shore . The problems the navy perceived providing gunfire support were also discussed , as the destroyers would not be able to approach closer than to shore owing to the shallows . Because of this the commandos were trained to rely on their own weapons to provide covering fire and support each other from their landing craft . Plans were also made for them to look after themselves in case the destroyers were called away to deal with a naval threat , which included every man being ordered to take enough rations to last 48 hours ashore . Landings . The naval task force known by the codename " Rebel " left Scapa Flow and headed towards the Faroes . They berthed in the Skálafjørður at 19 : 00 hours 1 March 1941 to take on fuel . Refuelling took five hours and the naval task force set out again heading northwards towards the Arctic to avoid detection by German air and sea patrols . They then turned east and headed towards Norway . They arrived at the Lofoten Islands during the early morning of 4 March 1941 , just before 04 : 00 hours . Entering the Vestfjorden they were surprised to see all the harbour navigational lights illuminated , which they believed to be a sign that they were not expected and had achieved complete surprise . During the planning for the operation , plans were drawn up that called for simultaneous landings at all their targets at 06 : 30 hours but on arrival they decided to postpone the landings by 15 minutes so they would not be landing in total darkness . When they did commence to disembark the landing force , they were all ashore by 06 : 50 hours . On shore the landing force commenced their operations , unopposed and the only shots fired were by the armed trawler " Krebs " . They managed to fire four rounds at HMS " Somali " before being sunk . Other ships sunk by the landing forces were the merchant ships " Hamburg " , " Pasajes " , " Felix " , " Mira " , " Eilenau " , " Rissen " , " Ando " , " Grotto " and the " Bernhardt Schltz " which amounted to 18 , 000 tons of shipping . Additionally the force that landed at Stamsund destroyed the Lofotens Cod Boiling Plant . Two factories were destroyed at Henningsvær and 13 at Svolvær . In total about of fish oil , paraffin were set on fire . They captured 228 prisoners of war , seven from the Kriegsmarine , three from the Heer , 15 from the Luftwaffe , two from the Schutzstaffel ( SS ) , 147 from the Merchant Navy and 14 civilians . Perhaps the most significant outcome of the raid , however , was the capture of a set of rotor wheels for an Enigma cypher machine and its code books . These were rescued from the sinking German armed trawler " Krebs " . Their capture enabled Bletchley Park to read all the German naval codes for some time , which provided the intelligence needed to allow allied convoys to avoid U - boat concentrations . By 13 : 00 hours both the infantry landing ships HMS " Princess Beatrix " and HMS " Queen Emma " had embarked all their troops and were ready to sail . With them came 300 volunteers for the Free Norwegian Forces in Britain . Aftermath . Operation Claymore was the first of 12 commando raids directed against Norway during the Second World War , the German response to these raids , was to eventually increase the number of troops they had stationed there . By 1944 the German garrison in Norway had risen to 370 , 000 men . By comparison a British infantry division in 1944 had an establishment of 18 , 347 men . Both of the commando units involved in the raid No . 3 and No . 4 Commandos would become part of the 1st Special Service Brigade that took part in the Normandy landings in June 1944 .