Editing Spitsbergen (section)

===World War II===

{{Campaignbox Arctic (1941–1944)}}

[[Allies of World War II|Allied soldiers]] were stationed on the island in 1941 to prevent [[Nazi Germany]] from occupying the islands. Norway came under [[German occupation of Norway|German occupation]] in 1940. Germany took control of the coal fields and the weather station during this time, although most of the inhabitants on the island were Russian and Germany and the Soviet Union had a [[non-aggression pact]] until 22 June 1941. Once the non-aggression pact was ended, the United Kingdom and Canada sent military forces to the island to destroy German installations, both the Soviet coal mines and the German weather station.<ref>[http://www.lonesentry.com/manuals/commandos/spitsbergen.html? "Spitsbergen Operation"], Lone Sentry website</ref>

In 1943, the German battleship ''[[German battleship Tirpitz|Tirpitz]]'' and an escort flotilla shelled and destroyed the Allied weather station in [[Operation Zitronella]]. On 6 September, a squadron consisting of ''Tirpitz'', the battleship [[German battleship Scharnhorst|''Scharnhorst'']], and nine destroyers weighed anchor in [[Altenfjord]] and Kåfjord and headed for Spitsbergen, to attack the Allied base. At dawn on 8 September 1943, ''Tirpitz'' and ''Scharnhorst'' opened fire against the two 3-inch guns which comprised the defences of Barentsburg, and the destroyers ran inshore with landing parties, destroying a supply dump and wrecking a landing station. By noon, the hostilities had ended, with the landing parties returning to the ships, along with some prisoners. The German ships returned safely to Altenfjord and Kåfjord on 9 September 1943. This was the last operation for the ''Tirpitz''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bismarck-class.dk/tirpitz/history/tiropersizilien.html?title=Operation|title=Tirpitz - The History - Operation "Sizilien"|first=John|last=Asmussen|website=www.bismarck-class.dk}}</ref>