L L’ARMÉE DE TERRE FRANÇAISE See French Army LACHSFANG (1942) “SALMON CATCH.” German code name for a proposed corps-level operation to destroy the Soviet railway to Murmansk by advancing through northern Finland It was intended to completely cut the supply line of Lend-Lease aid to Russia, which was already being interdicted by Luftwaffe patrols and U-boats Similarly, Adolf Hitler hoped that EDELWEISS would cut southern supply lines in the Caucasus, even as it brought him closer to the oil fields at Baku LACHSFANG was reliant on the prior success of a planned NORDLICHT offensive to take Leningrad in September The Finns refused to participate in LACHSFANG if Leningrad was not taken first, an objective they doubted the Wehrmacht could achieve When NORDLICHT was preempted by the Soviet Siniavino offensive operation, so too was LACHSFANG stymied and canceled LACONIA ORDER (SEPTEMBER 1942) On September 12, 1942, U-156 sank the Cunard liner “Laconia” northeast of Ascension Island off the West African coast The liner was blacked-out and zigzagging and hence a legitimate target under the rules of cruiser warfare Among its more than 2,500 passengers were 1,800 Italian prisoners of war, 160 Polish troops, and about 350 British soldiers and their families Once U-156 Captain Werner Hartenstein realized the dire situation of over 2,000 survivors in the water, he decided to stay on site and rescue as many as he could He radioed to BdU for help Admiral Karl Dönitz vectored in three more U-boats An Italian submarine also arrived on scene However, Dönitz ordered his U-boats to cut tow lines set up for “Laconia” lifeboats