Operation Safari

Operation Safari (Unternehmen Safari) was a German military operation during World War II involving 9.000 German soldiers, it let to the scuttling of the Royal Danish Navy, and internment of all Danish soldiers. On the danish side it resulted in 23 dead, 2 being civilian og around 56 injured, with an unknown number on the German side.

Background
Denmark had been know as the model protectorate, earning the nickname the Cream Front (Sahnefront), due to the relative ease of the occupation and copious amount of dairy products. However by 1943, resistance had increased, creating concern and declaring Denmark "enemy territory" on 28 august This led Hermann von Hanneken, Military Commander of Denmark, in 1942, to plan for at contingency plan in case of rebellion or possible Allied invasion. Following the August rebellion in 1943, the operation was initiated and Martial law was imposed in Denmark.

Operation
The objective of the operation was to simultaneously capture and disarm the Danish forces, in order to prevent them from assisting a possible Allied invasion.

Army
The army was caught relatively off guard, which led to sporadic fighting from the army The opperation started at 04:00 and took place at every army installation in the country, at many places the soldier surrendered peacefully, but others there were fighting. At the barracks in Næstved, future Primeminister Anker Jørgensen was stationed, when the Germans attacked, where 2 danish soldiers lost their lives.

Places with deaths and wounded Gernersgades Barracks Jægersborg castle Rosenborg Barracks Hærens Geværfabrik/Ny Tøjhus Gardehusarkasernen i Næstved Nyborg Kaserne Odense Kaserne Ringe (wounded)
 * 03:30 aktion started, tank was taken out of action, 3 danish dead, one civilian on Artillerivej, one tanker dead. Fighting ended 05:30

Navy
The navvy was better prepared for the operation, as planing for the scuttling started in 5 February 1941, after an incident, where the navy had to give 6 torpedo-boats to the Germans.

At 04:08, the message (K N U) was sent from Navy High Command, with the first explosion 04:13 In anticipation of the operation, the Navy scuttled the ships in harbour, while ships at sea tried to escape to neutral or Allied waters, one was Niels Juel, it was intercepted and let to the Battle of Isefjord

With most navy personel being interned at KB Hallen.

Places with deaths and wounded Holmen, Copenhagen Kongelundsfortet Middelgrundsfortet Flådestation Korsør Flådestation Nyborg

Of the fifty-two vessels in the Danish Navy on 29 August, two were in Greenland, thirty-two were scuttled, four reached Sweden and fourteen were taken undamaged by the Germans. Nine Danish sailors lost their lives and ten were wounded.

U-boat scuttling

Safari

Sælen trying

Aftermath
"“The Danish fleet has been sunk with honour. Long live the Danish Fleet”"

- Commander Paul Ipsen

It let to the creation of the Small General Staff, a resistance movement composed of officers, with the aim of intelligence gathering. The soldiers that escaped, created the Danish Brigade in Exile, soldiers placed in Sweden, where they trained until the end of the war, when they returned to fight during the liberation. The ships that managed to escaped became a part of the Danish Flotilla, The Germans managed to raise many of the ships sunk The Germans also captured Horserød camp, where Danish communists where held, where approximately 150, were sent to Stutthof concentration camp in Germany.

Af flådens 52 fartøjer, befandt to sig på Grønland mens 32 blev sænket af egen besætning. 4 nåede svensk territorium og 14 blev erobret uskadte af tyskerne. Tyskerne hævede efterfølgende hovedparten af de sænkede enheder, og femten af disse kom i en eller anden form for aktiv tjeneste i den tyske flåde

Without the Danish Government and armed forces, the Germans were now in control of Denmark and its internal affairs. The German authorities could now focus on the Jewish "question", leading to the deportation and eventual rescue of the Danish Jews.