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Operation Zitronella, also known as Operation Sizilien, was the German raid and temporary occupation of Spitzbergen in September, 1943.
British, Canadian and Free Norwegian troops occupied Spitzbergen to deny German use of the islands and their rich coal deposits and to set up weather stations (Operation Gauntlet).
A battalion of German troops was landed to capture and destroy Allied installations, supported by the battleship Tirpitz (her only hostile action). After a short stay, the German forces voluntarily withdrew from an unsupportable position. Under cover of the invasion, the Luftwaffe installed a weather station on Hopen Island, which survived through the winter, until weather conditions allowed Allied reaction.
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