Operation Maple | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of World War II, Operation Shingle | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
United Kingdom | Italy | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
16 troopers |
Operation Maple was a series of World War II operations in Italy in support of the Anzio landings. It comprised operations by the British Special Air Service (2 SAS), starting on 7 January 1944. Operation "Thistledown" was successful but "Driftwood" failed and its objective had to be destroyed later by "Baobab". None of the members of the first two parties returned safely, either being captured or going missing. [1]
Before Anzio landings, it was required to cut rail links north of Rome and elsewhere on the east coast. Rail lines around Terni and Orvieto were to be attacked by four men of "Thistledown" but all the team was captured. "Driftwood" consisted of two four man teams to cut the lines between Urbino and Fabriano and Ancona and Rimini: their fate is unknown but they are thought to have drowned or been captured and executed. A reinforcement party ("Baobab") was landed by sea on 30 January and destroyed a bridge between Pesaro and Fano. [1]
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Archibald David Stirling, was a Scottish officer in the British Army and the founder and creator of the Special Air Service (SAS). Under his leadership, the SAS carried out hit-and-run raids behind the Axis lines of the North African campaign. He saw active service during the Second World War until he was captured in January 1943. He spent the rest of the war in captivity, despite making several attempts to escape.
The Battle of Anzio was a battle of the Italian Campaign of World War II that commenced January 22, 1944. The battle began with the Allied amphibious landing known as Operation Shingle, and ended on June 4, 1944, with the liberation of Rome. The operation was opposed by German and by Italian Repubblica Sociale Italiana (RSI) forces in the area of Anzio and Nettuno.
The Battle of Cisterna took place during World War II, on 30 January–2 February 1944, near Cisterna, Italy, as part of the Battle of Anzio, part of the Italian Campaign. The battle was a clear German victory which also had repercussions on the employment of U.S. Army Rangers that went beyond the immediate tactical and strategic results of the battle.
Operation Loyton was the codename given to a Special Air Service (SAS) mission in the Vosges department of France during the Second World War.
Air interdiction (AI), also known as deep air support (DAS), is the use of preventive tactical bombing and strafing by combat aircraft against enemy targets that are not an immediate threat, to delay, disrupt or hinder later enemy engagement of friendly forces. It is a core capability of virtually all military air forces, and has been conducted in conflicts since World War I. Aircraft that are used for this purpose are known as interdictors.
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Blair Mayne,, best known as Paddy Mayne or familiarly as Blair, was a British Army officer from Newtownards, capped for Ireland and the British and Irish Lions at rugby union, a solicitor, amateur boxer, and a founding member of the Special Air Service (SAS).
The history of the British Army's Special Air Service (SAS) regiment of the British Army begins with its formation during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, and continues to the present day. It includes its early operations in North Africa, the Greek Islands, and the Invasion of Italy. The Special Air Service then returned to the United Kingdom and was formed into a brigade with two British, two French and one Belgian regiment, and went on to conduct operations in France, Italy again, the Low Countries and finally into Germany.
The 508th Heavy Panzer Battalion was a German heavy Panzer Abteilung, during World War II, equipped with heavy tanks. It fought at Anzio and later defended German-held Northern Italy opposing the Allies during the Italian Campaign. It fought in Italy until it surrendered at the end of the war in May 1945.
The 6615th Ranger Force was a regiment of the United States Army, raised for service in World War II. It served in the Italian Campaign and lost two whole battalions at the Battle of Cisterna, part of the Battle of Anzio in early 1944.
Operation Bulbasket was an operation by 'B' Squadron, 1st Special Air Service (SAS), behind the German lines in German occupied France, between June and August 1944. The operation was located to the east of Poitiers in the Vienne department of south west France; its objective was to block the Paris to Bordeaux railway line near Poitiers and to hamper German reinforcements heading towards the Normandy beachheads, especially the 2nd SS Panzer Division – Das Reich.
Operation Houndsworth was a British Special Air Service operation during World War II. The operation, carried out by "A" Squadron, 1st Special Air Service between 6 June and 6 September 1944, was centred on Dijon in the Burgundy region of France. Their objective was to disrupt German lines of communication, coordinate the activities of the French Resistance and prevent German reinforcements moving to the Normandy beachheads, especially the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich.
Anthony Greville-Bell, DSO was an Australian-born officer who served in the Special Air Service during the Second World War and was later a notable scriptwriter and sculptor.
No. 2 Commando was a battalion-sized British Commando unit of the British Army during the Second World War. The first No.2 Commando was formed on 22 June 1940 for a parachuting role at Cambrai Barracks, Perham Down, near Tidworth, Hants. The unit at the time consisted of four troops: 'A', 'B', 'C' and 'D'. Eventually 11 troops were raised. On 21 November, it was re-designated as the 11th Special Air Service (SAS) Battalion and eventually re-designated 1st Parachute Battalion. After their re-designation as the 11th SAS Battalion, a second No. 2 Commando was formed. This No. 2 Commando was the leading commando unit in the St Nazaire Raid and suffered heavy casualties. Those who made it back from St Nazaire rejoined the few who had not gone on the raid, and the commando was reinforced by the first intake of volunteers from the new Commando Basic Training Centre at Achnacarry. No. 2 Commando then went on to serve in the Mediterranean, Sicily, Yugoslavia, and Albania, before being disbanded in 1946.
Operation Pistol was the code name for a Special Air Service mission during the Second World War, with the objective to parachute four teams from 'A' Squadron 2nd Special Air Service behind the German lines around the Alsace–Lorraine region of France. Once on the ground they would attempt to disrupt the road and rail networks between Metz and Nancy and the approach to the Rhine plain. One team, because of weather conditions over the drop zone, returned to England, another team landed in the middle of a German unit and the other two teams achieved some success before returning to Allied lines in early October.
The Battle of Rapido River was fought from 20 to 22 January 1944 during one of the Allies' many attempts to breach the Winter Line during the Italian Campaign of World War II. Despite its name, the battle occurred on the Gari River.
Operation Trent was an operation by Special Air Service (SAS) elements of the British Army, the largest known post-WWII operation in SAS history. Tony Blair had requested that the SAS be allowed an operation. The operation was carried out by members of a regimental task group, made up of a tactical HQ, members of A Squadron and G Squadron of the 22nd Special Air Service Regiment, supported by United States (US) forces, on an al-Qaeda-linked opium plant during the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan at the start of Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan (OEF-A).
Operations Wallace and Hardy I were two British Special Air Service operations during the Second World War that took place from 27 July to 19 September 1944. Initially two sets of operations by 2nd Special Air Service, they were eventually amalgamated into one. Their objective was to disrupt German lines of communication, coordinate the activities of the French Resistance and prevent German reinforcements moving to the Normandy beachheads.