Kiel Operation

**Support from:**
 Denmark

The **Kiel Operation** was an amphibious landing operation at the cities of Eckernförde and Kiel undertaken by British forces from 2 to 6 February 1920 during the German Civil War.

The objectives of the landing were to provide support for the advancing Danish army as well as to capture the strategic port of Kiel and the fortifications around the fjord, a major step in the ultimate goal of securing the Kiel Canal and capturing a significant portion of the Spartacist navy.

The landing proved to be a failure, doomed by insufficient forces, a mutiny in the navy, and a quick reaction from Spartacist forces. Over 2,000 Royal Marines were eventually cut off and captured, and later repatriated. Though the disastrous outcome was censored in the British press it would nonetheless spell the end of direct British involvement in the German Civil War.

## Operation

### Landing at Eckernförde and assault on Kiel

On 2 February 1920, around 1,000 British Royal Marines landed in the small port town of Eckernförde, which was only a few miles north of Kiel and a few miles south of the Spartacist frontline with Denmark. This landing was only lightly opposed, with a small group of reportedly drunken armed sailors being the only forces stationed in the town, who were captured without a struggle. It was deemed too risky to land directly at Kiel, which was well defended by fortifications and mines in the narrow fjord.

On 3 February an additional 5,000 marines were landed at Eckernförde. Spartacist forces were forced to give ground in order to reinforce Rendsburg and Kiel. To the surprise of the British command, no counterattack was launched against Eckernförde, despite it standing on the flank of Spartacist forces in the Schwansen Peninsula. Some military analysts later evaluated that the amount of British troops present would have been insufficient to repel a large-scale counterattack, though it's unclear if the Spartacists could have done so without ceding significant ground to the Danes. The town was placed under curfew and civilians forbidden from leaving, while the garrison dug trenches to form a defensive perimeter outside the city.

On the morning of 4 February the order to advance towards Kiel was given. 5,000 marines advanced towards Kiel, a trip that lasted approximately ten hours, two hours longer than expected. Though Eckernförde hosted a railway junction leading towards Kiel no trains were present at the time, and without any other means of transportation the marines had to march entirely on foot, leading to exhaustion. The marines stopped in the town of Gettorf along the way, seizing food and supplies but otherwise establishing no permanent presence. Another 1,000 troops landed on the beaches northeast of Kiel, out of range of the fjord defences. At approximately 23:00, under the cover of night, the fighting began. The British troops were divided between two main goals: capturing the port and securing the fjord defenses. The troops advancing from the northeast had the main focus of capturing the fortifications on the eastern side of the fjord. The majority of those advancing from Eckernförde were tasked with capturing the port, with a small contingent being sent to capture the fortifications on the western side of the fjord.

### Mutinies in the Royal Navy

On the same day, the Royal Navy was intended to bombard the fortifications around the fjord to aid the advance of the ground forces, and were to seize the bay after the capture of the harbor by the ground troops. The sailors were not informed what they would be doing until the arrival near Kiel, though many had speculated they were being sent on an intervention. Before the firing orders could be delivered the crew of the cruiser HMS *Ceres* mutinied, upset by the harsh working conditions imposed in the days leading up to the operation. A group of Royal Marines in the reserve were called to quell the mutiny. However, upon attempting to board, these marines were fired on by the mutinous sailors and were forced to retreat. Commanding Admiral Walter Cowan initially attempted to defuse the situation by promising pay increases. However, soon the sailors of his flagship mutinied in solidarity with *Ceres*.

    With this threatening to derail the operation, Cowan threatened to have the mutinous sailors executed. Though this mostly quelled the unrest among the sailors of Cowan's flagship, the news continued to spread, leading to mutinies on the destroyers HMS *Vortigern* and HMS *Vectis*. The crew of *Vortigern* did not seize control from the officers, and when rumors of summary executions spread the mutiny was quelled. Meanwhile, the crew of *Vectis* arrested the officers opposed to the mutiny, being quelled only by the boarding of reserve marines.

While the mutinies elsewhere were quelled, the mutinous crew of *Ceres* maintained their rebellion. The crew feared repercussions for their actions, having caught wind of the rumors of summary executions, and chose to abandon the ship to seek refuge in Germany. Though some sailors apparently opposed this decision, they were overruled by the majority of the crew. *Ceres* detached from the rest of the fleet and sailed towards the Bay of Kiel. The Spartacist crew of the fortifications in Friedrichsort Fortress were naturally unaware of the intent of the sailors, and fired multiple barrages at *Ceres*. Fire was soon halted, with the red flag flown on *Ceres* apparently having been spotted. Though *Ceres* was only lightly damaged, the crew began to abandon the ship, and were soon intercepted by a Spartacist torpedo boat. No casualties were reported. The British made no attempt to reclaim the ship, and it was eventually captured and towed to port by the Spartacists after the battle. Fearing that more ships would follow, Cowan ordered loyal reserve marines to board the remaining ships, who successfully quelled the remaining unrest without much resistance.

### Disaster at Kiel

While the Royal Navy was crippled by mutinies, the unaware marines continued the effort to seize the harbor and fortifications throughout the rest of 4 February and into midday on 5 February. However, by the late morning no major objectives had been secured and as much as 1/4th of the force had been lost due to unexpectedly stiff resistance. The British plan had relied on the harbor being seized rapidly and fortifications neutralized so that the fjord could be seized, the Spartacist fleet captured, and supplies landed. The present Spartacist garrison, however, was larger than British intelligence had estimated, and notably included at least two armored cars. They also came under bombardment by Spartacist torpedo boats and airplanes. Though the urbanized western half of the city was mostly captured, the British marines encountered heavy resistance at the Germaniawerft facilities and the surrounding industrial zone, where the Spartacist line steadied. This prevented the capture of the much more important Kaiserliche Werft and its military port facilities.

The smaller detachment of marines assigned to capture Holtenau and thus the Kiel Canal facilities did not fare much better, coming under heavy fire from the extensive fortifications around the locks. Following expected success here they were supposed to then advance further north and neutralize the Friedrichsort fort, enabling the entry of the Royal Navy into the fjord. However, neither of this objectives were achievable with the small force available, and the marines soon retreated after sustaining dozens of casualties. The marines that had landed to the northeast of Kiel near Laboe succeeded in neutralizing the defenses in the town with the aid of the Royal Navy, but then encountered unexpected resistance at Fort Stosch to the south. With the terrain favorable to the Spartacist defenders the marines failed to seize control until the morning of 6 February, by which point the operation had been abandoned.

With the severe lack of success, the British troops were now without fresh supplies and could not maintain their positions. The Spartacists were now maneuvering to cut off the path of retreat and so the order to withdraw was given, starting with the marines near Holtenau. Though a large portion of the marines were able to successfully retreat back to Eckernförde and evade German forces, a much larger portion was surrounded in the city. With their surrender, combined with other marines rounded up elsewhere, a total of 2,257 marines were captured and taken as prisoners of war, with many of them wounded. On the other hand, the marines at Laboe were successfully withdrawn without the Spartacists taking any prisoners.

## Aftermath

    After the crushing defeat at Kiel, the marines that had successfully retreated initially fortified themselves in Eckernförde. However, it soon became clear that no Danish breakthrough would be relieving them, and so all troops were evacuated on 6 February, ending the operation. The town was reoccupied by Spartacist forces the following day, who now chose to station a larger force. The *Ceres* was repaired and put into service in the Volksmarine. Most of the mutinous crew members had their British citizenship revoked, and many chose to become German citizens after being released from detainment in December 1920. The officers were taken as prisoners of war.

The failed operation and the mutiny-defections had a profound effect on the British command. Operations against the Spartacists were suspended. British involvement in the German Civil War became mostly limited to its participation in the occupation of the Rhineland. All involvement would cease after the signing of the Treaty of Aachen. Reports on the operation in the British media were suppressed until months after the end of the civil war. Most of the 2,257 captured at Kiel were released as per the terms of the treaty, though a few chose to remain in Germany.