Skylark B was a radio communications group that operated in Trondheim

Trondheim

Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...

 during the German occupation of Norway. The group was established and led by Erik Welle-Strand

Erik Welle-Strand

Erik A. L. Welle-Strand was a Norwegian mining engineer and resistance member during World War II. He is best known as leader of the illegal radio post Skylark B.-Early life:...

, who was a student in Trondheim. Preparations were done in 1940, when a transmitter was brought in from the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, and the communications were effective from the end of January to September 1941. Their station, called Sealion, was one of two radio stations that maintained the radio communication between Norway and the UK Secret Intelligence Service

Secret Intelligence Service

The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...

 in this period. The transmitter was located in Herbernheia in the recreational area Bymarka

Bymarka

Bymarka is the recreation ground of the city of Trondheim, Norway.- Location and use :Bymarka is situated to the west of the city center and has an area of 80 km², with more than 200 km of walking tracks. Bymarka is very popular for cross-country skiing in the winter, and for walks, hiking or...

. A large number of telegrams were sent while the group was operational. The group was eventually rolled up by the Gestapo

Gestapo

The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...

 in September 1941. Several of the operators were imprisoned. Eleven members of the Skylark B group were sent to German death camps, and seven of these later died in Germany. Others managed to flee from the country, among these were Leif Tronstad

Leif Tronstad

Leif Hans Larsen Tronstad DSO, OBE was a Norwegian scientist, intelligence officer and military organizer. He graduated from the Norwegian Institute of Technology in 1927 and was a prolific researcher and writer of academic publications...

, Einar Johansen

Einar Johansen

Einar Johansen was a Norwegian engineer and resistance member during World War II. He is known as a member of the illegal radio group Skylark B, and after this was discontinued he set up new radio posts in Tromsø and the rest of Northern Norway. He was highly decorated.-World War II:Johansen...

, Bjørn Rørholt

Bjørn Rørholt

Bjørn Arnold Rørholt was a Norwegian engineer, military officer, Secret Intelligence Service agent and resistance member during World War II.-Early life:...

 and Olav Skeie.

Reports

In February 1941 Skylark B reported on German ships in Trøndelag

Trøndelag

Trøndelag is the name of a geographical region in the central part of Norway, consisting of the two counties Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag. The region is, together with Møre og Romsdal, part of a larger...

, and on export of iron ore from Narvik

Narvik

is the third largest city and municipality in Nordland county, Norway by population. Narvik is located on the shores of the Narvik Fjord . The municipality is part of the Ofoten traditional region of North Norway, inside the arctic circle...

. In March there were telegrams on pyrite

Pyrite

The mineral pyrite, or iron pyrite, is an iron sulfide with the formula FeS2. This mineral's metallic luster and pale-to-normal, brass-yellow hue have earned it the nickname fool's gold because of its resemblance to gold...

 shipments from Thamshavn

Thamshavn

Thamshavn is a small port village in the municipality of Orkdal in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is the site of the port for Orkanger and the ferrosilicon plant Elkem Thamshavn...

, on large numbers of German troops in Mosjøen

Mosjøen

-History:Mosjøen was founded in the 17th century as local farmers met here to trade, and has been growing since then. Sawmills were built here in 1866 by a British company, and Mosjøen got township rights in 1875. It is the oldest town in the Helgeland region and the second oldest town in Nordland...

, on a seaplane

Seaplane

A seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft...

 base in Hommelvik

Hommelvik

Hommelvik is a village and the administrative centre of the municipality of Malvik in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located at the end of the Hommelvika, a bay off of the Trondheimsfjord. It is about southwest of Muruvika, about southeast of Smiskaret, about east of Vikhammer,...

, and on German gas ships in Trondheim. During spring 1941 telegrams reported high military activity (German troop movements) which later appeared to reflect preparations for the German attack on the Soviet Union

Operation Barbarossa

Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...

. In May 1941, before the German battleship Bismarck

German battleship Bismarck

Bismarck was the first of two s built for the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. Named after Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, the primary force behind the German unification in 1871, the ship was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg in July 1936 and launched nearly three years later...

 battle, Skylark reported to SIS

Sis

- Places :* Sis * Sis, Armenia, a town* Sis, Azerbaijan, a village* Sis, Iran, a city* Kozan, Adana, Sis in Armenian* Mountains of Sis, a range of the Pre-Pyrenees- Other :...

 that three destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

s had arrived in Trondheim. Skylark B also facilitated communication between London and Trondheim regarding the production of heavy water

Heavy water

Heavy water is water highly enriched in the hydrogen isotope deuterium; e.g., heavy water used in CANDU reactors is 99.75% enriched by hydrogen atom-fraction...

 at Vemork

Vemork

Vemork is the name of a hydroelectric power plant outside Rjukan in Tinn, Norway. The plant was built by Norsk Hydro and opened in 1911, its main purpose being to fix nitrogen for the production of fertilizer. Vemork was later the site of the first plant in the world to mass-produce heavy water...

.