Operation Pilgrim

German fears and ambitions After France's capitulation, General Alfred Jodl presented Hitler with the OKW's strategic plans for continuing the war, consisting of two options: The "direct attack" on Great Britain with the objective of the occupation of the British Isles and the second; and the "indirect strategy" advocating an attack on the British Empire, especially on the choke-points that made it possible to maintain the sea lanes to its Dominions and allies. An Anglo-American agreement, by which the United States would obtain a number of British bases in the Atlantic in exchange for 50 used destroyers, concerned Hitler, as he expected that either the US or Britain could invade and occupy one or more of the Spanish or Portuguese islands in the Atlantic. To counter any such actions, the OKW studied and started planning for the occupation of the Canary Islands. The study provided two alternatives: (a.) the peaceful transfer and access to the islands to Britain by Spain and (b.) resistance to the invasion by the local Spanish garrison. The first alternative was eliminated by the Spanish-German negotiations of September 1940 concerning the entry of Spain into the war, where a German offer of forces to reinforce the island defence was rejected by Spain, insisting that the Spanish garrison had the necessary resources to counter a British attack. Having been assured that the islands would be defended by Spain, Führer directive no. 18 of 12 November 1940 defining Operation Felix, recommended the need to first occupy the Portuguese archipelagos of the Azores before conducting any attack on Gibraltar. Gibraltar remained the prime objective of Operation Felix. This directive recommended the reinforcement of the Canaries by the Luftwaffe and the Kriegsmarine. In December 1941 the German high command sent Commander Fritz Krauss, authorised by the Spanish government, to investigate the reinforcement and defensive needs of the islands. The Cape Verde Islands were poorly protected and had been used as a provisional port for sheltering British survivors from ships sank in the Atlantic. Only two military ships were stationed on the islands, many of the islands’ artillery pieces dated from the Cuban War of 1898, air defences consisted of 25 obsolete Fiat biplane fighters and supplies were frequently moved by camel. ==Occupation plan==

The operation to occupy the Canaries was initially known as "Operation Puma" but it evolved into "Operation Pilgrim" as time and threats progressed and planning evolved with the amalgamation of three independent invasion plans: • Operation Thruster: Initial plan for the occupation of the Portuguese Azores islands The object of Operation Pilgrim was: "capture and hold, for our own use, the Island of Gran Canary with the Harbour at La Luz and aerodrome at Gando." The invasion was to be led by Major General Victor Odlum’s Canadian 2nd Division who were in Britain undergoing training, plus a detachment of SOE special forces. The total force amounted to about 24,000 men and was to be escorted by Rear Admiral Louis Keppel Hamilton’s naval force of one battleship, four fleet carriers, three cruisers and 27 destroyers, plus five Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels. The initial troops assigned for the landings would be transported on HMS Queen Emma. The entire force was to be supported by two squadrons of RAF fighters. The operation would commence with a night approach and first light landings at Puerto de la Luz, the main port on Gran Canaria with a landing by two Canadian infantry battalions from landing-craft with air support provided by Royal Navy aircraft from an aircraft carrier and naval gunfire support from the ships. Once the coastal batteries had been silenced, Canadian forces would enter the Bay of Gando to capture Canaria’s airport at Gando with the help of further troops via second landings in the Bay of Arinaga and the airport would then be used as the base for a further attack on Tenerife. The 30-strong squadron of commandos from SOE were trained to parachute onto Tenerife and conduct sabotage operations to facilitate the British invasion of the island. A submarine would be stationed close to Gando prior to the start of the operation to carry out reconnaissance and to act as a navigation aid to the ships if the navigation lights on the coast had been turned off or damaged. ==Dissipation of threat==

The men and landing craft for the operation were kept under orders for the last six months of 1941. The operational plan was simplified after the Allies received news that in the event of any German invasion of the Iberian peninsula, the Portuguese Government would evacuate itself to the Azores island and would then call on British or US forces to protect the islands. In 1942, Franco declared Spain's status as Neutral (a change from the previous status of non-belligerent) and the Allies agreed to respect this status. This meant that Germany was denied any access to Gibraltar and the Kriegsmarine were denied U-Boat (or other) berthing rights in the Canaries. The Operation Pilgrim plan was cancelled in February 1942. This allowed assignment of more useful commitments for the landing craft and re-prioritising the naval forces. ==Notes==