Global InformationOperation Waldfest information
| Operation Waldfest | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Western Front of World War II | |||||||
  Schirmeck Location of Schirmeck, the German HQ during the operation, in France | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Germany |
 Maquis United Kingdom | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown |
France:[1] 39 SAS soldiers executed | ||||||
Operation Waldfest (German: Aktion Waldfest) was a Nazi German scorched earth operation and counter measure to French resistance activity in the Vosges mountains of German-occupied France during World War II. It was carried out in two stages, between September and November 1944, by units of the Wehrmacht and Allgemeine SS. The operation's aim was to counter the Allied Operation Loyton, to disrupt the local French resistance, the Maquis, to destroy local villages in order to prevent them serving as shelter for Allied forces in the upcoming winter and to deport all men of fighting age in the area to Germany as forced labour.
The operation led to the destruction of 7,500 buildings, the execution of 39 captured SAS soldiers as part of Hitler's Commando Order, saw almost 1,500 French civilians killed in the fighting or executed and close to 14,000 French civilians deported to concentration camps or as forced labour. Of the almost 3,800 civilians deported to concentration camps, two thirds died there. After the war, a number of German Wehrmacht and SS officials were tried and convicted for their involvement.
The operation shares its name with another German offensive in eastern France during World War I which was also titled Waldfest.[2]
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
Gedenkortewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Buckingham, William F. (15 January 2016). Verdun 1916: The Deadliest Battle of the First World War. ISBN 9781445641171.