Operation Cold Comfort

Last updated

During World War II, Operation Cold Comfort was a failed SAS raid that began with a parachute drop north of Verona on 17 February 1945. It was later renamed Zombie.

The 12 man ski team under Capt. Littlejohn, and their equipment were widely scattered in the drop, and thereafter found themselves among hostile locals of essentially German origin. Their mission was to block by landslide the main rail lines through the Brenner Pass, thus having a dramatic effect on German reinforcements moving south.

The men spent most of their time in hiding and attempts to supply and reinforce by air were unsuccessful. Capt. Littlejohn and Corporal Crowley were captured and executed under Hitler’s Commando Order. Eventually on 31 March the situation had worsened to the point exfiltration was ordered.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airborne forces</span> Military units, usually light infantry, set up to be moved by aircraft and "dropped" into battle

Airborne forces are ground combat units carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop or air assault. Parachute-qualified infantry and support personnel serving in airborne units are also known as paratroopers.

Peter Morland Churchill, was a British Special Operations Executive (SOE) officer in France during the Second World War. His wartime operations, which resulted in his capture and imprisonment in German concentration camps, and his subsequent marriage to fellow SOE officer, Odette Sansom, received considerable attention during the war and after, including a 1950 film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milice</span> Paramilitary force in Vichy France

The Milice française, generally called la Milice, was a political paramilitary organization created on 30 January 1943 by the Vichy regime to help fight against the French Resistance during World War II. The Milice's formal head was Prime Minister Pierre Laval, although its Chief of operations and de facto leader was Secretary General Joseph Darnand. It participated in summary executions and assassinations, helping to round up Jews and résistants in France for deportation. It was the successor to Darnand's Service d'ordre légionnaire (SOL) militia. The Milice was the Vichy regime's most extreme manifestation of fascism. Ultimately, Darnand envisaged the Milice as a fascist single party political movement for the French state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne</span> French units of the Waffen-SS

The Waffen Grenadier Brigade of the SS Charlemagne was a Waffen-SS unit formed in September 1944 from French collaborationists, many of whom were already serving in various other German units. Named after the 9th-century Frankish emperor, it superseded the existing Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism formed in 1941 within the German Army (Wehrmacht) and the SS-Volunteer Sturmbrigade France formed in July 1943, both of which were disbanded the same month. The division also included French recruits from other German military and paramilitary formations and Miliciens who had fled ahead of the Allied Liberation of France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Independent Parachute Brigade (Poland)</span> Military unit

The 1st (Polish) Independent Parachute Brigade was a parachute infantry brigade of the Polish Armed Forces in the West under the command of Major General Stanisław Sosabowski, created in September 1941 during the Second World War and based in Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Highjump</span> US Navy operation to establish an Antarctic research base

Operation HIGHJUMP, officially titled The United States Navy Antarctic Developments Program, 1946–1947,, was a United States Navy (USN) operation to establish the Antarctic research base Little America IV. The operation was organized by Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, Jr., USN (Ret), Officer in Charge, Task Force 68, and led by Rear Admiral Ethan Erik Larson, USN, Commanding Officer, Task Force 68. Operation HIGHJUMP commenced 26 August 1946 and ended in late February 1947. Task Force 68 included 4,700 men, 13 ships, and 33 aircraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Socialist Motor Corps</span> Paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party

The National Socialist Motor Corps was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) that officially existed from May 1931 to 1945. The group was a successor organisation to the older National Socialist Automobile Corps, which had existed since April 1930.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Polebrook</span> Airport in Northamptonshire, England

Royal Air Force Station Polebrook or more simply RAF Polebrook is a former Royal Air Force station located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) east-south-east of Oundle, at Polebrook, Northamptonshire, England. The airfield was built on Rothschild estate land starting in August 1940.

Major Joseph Antoine France Antelme OBE, no. 239255, was one of 14 Franco-Mauritians who served in the Special Operations Executive (SOE), a World War II British secret service that sent espionage agents, saboteurs and guerrilla fighters into enemy-occupied territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">456th Bombardment Group</span> Military unit

Activated in June 1943 as a heavy bombardment group. Trained with B-24 Liberators for duty overseas. Moved to Italy, December 1943 – January 1944. Began combat with Fifteenth Air Force in February 1944, operating chiefly against strategic targets until late in April 1945. Early operations included attacks against such objectives as marshalling yards, aircraft factories, railroad bridges, and airdromes in Italy, Austria, and Romania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Socialist Dutch Workers Party</span> Political party in the Netherlands

The National Socialist Dutch Workers Party was a minor Dutch Nazi party founded in 1931 and led by Ernst Herman van Rappard. Seeking to copy the fascism of others, notably Adolf Hitler, the group failed to achieve success and was accused by rivals such as the National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands (NSB) and the General Dutch Fascist League of being too moderate for a fascist movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Poomalai</span> Indian air drop in Sri Lankan Civil War

Operation Poomalai, also known as Eagle Mission 4, was the codename assigned to a mission undertaken by the Indian Air Force for airdropping supplies over the besieged town of Jaffna in Sri Lanka on 4 June 1987 to support the Tamil Tigers during the Sri Lankan Civil War.

MV <i>Capt. Steven L. Bennett</i> (T-AK-4296)

MV Capt Steven L. Bennett (T-AK-4296) is a container ship and lead ship of her class. Originally named TNT Express, she was built by Samsung Heavy Industries in Koje, South Korea in 1984. She is named after United States Air Force Medal of Honor recipient Captain Steven L. Bennett. The ship was a Logistics Prepositioning Ship sponsored by the US Air Force. The ship returned to commercial service after the MSC contract ended in October 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American airborne landings in Normandy</span>

The U.S. airborne landings in Normandy were the first U.S. combat operations during Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy by the Western Allies on June 6, 1944, during World War II. Around 13,100 American paratroopers of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions made night parachute drops early on D-Day, June 6, followed by 3,937 glider troops flown in by day. As the opening maneuver of Operation Neptune the two American airborne divisions were delivered to the continent in two parachute and six glider missions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism</span> French collaborationist military unit during WWII

The Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism was a unit of the German Army during World War II consisting of collaborationist volunteers from France. Officially designated the 638th Infantry Regiment, it was one of several foreign volunteer units formed in German-occupied Western Europe to participate in the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">56th Operations Group</span> US Air Force unit

The 56th Operations Group is a unit of the United States Air Force, and the flying component of the 56th Fighter Wing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">327th Bombardment Squadron</span> Military unit

The 327th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 4170th Strategic Wing, stationed at Larson Air Force Base, Washington. It was inactivated on 1 February 1963.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">352nd Fighter Group</span> Military unit

The 352nd Fighter Group was a unit of the Eighth Air Force that was located in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. The unit served as bomber escort, counter-air patrols, and attacking ground targets. It initially flew P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft before converting to P-51 Mustang in April 1944. The group was located at RAF Bodney in England for the majority of its service and were nicknamed the Blue-nosed Bastards of Bodney due to the distinctive blue of the nose and upper cowl of the P-51 Mustangs of the group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cholm Shield</span> Award

The Cholm Shield was a World War II German military decoration awarded to those who fought in the Cholm Pocket on the Eastern Front between 21 January and 5 May 1942. It was instituted on 1 July 1942 and is the rarest of the German combat shields, with approximately 5,500 recipients. Awards ceased to be bestowed on 1 April 1943.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roderick Stephen Hall</span>

Captain Roderick Stephen Goodspeed Hall was an American military officer and agent of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II. Hall was betrayed and captured behind enemy lines during a self-proposed sabotage mission in the region south of the Brenner Pass in January 1945. After one month of captivity he was executed by the Schutzstaffel (SS), who covered up his murder as a cardiac arrest. His murderers were put on trial by a U.S. military tribunal after the war, in 1946, and three of them sentenced to death and executed while a fourth one was sentenced to life imprisonment.

References