'Blue Boot' was a British unrealised deception plan by the Twenty (Double X) Committee to 'leak' to the Germans that in the event of a German landing, British troops were to a... Read More

'Blue Pencil' was a British unsuccessful undertaking to negotiate the German surrender of Ugljan island in the Adriatic Sea off the coast of German-occupied Yugoslavia near Za... Read More

'Bluebeard' was a British air attack on the German battleship Tirpitz in the Åsenfjord near Trondheim in German-occupied Norway (27/28 April 1942)., The undertaking was conce... Read More

'Blueberry' was a Chinese special forces operation by the 2nd Parachute Commando, delivered by US aircraft, to cut the Japanese lines of communication near Chakiang (27 July/3... Read More

'Bluebird' was a US unrealised plan for amphibious landings against the Japanese forces on the island of Formosa and on the coast of China along the South China Sea, with elem... Read More

'Bluebottle I' was the British naval rescue of escapees and evaders by the Q-ship Tarana from a beach in the south-west of Vichy France (13/14 July 1942)., Tarana was a 347-to... Read More

'Bluebottle II' was a British naval rescue of escapees/evaders from a beach in south-western Vichy France (15/16 August 1942). , The Q-ship Tarana, an ex-Polish trawler, evacu... Read More

'Bluecoat' was a British operation to drive to the south from the lodgement of Lieutenant General Sir Miles Dempsey’s 2nd Army of General Sir Bernard Montgomery’s Allied 2... Read More

'Blues' was a British naval undertaking to maintain an invasion threat against the southern part of German-occupied Norway with the object of persuading the Germans not to div... Read More

'Blume' was a German two-part contingency plan to deal with any Allied amphibious landings in France (January 1944)., 'Blume I' was concerned with the defeat of any Allied lan... Read More

'Blumenstrauss' was the German movement of six formations from areas in Pomerania, Hamburg, Soltau, Magdeburg, Halle-Leipzig and Giessen to the frontier regions with Belgium a... Read More

'Blunt' was a British unrealised plan for a special forces raid by men of No. 50 (Middle East) Commando on the island of Kásos in the Italian-held Dodecanese islands group of... Read More

'Blutrausch' was a U-boat wolfpack operation off the north-west and north coasts of German-occupied Norway against the PQ.14 convoy (15/19 April 1943)., The wolfpack comprised... Read More

'BM' (i) was the designation of Allied convoys (together with a numerical suffix) plying the route from Bombay, India, or in one instance Colombo, Ceylon, to Ceylon and Singap... Read More

'BM' (ii) was the designation of Allied convoys (together with a numerical suffix) plying the route from Karachi or Bombay to other Indian ports or Colombo, Ceylon, and as suc... Read More

'BN' (i) was the designation of Allied convoys (together with a numerical and sometimes a literal suffix) plying the route from Bombay, India, to Aden or the Suez Canal (June ... Read More

'BN' (ii) was the British initial delivery of troops to Souda Bay on the Greek island of Crete in the eastern Mediterranean to establish a refuelling depot and improve the air... Read More

'BN' (iii) was the designation of Allied convoys (together with a numerical suffix) plying the route from Cape Gloucester, New Britain, to Langemak Bay, New Guinea, or Guadalc... Read More

'Bo' was the Japanese first stage of the occupation of Bougainville island in the Solomon islands group (28/30 March 1942)., Bougainville is the largest island of the Solomon ... Read More

'Bo-1' was the Japanese naval undertaking to move the fleet aircraft carrier Shokaku and super-battleship Yamato from Truk in the Caroline islands group to Yokosuka in the Jap... Read More

'Boanerges' was a British (later Allied) unrealised plan for the occupation of all or part of French North Africa in the event that the Vichy French offered no opposition (194... Read More

'Board' was the British programme of naval operations along the northern coast of German-occupied France to intercept and destroy German shipping that could otherwise be used ... Read More

'Boarding Party' was the British alternative designation for 'Longshanks' (9 March 1943). ... Read More

'Boardman' was the Allied deception operation to support the 'Avalanche' amphibious landing at Salerno in western Italy by suggesting that an Allied invasion of the Balkans or... Read More

'Boatswain' was a British and Palestinian Jewish undertaking intended to destroy the Vichy French oil installations in the port of Tripoli, the second city of Vichy French-con... Read More

'Bobcat' was the US geographical rather than operational codename for Bora Bora island in the Society islands group of the Pacific Ocean (1941/45)., Bora Bora is part of Frenc... Read More

The 'Bobruysk Offensive Operation' was the Soviet third of the 11 sub-operations together constituting the 'Belorussian Strategic Offensive Operation' ('Bagration') in the sum... Read More

'Bodden' was a German undertaking, supervised by the Abwehr military intelligence department, for the gathering of intelligence in Spain and Morocco (1938/January 1944)., Betw... Read More

'Bodega' was a British naval deception plan for 'Overlord' (June 1944)., The name was used for a fictitious underground depot of huge size supposedly built in the Chislehurst... Read More

'Bodenplatte' was the German final air offensive, wrongly believed by the Allies to have been designated as 'Hermann' (1 January 1945)., The operation was designed to support ... Read More

'Bodyguard' was the Allied overall strategic deception plan in Europe carried out as part of the build-up to 'Overlord' (1943/August 1944). , The major objectives of this plan... Read More

'Bodyline' was the Allied bombing campaign against German secret weapon production centres, later redesignated as part of 'Crossbow' (autumn 1944). ... Read More

'Bogart' was a British special forces raid across the Maas river in the German-occupied Netherlands by Brigadier B. W. Leicester’s 4th Commando Brigade (spring 1945). ... Read More

'Bogdanow' was a German operation for the seizure and, wherever necessary, the repair or reconstruction of the vital railway bridges between Lida and Molochdechno in the Belor... Read More

'Bogen' was the German plan for the use of railway transport for the delivery to the forces fighting on the Eastern Front urgently needed supplies of winter equipment includin... Read More

'Boiler' was a British unrequired plan to counter any major break-out by Axis naval forces (1940/8 May 1945). ... Read More

'Boilermaker' was an Allied unrealised plan to foment revolt in Axis-occupied Albania (1942/44). ... Read More

'Boisterous' was an Allied series of unrealised plans developed by Admiral the Lord Louis Mountbatten’s South-East Asia Command for the recapture of Malaya (1945). ... Read More

'Bolero' was the Allied cover name for the movement of US forces across the Atlantic to the UK in preparation for the opening of a 'second front' in North-West Europe (1943/44... Read More

'Bolivar' was the German espionage programme in Latin America (1940/45)., The undertaking was controlled by a department of the Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS (SD), t... Read More

This was a Soviet one-man demolition attack against a shale oil facility in German-occupied Estonia (24 October 1942). ... Read More

The 'Bombing of Bahrain' was an Italian undertaking to strike at the British interests wherever possible in the Middle East (19 October 1940)., While the mission caused little... Read More

The 'Bombing of Palestine' was part of the Italian air undertaking to strike at the UK and its overseas territories throughout the Middle East (June 1940/June 1941)., On 10 Ju... Read More

'Bona' was an Italian unrealised plan for an attack by two heavy cruisers on Allied shipping off the coast of North Africa (April 1943)., After the Allied 'Torch' landings of ... Read More

'Bonaparte' was a British series of naval undertakings between ports on the south-west coast of England and St Brieuc on the the north coast of Brittany in the northern part o... Read More

'Bongo' was an Allied unrealised plan to raise Belgian colonial forces in Congo, and to a far smaller extent in Rwanda and Burundi, for service in the Middle East (1940/42). ... Read More

'Bonnet' was a British pair of air operations against V-1 'flying bomb' launch sites along the south-east coast of the English Channel in north-west France and Belgium (August... Read More

'Bonus' was a British unrealised plan for an amphibious operation against the Vichy French island of Madagascar, in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa, later develo... Read More

This was the US designation under which the recapture of Attu island in the Aleutian islands group, implemented as 'Cottage' (i), was undertaken (mid-1943). ... Read More

'Booklet' was the British overall designation of operations by the Special Operations Executive in German-occupied Denmark (1941/45). ... Read More