Greenland in World War II
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The fall of Denmark in April 1940 left the
Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
colony of
Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...
an unoccupied territory of an occupied nation, under the possibility of seizure by the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
or
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. To forestall this, the United States acted to guarantee Greenland's position. With the entrance of the United States into the war in December 1941, Greenland became a combatant. From 1941 until 1945, the United States established numerous and extensive facilities for air and sea traffic in Greenland, as well as radio beacons, radio stations, weather stations, ports, depots, artillery posts, and search-and-rescue stations. The
United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...
also provided a considerable portion of civilian resupply along both coasts. Economically, Greenland traded successfully with the United States, Canada and
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
, which, supplemented by the
cryolite Cryolite ( Na3 Al F6, sodium hexafluoroaluminate) is an uncommon mineral identified with the once-large deposit at Ivittuut on the west coast of Greenland, mined commercially until 1987. History Cryolite was first described in 1798 by Danish vete ...
exports, caused a reanimation and permanent realignment of the island's economy.


Neutrality

Before the war, Greenland was a tightly controlled colony of Denmark, otherwise closed off to the rest of the world. After the
invasion of Denmark The German invasion of Denmark (german: Operation Weserübung – Süd), was the German attack on Denmark on 9 April 1940, during the Second World War. The attack was a prelude to the invasion of Norway (german: Weserübung Nord, 9 April – 10 ...
on 9 April 1940, Greenland was left on its own, because the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
seized any ships arriving from Axis-controlled Europe. The United Kingdom and Canada initially laid plans to occupy points of interest on the island, but the United States, still neutral, firmly rejected "third party" intervention there. The sheriffs ("landsfogeder") of South and North Greenland,
Eske Brun Eske Brun (May 25, 1904 – October 11, 1987) was a high civil servant in Greenland and in relation to Greenland from 1932 to 1964. Early life and career. Eske Brun was born in Aalborg in the northern part of Jutland, Denmark. Eske Brun was ...
and Aksel Svane, invoking the emergency clause of a 1925 law specifying how Greenland was ruled, declared Greenland a self-ruling territory, believing this to be in the best interests of the colony as Denmark was occupied by
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. This step was taken in coordination with the Danish ambassador to the United States,
Henrik Kauffmann Henrik Kauffmann (26 August 1888 – 5 June 1963) was the Danish ambassador to the United States during World War II, who signed over part of Greenland to the US. Career Kauffmann started his foreign career by serving as envoy in Rome, 1921 ...
, and the U.S. State Department, and comported with the American declaration of 1920 that no third nation would necessarily be accepted as a sovereign in Greenland. This diplomatic stance was seen as an extension of the
Monroe Doctrine The Monroe Doctrine was a United States foreign policy position that opposed European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere. It held that any intervention in the political affairs of the Americas by foreign powers was a potentially hostile ac ...
.Walling (2004), p 6 Although the Danish government continued in power and still considered itself neutral, it was forced to obey German wishes in foreign policy matters. Kauffmann immediately recognized that his government was unable to exercise its full sovereignty, and therefore began to act in an independent capacity. On 13 April he took counsel with the Greenland sheriffs, and after some controversy they agreed to recognize him as their representative in the United States. Since the United States would not offer diplomatic recognition and aid to Greenland unless the local administration was independent, the sheriffs informed the local advisory parliament ("Landsraad") on 3 May that "there was no choice" but to act as a sovereign nation. The Danish Government continued to send orders to the colony via radio and through Portugal, but these messages were ignored.Howarth, p 8 In this decision they were influenced by their determination to avoid becoming subject to a Canadian occupation and thus being drawn into the war. The Greenlanders were also aware of the heavy Norwegian presence in Canada. In the event that Canada attempted to occupy the colony, they were worried that Free Norwegian Forces would be stationed in the area. This was a cause for concern, as the Norwegians had been vying for control over part of the territory until the
Permanent Court of International Justice The Permanent Court of International Justice, often called the World Court, existed from 1922 to 1946. It was an international court attached to the League of Nations. Created in 1920 (although the idea of an international court was several cen ...
settled the dispute in 1933.''Legal Status of Eastern Greenland''
, PCIJ Series A/B No. 53 (1933)
Instead, they requested the protection of the United States, whose Treasury Department agreed to dispatch the U.S. Coast Guard vessels, and with supplies and a consular team to establish a provisional
consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth coun ...
at
Godthaab Nuuk (; da, Nuuk, formerly ) is the capital and largest city of Greenland, a constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark. Nuuk is the seat of government and the country's largest cultural and economic centre. The major cities from other co ...
. Accepting the protection of the Americans, a third party, was seen as less of a threat to Greenland's sovereignty. ''Comanche'' arrived at
Ivigtut Ivittuut (formerly, Ivigtût) (Kalaallisut: "Grassy Place") is an abandoned mining town near Cape Desolation in southwestern Greenland, in the modern Sermersooq municipality on the ruins of the former Norse Middle Settlement. Ivittuut is one of ...
on 20 May, and Godthaab on 22 May, thereby establishing direct diplomatic relations with Greenland. Canada sent a consul and vice-consul to Godthaab two weeks later. In 1940, the chief concern of all interested parties was to secure the strategically important supply of
cryolite Cryolite ( Na3 Al F6, sodium hexafluoroaluminate) is an uncommon mineral identified with the once-large deposit at Ivittuut on the west coast of Greenland, mined commercially until 1987. History Cryolite was first described in 1798 by Danish vete ...
from the mine at Ivigtut. Cryolite was a key component used in the production of aluminum.Tilley, p 4 Due to diplomatic considerations, no American soldiers could be used to protect the mines, so the U.S. State Department recruited fifteen Coast Guardsmen who were voluntarily discharged and in turn hired by the mine as guards. Three-inch naval deck guns were supplied by ''Campbell'' and the recently arrived along with eight machine guns, fifty rifles, and thousands of rounds of ammunition.Walling (2004), p 8 In this way the United States maintained neutrality and still preempted British-Canadian plans for the island. The Dane, Eske Brun, decided that Greenland should undertake its own measures to ensure its sovereignty. He made an appeal to the Greenland's guides and hunters to join an elite unit tasked with patrolling the most remote areas of the colony.Zabecki, p 628 Using the rifles left by the Americans, he directed the creation of what became the
Sirius Dog Sled Patrol The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol ( da, Slædepatruljen Sirius), known informally as ''Siriuspatruljen'' (the Sirius Patrol) and formerly known as ''North-East Greenland Sledge Patrol'' and ''Resolute Dog Sled Patrol'', is an elite Danish naval unit. It ...
(''Slædepatruljen Sirius''). The 15 man volunteer team was made up of native
Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...
, Danish colonists, and Norwegian expatriates.Northeast Greenland Sledge Patrol
warcovers.dk
Germany made no attempts to reach Greenland in 1940. However, three Norwegian vessels reached Norwegian stations on the East Coast. Two were intercepted by the Royal Navy, one (which was released) by the U.S. Coast Guard. In violation of Greenlandic neutrality, the Royal Navy demolished the Norwegian stations, drawing an American protest, and a German reconnaissance plane made a flight over the East Coast in November to check on a Norwegian station that had not been heard from. In 1941, the situation shifted towards delivery of
Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...
aircraft to Britain via the North Atlantic island "stepping stones." Again, the United Kingdom and Canada pressed for an operation to establish an airfield near Cape Farewell. This led the United States and the Greenland government to formalize an American protectorate to preserve the island's neutrality. Following surveys in 1940 and 1941, two locations for air bases were located, and a naval base established close to Ivigtut. The American bases and stations were codenamed under the
Bluie Bluie was the United States military code name for Greenland during World War II. It is remembered by the numbered sequence of base locations identified by the 1941 United States Coast Guard South Greenland Survey Expedition, and subsequently us ...
West and Bluie East moniker. President
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
took a strong personal interest in Greenland's fate. On 9 April 1941, the anniversary of the German occupation, the Danish envoy Kauffmann, against the instructions of his government, signed an executive agreement with Secretary of State
Cordell Hull Cordell Hull (October 2, 1871July 23, 1955) was an American politician from Tennessee and the longest-serving U.S. Secretary of State, holding the position for 11 years (1933–1944) in the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ...
, allowing the presence of American troops and making Greenland a ''de facto'' United States protectorate. The cryolite mine in Ivigtut was a unique asset that made it possible for Greenland to manage fairly well economically during the war. The United States supplied the island and sent patrol boats to survey the east coast of Greenland although this activity was limited by seasonal ice. The Coast Guard, in coordination with Eske Brun, created the Northeast Greenland Sledge Patrol, consisting of 15 men, many of them former hunters in the area. Their task was to patrol the coast to discover any German activity. However, in 1941 there was no such landing, although the Norwegian resupply trawler was encountered in September. Among its otherwise innocuous crew and passengers was a civilian Norwegian who intended to provide weather reports for German contacts in Norway. This ship was seized and brought to Boston by the Coast Guard. In 1941, Royal Navy ships continued to interfere with weather stations on the east coast. A couple of reconnaissance aircraft from Norway flew over
Scoresbysund Ittoqqortoormiit (East Greenlandic: ; West Greenlandic: ''Illoqqortoormiut'' ), formerly known as Scoresbysund, is a settlement in the Sermersooq municipality in eastern Greenland. Its population was 345 as of 2020 and has been described as one of ...
.


Greenland enters the war

When the United States entered the war with Germany on 11 December, Greenland became a warring nation. Remaining contact with Copenhagen was broken off, rationing and daylight saving time was introduced, and local currency and stamps printed. In 1942, the U.S. Army took over protection of the Ivigtut mine, and combat patrols began to be flown from
Bluie West One Bluie West One, later known as Narsarsuaq Air Base and Narsarsuaq Airport, was built on a glacial moraine at what is now the village of Narsarsuaq, near the southern tip of Greenland. Construction by the United States Army began in June 1941. Th ...
, which became the headquarters for both the Coast Guard
Greenland Patrol The Greenland Patrol was a United States Coast Guard operation during World War II. The patrol was formed to support the U.S. Army building aerodrome facilities in Greenland for ferrying aircraft to the British Isles, and to defend Greenland with ...
and the
United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
(USAAF) Greenland Base Command. A third air base was established at
Bluie East Two Bluie East Two was a minor United States Army Air Forces airfield at Ikateq in eastern Greenland. It was operational from 1942 to 1947. Founding and construction After the United States assumed responsibility for the defense of Greenland in Ap ...
during the summer. The Greenland population, which had been 18,000 natives and fewer than 500 Danes, was augmented by thousands of U.S. servicemen. Relations with the Americans were excellent, as they provided news, provisions, humanitarian aid, and entertainment in addition to greatly expanding the island's infrastructure. In 1944 a five kroner coin was struck in Philadelphia, to be used by American soldiers.Hengeveld: Exploring the Coinage of Greenland Greenland's commercial interests in North America were maintained by the Greenland Delegation with the aid of Kauffmann and Svane. Brun remained in Greenland as head of a unified administration.


German weather stations

Both the
Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
(Britain in particular) and Germany tried to gain a monopoly on weather data in the
North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...
and
Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...
s.
Meteorological intelligence Meteorological intelligence is information measured, gathered, compiled, exploited, analyzed and disseminated by meteorologists, Climatology, climatologists and Hydrology, hydrologists to characterize the current state and/or predict the future stat ...
was important as it affected military planning and the routing of ships and convoys. Greenland became an important part of this
North Atlantic weather war The North Atlantic weather war occurred during World War II. The Allies (Britain in particular) and Germany tried to gain a monopoly on weather data in the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans. Meteorological intelligence was important as it affect ...
. Beginning in August 1942, the Germans established four clandestine
weather station A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasts and to study the weather and climate. The measurements taken include tempera ...
s on the east coast. The first expedition on
Sabine Island Sabine Island ( ; da, Sabine Ø) is an island to the northeast of Wollaston Foreland, previously known as ''Inner Pendulum Island''. It is in the Northeast Greenland National Park area. Geography Sabine Island is long from Kap Neumayer in the ...
was detected in the spring, but was withdrawn successfully before it was attacked. The fall 1943 expedition at
Shannon Island Shannon Island ( da, Shannon Ø) is a large island in Northeast Greenland National Park in eastern Greenland, to the east of Hochstetter Foreland, with an area of . It was named by Douglas Charles Clavering on his 1823 expedition for the Royal N ...
also operated successfully over the winter and spring and was withdrawn by air. Two expeditions in October 1944 were seized by the Coast Guard before they could get established. The German weather station ''
Holzauge Holzauge was a Wehrmacht weather station that was built by Nazi Germany after the occupation of Denmark during World War II. It was located on the island of Greenland, which is currently an autonomous territory within the Danish Realm. Timeline I ...
'' at Hansa Bay on the northeast coast of Sabine Island was discovered by a team from the Sledge Patrol on 11 March 1943. The Germans realized they had been discovered, and gave chase to the team, who had to abandon their equipment (including their dog teams) and retreat to the station at
Eskimonæs Clavering Island ( da, Clavering Ø) is a large island in eastern Greenland off Gael Hamke Bay, to the south of Wollaston Foreland. The Eskimonaes ''(Eskimonæs)'' radio and weather station was on this island. It was staffed by Danish scientists ...
, to warn Ib Poulsen, the Sledge Patrol commander. Poulsen reported the German base to the Greenland government on 13 March 1943, and asked for automatic weapons and further orders. Governor Brun officially designated the patrol the "Army of Greenland" and named Poulsen its captain, effective 15 March.Howarth, 1957 edition, pp 72–90 The Germans attacked Eskimonaes on 23 March, seized it and then burned the station two days later. Though unhurt in the firefight, the entire Sledge Patrol contingent based there was forced to make a 400-mile trek to the station at
Ella Island Ella Island, or Ella Ø, is an island in eastern Greenland, within Northeast Greenland National Park. Geography Ella Island is located at the mouth of Kempe Fjord in the northern end of King Oscar Fjord. To the east lie larger Traill Island and ...
without sleds, food, or equipment. On 26 March, while returning to Sabine Island, the Germans ambushed Corporal Eli Knudsen at Sandodden, and accidentally killed him with a machine-gun burst meant for his dogs.Howarth, 1957 ed., pp 108–156 In late-April, Lieutenant Hermann Ritter, the officer in command of the German detachment, was taken prisoner by Marius Jensen, a member of the Sledge Patrol, and brought to the Americans after a long journey to
Scoresby Sound Scoresby Sound (Danish: ''Scoresby Sund'', Greenlandic: ''Kangertittivaq'') is a large fjord system of the Greenland Sea on the eastern coast of Greenland. It has a tree-like structure, with a main body approximately The German base on Sabine was bombed by USAAF bombers from Iceland.Howarth, pp 210–213 It was then seized by a Coast Guard landing party, but all German personnel save one person had already been evacuated by a
Dornier Do 26 The Dornier Do 26 was an all-metal gull-winged flying boat produced before and during World War II by '' Dornier Flugzeugwerke'' of Germany. It was operated by a crew of four and was intended to carry a payload of 500 kg (1,100 lb) o ...
.Dege & Barr (2004), p. xx Apart from fire exchanged between German aircraft and American ships, this was the only offensive air attack on the Greenland mainland. An American air force formation attacked the station on 14 May to make sure it could be of no use to the Germans. On April 22, 1944, six Sledge Patrol members attacked the ''Bassgeiger'' weather station and in the ensuing skirmish a German lieutenant died. The station was subsequently evacuated on June 3. The last German weather station, ''Edelweiss II'', was captured by U.S. Army forces and its crew taken prisoner on 4 November 1944. The American troops landed from the icebreaker , which later transferred the prisoners to . The German transport ship , which was resupplying the station, was seized by ''Eastwind'', renamed ''Eastbreeze'' and commissioned in the United States Coast Guard.Dege & Barr (2004), p. xxxTilley, p 18 Greenland played an important role in North Atlantic air traffic during the war, but the island's role as a major base for anti-submarine warfare assets was hampered by adverse weather, winter darkness, and difficult logistics. For a long period, a flight of six
PBY Catalina The Consolidated PBY Catalina is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft that was produced in the 1930s and 1940s. In Canadian service it was known as the Canso. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II. Catalinas served wit ...
s of VP-6(CG) was maintained at Bluie West One, carrying out a great variety of missions.


Aftermath

On 5 May 1945, Greenlanders celebrated the liberation of Denmark in Nuuk. The Greenland Administration under Eske Brun surrendered its emergency powers and again came under direct control from Copenhagen. Kauffmann returned to Copenhagen, where treason charges against him were dropped, and the Danish parliament ratified his agreement with the United States. The United States presence continued in decreasing numbers until the Kauffmann-Hull agreement was replaced by a new base treaty in 1951.Grant (2010) The American presence brought
Sears catalog Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...
s, with which Greenlanders and Danes ordered modern appliances and other products by mail. The successful experience of an independent Greenland led to a dramatic restructuring and modernization of Danish policy with respect to the colony. The Greenland Sledge Patrol suffered only one casualty during the war - Corporal Eli Knudsen in March 1943. The remains of the police station in Eskimonæs exists to this day. The only fully remaining structure is the outhouse, as it was not burnt by the Germans.Howarth. p. 1 The rest is well-preserved in the arctic environment.Olsen, Bjørnar. Pétursdóttir, Þóra
Ruin Memories: Materialities, Aesthetics and the Archaeology of the Recent Past
/ref>


In fiction

The film '' Vores mand I Amerika'' (''The Good Traitor'') covers the signing of the agreement over Greenland between
Henrik Kauffmann Henrik Kauffmann (26 August 1888 – 5 June 1963) was the Danish ambassador to the United States during World War II, who signed over part of Greenland to the US. Career Kauffmann started his foreign career by serving as envoy in Rome, 1921 ...
and the United States. A scene in the thriller ''
The Manchurian Candidate ''The Manchurian Candidate'' is a novel by Richard Condon, first published in 1959. It is a political thriller about the son of a prominent U.S. political family who is brainwashed into being an unwitting assassin for a Communist conspiracy. The ...
'' includes an American veteran of the struggle against the German weather stations in Greenland giving a rather fanciful account of his experiences. The novel ''Ice Brothers'' by former U.S. Coast Guard officer Sloan Wilson tells of the experiences of the crew and the hardships they faced aboard a small Coast Guard cutter that was part of the Greenland Patrol.Wilson; ''Ice Brothers''


Notes


References

* * * * * * * * * * Zabecki, David T
World War II in Europe: An Encyclopedia
{{Greenland topics 1940 in Greenland 1945 in Greenland 20th century in Greenland Articles containing video clips Battles and operations of World War II involving Denmark Battles and operations of World War II involving Germany Battles and operations of World War II involving the United States History of Greenland Home front during World War II Military in the Arctic