Operation Gardening is a detailed study exploring the strategic, tactical, and technical aspects of the minelaying operations in Danish waters, emphasising their significance in the broader context of World War II. Its strengths lie in its meticulous original research with relevance to both historical and modern contexts. Operation Gardening indeed covers a wide range of themes: Historical, Technological, Operational, Geopolitical and the Operation's relevance into the post-war and modern world. Operation Gardening covers the evolution of mine warfare and its implications for Denmark during WWII, with a detailed exploration of mine types, deployment strategies, and their operational efficiency. There is a detailed examination of the RAF's minelaying campaigns, including tactical successes, failures, and broader strategic impacts, as well as a discussion of Denmark's position as a 'harbourmaster' of the Baltic and how this influenced other wartime strategies. The book also discusses the post-war mine-clearing efforts and the lasting effects of WWII mine warfare on maritime safety and military strategy. By tying historical operations to contemporary issues such as the ongoing mine-clearing efforts and modern naval strategies, Operation Gardening underscores the enduring relevance of the topic of mining at sea. AUTHOR: The author is a historian from Aarhus University and an art historian from the University of Copenhagen. At the Centre for Peace and Conflict Research, he wrote the thesis on which this book is based. He is co-author of the major work "Western Allied Air Attacks on Targets in Denmark during World War II" Aarhus University Press 1988 and "Bombs over Denmark" 2012. His book" Good Mines for Bad Games" was published in 2018, and the book "Operation Gardening - RAF's Minelaying in Danish Waters 1940-1945" in 2025. The author was a university researcher, high school teacher and head of department of a business school. 120 b/w images
