Rädda Danmark ("Save Denmark") in 1945
Not very known even among most Swedes and completely unknown among non-Swedes were the Swedish plans to send troops to liberate eastern Denmark and the island Bornholm during the late phase of the war.
The 4th May 1945 the Swedish army General Major C.A. Ehrensvärd had approved the last decisions concerning the Swedish invasion of eastern Denmark, early planning had started already during christmas 1943. The invasion would be launched at the same time the Allies' would attack western Denmark. A week earlier the American General Major in the Army Air Force Frederick Anderson had visited Sweden and finally managed to talk Per Albin Hansson to take side and join the Allies'. At the same time when Wilson was in Sweden, he followed how Danish infantry units regrouped from Småland and Blekinge (further north) to Skåne. The countdown had begun.
The op "Rädda Danmark" (save Denmark) was part of two operations, "Rädda Själland" and "Rädda Bornholm", Själland is the large island in eastern Denmark where amongst else Copenhagen is situated, and Bornholm is a small island located south of Skåne.
To be able to pull the Op off, according to planning there was a need for 1158 troop transport ships (most of them quite small) and about 100 naval vessels. From the Swedish side the invasion would be led by 3. Army Corp consisting of two divisions (I. and IX.) and 7. motorized brigade, and 8. armoured brigade. To this came numerous independent units and about 4000 Danish soldiers trained in Sweden. All in all 60 000 soldiers with about 6000 vehicles. To this came the personell in the Navy and the Air Force.
The opposing force, the Germans occupation force on Själland, consisted of about 28 000 soldiers that had prepared the harbors to be blown up. In Helsingør there was a special ship that would be used to block the harbor, and the harbor in Copenhagen was also prepared in a similar way. The German naval force in Copenhagen consisted of amongst the cruisers Prinz Eugen and Nürnbeg, 4 destroyers and to this mine-sweepers, patrol ships etc.
Swedish and Danish troop concentrations in Skåne had already begun, and the earliest possible date for invasion was set to 18th May 1945. The first wave that would launch an surprise assault in Helsingør would consist of 6 000 men. On the Skåne coast heavy coastal artillery (21 and 15 cm) would give supporting fire, the Swedish Navy Coastal battleships Oscar II and Tapperheten would also give supporting fire. Most of the Swedish Air Force would be based in Skåne and give air cover and attack ground targets.
A Swedish Wikipedia article translated to English
The Swedish general staff devised a plan that included the landing of 60,000 men, mainly on the coasts of the island of Zealand and in a minor operation on the island of Bornholm, with 6,000 motor vehicles and more than 1,100 between ships and small boats, the first wave of landing had to be made up of 6,000 men. The focus of the operation were the ground forces of the 3rd Army Corps, two infantry divisions (I and IX), the 7 Motorized Brigade and 8th Armored Brigade, in addition to the Danske Brigade; This was a composition of Danish leaked nominally trained in Sweden as a police force of about 4,800 actual, including women, and its own air and naval component; The Swedish Air Force was moved to the south to support the operation; in front of a force of 28,000 Germans supported by a substantial naval squadron, including the ' heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, the' light cruiser Nürnberg, 4 destroyers, 4 minesweepers, 2 mine-laying, twenty patrol boats and four auxiliary cruisers.
When planning was under way the Swedish general staff realized it could not intervene at the same time also in Norway, in what was meant to be in the initial operation Rädda Norske (Save Norway) and planning was then limited only to Denmark. It was provided an articulation into two distinct operations one of which called Rädda SJALLAND and the other Rädda Bornholm. The operation was also designed to cancel the effect on international public opinion by the Swedish neutrality, and despite the lukewarm public support for the country. The greatest Malcolm Murray of Staff Swedish drafted a memorandum on operational mode where it was concluded that to avoid to the maximum the bloodshed had to block the German resistance in SJALLAND with a numerical preponderance and an aerial and naval superiority.
The landing had been thought to be made of normal beaches as well as from some ports, and the main port had to be that of Elsinore ; for both the shallowness of the Danish waters and the lack of specific equipment by Swedish the bulk of the troops had to be transported on small boats and landing should have been made quickly so as not to expose themselves to a possible German counterattack. It was also designed a Swedish variant of artificial harbors Mulberry used by the Allies during the Normandy landings. The heavy material would be transferred by crane barges for unloading.
The approval was given on May 4th, setting the date to May 18th. The coastal artillery installations with cannons 150 mm and 210 mm would have to support the landing with the old Swedish coastal battleships Oscar II and Tapperheten (the Aran class) with cannons 210 mm
