The commando force of 570 troops was divided into five parties to The dawn landing was preceded by a very effective naval bombardment and objectives were achieved, except in Måløy.

The naval assault force of one cruiser and four destroyers had sunk 10 vessels, some found in the act of being scuttled to prevent capture.

Technical difficulties had prevented the German coastal artillery from being fully effective, with one of their three 130 mm guns scoring one hit on the cruiser.

The commander of the Norwegian Independent Company 1, Captain Martin Linge, was killed in an attack on the local German headquarters and eight Royal Air Force aircraft were shot down.

[clarification needed] Captain O'Flaherty was hit by sniper fire and lost an eye, later wearing an eye-patch as a brigadier.

The raid was enough to persuade Adolf Hitler to divert 30,000 troops to Norway and to build more coastal and inland defences.