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Operation Zitronella, also known as Operation Sizilien (which translates to Sicily), was an eight-hour German raid on Spitzbergen on 8 September 1943.〔 ==Background== During the Second World War, the Svalbard archipelago was the scene of a number of military operations. In August 1941, British, Canadian, and Free Norwegian Forces landed on Spitzbergen during Operation Gauntlet. This was aimed to destroy the rich coal mines there together with associated equipment and stores, which (it was correctly assumed) the Germans intended to make use of. No attempt was made to establish a garrison at this time and the civilian population was evacuated. In April 1942, a Norwegian force landed at Barentsburg in Operation Fritham to establish a permanent presence in the islands, but this operation met considerable difficulties. Nevertheless, by the summer of 1943, they were well established. Meanwhile, Nazi Germany had established a number of manned meteorological stations in the Arctic to improve weather forecasts vital for the warfare against Allied convoys from the UK to the USSR. One of the first manned stations, "Knospe", was established in the inner part of Krossfjorden in the main island late 1941 under the command of H.R. Knoespel, following the evacuation of the Norwegian and Russian populations in September 1941. It was decided to evacuate the "Knospe" weather station during the summer of 1942, as the ice-free season made an Allied attack possible. The submarine appointed for evacuation of the group of six people was , under Kapitänleutnant Siegfried Strelow. The evacuation took place on 23 August 1942 without Allied interference. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Operation Zitronella」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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