Qualla: Operation Claymore https://qualla.com/operation-claymore en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:36 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/u/k/4/5/operation-claymore-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Operation Claymore https://qualla.com/operation-claymore Operation Claymore: Introduction https://qualla.com/operation-claymore/ Photo credit Royal Navy official photographer, Public domain. The memo that launched Operation Claymore was almost casual. On 14 January 1941, Hugh Dalton, Britain's Minister of Economic Warfare, wrote to Winston Churchill suggesting "a surprise attack" on Norway's Lofoten Islands -- land small parties, destroy fish oil plants, sink enemy ships in the harbor, and "kidnap Quislings, who are hated by the local population." Churchill liked the idea immediately. What followed, on 4 March 1941, was the first large-scale British commando raid of the Second World War, an operation that would prove far more significant than anyone involved initially realized.

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Image: Royal Navy official photographer | Public domain

]]> Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/k/4/5/operation-claymore-wp/uk45-operation-claymore-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Operation Claymore: Churchill's Hunter Class https://qualla.com/operation-claymore/ Photo credit Royal Navy official photographer, Public domain. The commandos who landed at Lofoten were products of desperation. After the British Expeditionary Force was evacuated from Dunkirk in 1940, Churchill demanded an offensive capability -- troops he called "the hunter class" who could develop "a reign of terror down the enemy coast....

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Image: Royal Navy official photographer | Public domain

]]> Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/k/4/5/operation-claymore-wp/uk45-operation-claymore-churchills-hunter-class.mp3 0:06 2 full Operation Claymore: Nine Hundred Miles to the Arctic https://qualla.com/operation-claymore/ Photo credit Royal Navy official photographer, Public domain. The raiders sailed nearly 900 miles from Britain, escorted by destroyers of the 6th Flotilla and carried aboard two converted infantry landing ships, HMS Princess Beatrix and HMS Queen Emma. Their targets were four small fishing ports on the Lofoten Islands -- Stamsund, Henningsv...

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Image: Royal Navy official photographer | Public domain

]]> Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/k/4/5/operation-claymore-wp/uk45-operation-claymore-nine-hundred-miles-to-the-arctic.mp3 0:06 3 full Operation Claymore: The Prize No One Discussed https://qualla.com/operation-claymore/ Photo credit Royal Navy official photographer, Public domain. The raid's official objectives -- destroying oil production, capturing prisoners, boosting morale -- were real enough. But the most consequential act of the entire operation occurred almost incidentally. When HMS Somali engaged the German armed trawler Krebs, which managed to fir...

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Image: Royal Navy official photographer | Public domain

]]> Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/k/4/5/operation-claymore-wp/uk45-operation-claymore-the-prize-no-one-discussed.mp3 0:06 4 full Operation Claymore: Two Views of Success https://qualla.com/operation-claymore/ Photo credit Royal Navy official photographer, Public domain. The British declared Claymore an unqualified success. The raiders returned with 228 German prisoners, 314 Norwegian volunteers eager to join the Allied cause, and several Quisling collaborators. Not a single commando was killed. Churchill and the Special Operations Executive poin...

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Image: Royal Navy official photographer | Public domain

]]> Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/k/4/5/operation-claymore-wp/uk45-operation-claymore-two-views-of-success.mp3 0:06 5 full Operation Claymore: Echoes Across the War https://qualla.com/operation-claymore/ Photo credit Royal Navy official photographer, Public domain. Claymore was the beginning, not the end, of commando operations against Norway. Operations Anklet and Archery followed later in 1941, targeting different parts of the coast. The men of No. 3 and No. 4 Commando went on to join the 1st Special Service Brigade and land on the beache...

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Image: Royal Navy official photographer | Public domain

]]> Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/k/4/5/operation-claymore-wp/uk45-operation-claymore-echoes-across-the-war.mp3 0:06 6 full