Hvidsten Group
| Hvidsten group | |
|---|---|
|
Hvidstengruppen Participant in the Second World War |
|
| Active | 1943 - March 1944 |
| Leaders | Marius Fiil |
| Headquarters | Hvidsten Inn |
| Area of operations | Between Randers and Mariager |
| Strength | circa 16 |
| Part of | Danish resistance movement |
| Opponents |
 German Occupying Forces
|
The Hvidsten Group (Danish: Hvidstengruppen) was a Danish resistance group during World War II named after the Hvidsten Inn between Randers and Mariager in Jutland where it was formed.
The Hvidsten Group became connected to the resistance movement through Ole Giesler, a captain of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) who helped organise British weapons drops for the Danish Resistance. Marius Fiil, owner of the Hvidsten Inn and leader of the Hvidsten Group, met with Giesler on March 12, 1943 following an SOE drop the night before on Trinderup Heath east of Mariager that had delivered 12-14 containers of explosives and weapons to supply the resistance in Jutland. That evening, Fils, with the help of his neighbour Andreas Stenz, retrieved the weapons and eventually brought them to Mustard Point, which was chosen by the Hvidsten Group as a receiving site and became one of its most reliable during the resistance effort.
The Hvidsten Group received many drops during the resistance signalled via "greetings" at the end of the BBC news broadcasts with the encoded message "Greetings to Elias - Listen again" and delivered via British Halifax planes. The Hvidsten group was responsible for pick-up at Allestrupgårds Heath and delivery of explosives to resistance groups like BOPA and Holger Danske to be used for sabotage of railways, locomotive sheds, bridges and factories in use by the German occupation forces.
The activities of the Hvidsten Group and several other resistance groups were revealed to the Gestapo by Jacob Jensen, a British Army paratrooper employed by the Special Operations Executive after he was captured on 13 December 1943 in Aarhus and interrogated under torture. On March 11, 1944, in the early morning, the Gestapo surrounded the Hvidsten Inn and the majority of the group were arrested. Their arrest was reported by the resistance newspaper De frie Danske on 18 March 1944.
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