'QWH' was a British naval minelaying operation to create a defensive minefield in the waters of the island of Capri, in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the west coast of Italy (June 19... Read More

'QWJ' was a British combined air and sea attack on La Spezia on the north-west coast of German-occupied Italy (June 1944). ... Read More

'QWZ' was a British and co-belligerent Italian naval special forces attack on ships and U-boats in the harbour of La Spezia in the German-aligned Salò Republic of northern It... Read More

'R' was the Japanese seizure of Rabaul on New Britain in an operation parallel with the 'O' seizure of Kavieng on New Ireland, the two major islands of the group lying to the ... Read More

'R4' was a British unrealised contingency plan for the seizure of the port cities of Stavanger, Bergen, Trondheim and Narvik along Norway’s west coast should the Germans rea... Read More

'RA' was the designation of Allied Arctic convoys (together with a numerical suffix) plying the route from ports in the northern USSR to Loch Ewe and the Clyde river estuary o... Read More

'Rabat' was a German unrealised plan to kidnap Pope Pius XII and the diplomatic corps of the Vatican state (late 1943/January 1944)., The plan is believed to have been origina... Read More

'Rabauke' was a German operation against the partisan forces of Marshal Josip Broz Tito on the islands of Ugljan and Iz, off the Dalmatian coast of the puppet state of Croatia... Read More

'Radan' was a Bulgarian anti-partisan operation designed to limit the growth of Marshal Josip Broz Tito’s Yugoslav partisan movement in north-eastern Serbia (18 March 1944).... Read More

'Rädda Bornholm' was a Swedish component of the proposed but unrealised 'Rädda Danmark' undertaking to occupy Bornholm, an island in the Baltic Sea to the east of most of De... Read More

'Rädda Danmark' was the Swedish unrealised plan to liberate Denmark before it was occupied by the westward advance of the Soviet forces toward Berlin, but cancelled at the ti... Read More

'Rädda Själland' was a Swedish component of the proposed but unrealised 'Rädda Danmark' to occupy Denmark’s main island of Zealand (including the capital Copenhagen) and ... Read More

'Radetzky' (i) was a German companion to 'Prinz Eugen' (i) in the early stages of Germany’s 'Barbarossa' invasion of the USSR, and in particular the 'Rentier', 'Silberfuchs'... Read More

'Radetzky' (ii) was an Austrian effort by a group of army personnel opposed to the Nazi regime to bring about the peaceful surrender of the city of Vienna to the advancing Sov... Read More

'Radish' was an Australian special forces operation to parachute an eight-man 'Z' Special Unit team into the Kebar area of Japanese-occupied New Guinea for a reconnaissance (1... Read More

'Raffle' was a British operation to deliver men and equipment from the UK to the Middle East in two commissioned transport ships (1942). ... Read More

'Ragamuffin' was the British contingency plan for the use of military personnel to aid the civil authorities in London in the event of heavy air attacks (1939/41). ... Read More

The 'Raid on Fort Lamy' was a German sabotage undertaking by the Sonderkommando 'Blaich' on the Free French-controlled Fort Lamy in the Chad region of French Equatorial Africa... Read More

The 'Raid on La Caine' was a British air attack in Normandy by Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham’s 2nd Tactical Air Force against the headquarters of General Leo Geyr von Sch... Read More

The 'Raid on Santorini' was a British and allied undertaking by the Special Boat Service against the mixed German and Italian garrison of the island of Santorini (formally The... Read More

'Railway I' was a British naval delivery of fighter aircraft to Malta (25/28 June 1941)., Reaching the Clyde river after 'Rocket', the elderly fleet carrier Furious embarked h... Read More

'Railway II' was a British naval delivery of fighter aircraft to Malta (29 June/1 July 1941)., On the return of the fleet carrier Ark Royal to Gibraltar after 'Railway I', the... Read More

'Rainbow' (ii) was the Chinese offensive by General Wei Li-huang’s 'Y' Force down the Salween river in southern China and northern Burma (10 May/August 1944)., Undertaken at... Read More

'Raincoat' was the Allied breakthrough of the 'Bernhardt-Linie' defences in the Monte Camino region of Italy by Lieutenant General Omar N. Bradley’s US II Corps and Lieutena... Read More

'Raindrop' was a British tactical deception by Colonel David Strangeways' 'R' Force, the deception element of General Sir Bernard Montgomery’s 21st Army Group in the Normand... Read More

'Rake' was a British unrealised plan for a naval sweep by elements of Admiral Sir Charles Forbes’s Home Fleet to locate and destroy German ships in the Skagerrak between Den... Read More

'Rambler' was a British special forces raid against German positions in the area of Plage Ste Cecile on the north coast of German-occupied France (?). ... Read More

'Rammstoss' was a German operation against the partisan forces of Marshal Josip Broz Tito in the Montenegrin area of German-occupied Yugoslavia (2 July 1944). ... Read More

'Ramrod' was the British overall designation for any light bomber raid on a specific target in occupied Europe with the intention that German fighters would be scrambled to in... Read More

'Ramshorn' was a British deception within Field Marshal Sir Archibald Wavell’s India Command (from 25 August Vice Admiral the Lord Louis Mountbatten’s South-East Asia Comm... Read More

'Ramsi' was a British special forces operation to parachute a six-man Special Operations Executive team into German-occupied Yugoslavia (15 June 1943 onward). ... Read More

'Ranger' was the British overall designation for any low-level fighter-bomber sweep to a depth of 50 miles (80 km) or more over occupied Europe against German targets of oppor... Read More

'Rankin' was an Allied unrealised series of three plans for large forces to move into northern Europe before the date set for 'Overlord' in the event that Germany underwent a ... Read More

'Ransack' was a British unrealised plan to land a substantial 'hit and run' force, up to a brigade in size, straight onto a suitable location on the English Channel coast of G... Read More

This was a British sub-operation within 'Countenance' to capture Khorramshahr in south-western Iran on the Shatt al-Arab waterway (25 August 1941)., The ships involved were th... Read More

'Rappen' was a German naval minelaying operation to the north-west of the island of Elba in the Ligurian Sea by two ex-Italian torpedo boats of Korvettenkapitän Wirich von Ga... Read More

'Rashness' was a US unrealised plan, based on 'Beta' (iii), for large-scale operations against the Japanese forces in China (1945)., Related to 'Iceman', the basic concept was... Read More

'Rasmus' was a U-boat wolfpack operation in the Arctic against the JW.64 and BK.3 convoys (6/13 February 1945)., The wolfpack comprised U-286, U-293, U-307, U-318, U-425, U-63... Read More

'Raspberry' (i) was a British unrealised plan, developed from 'Pike' (i), for air attacks on the oilfields and associated installations in the Caucasus region of the southern ... Read More

'Raspberry' (ii) was a British tactical manoeuvre designed for employment against U-boats attacking a convoy (1942/45)., Developed under the auspices of Captain R. Roberts of ... Read More

'Rasputin' was a British deception, proposed by Colonel Peter Fleming’s 'D' Division, to discommode Japanese political and military thinking by 'revealing' that the British ... Read More

'Rassendyll' was a British intelligence deception by Colonel Peter Fleming’s 'D' Division in Burma (?)., A copy of Charles Kingsley’s The Water Babies, containing conceale... Read More

'Ratchet' was a US naval undertaking by LST-208 and LST-209 to land British tanks at Regu Creek in eastern India, just to the south of Cox’s Bazaar, for onward movement by l... Read More

'Rathunt' was a British light naval sweep against Japanese coastal shipping and positions in the area of Gwa on the Arakan western coastal area of Japanese-occupied Burma (27/... Read More

'Ration' was the British overall designation of a naval programme to effect a maritime blockade of Vichy France through the interception and sinking or capture of Vichy French... Read More

'Rattle' was the Allied Combined Operations Headquarters conference to discuss amphibious tactics and techniques with a particular emphasis on the use of such tactics in 'Over... Read More

'Ratweek' (i) was a British bombing offensive by Air Vice Marshal W. Elliot’s Balkan Air Force, undertaken in conjunction with Yugoslav partisan harassment operations agains... Read More

'Ratweek' (ii) was a British operation organised by the Special Operations Executive to kill as many German intelligence and counter-intelligence agents as possible in Europe ... Read More

'Ratweeek' (iii) was an Allied proposed series of assassinations, as a logical extension of 'Ratweek' (ii), directed at German military leaders and intended for realisation in... Read More

'Raubgraf' was a U-boat wolfpack operation, in tandem with 'Dränger' and 'Stürmer' (i), in the Atlantic against the ONS.169, ON.170 SC.122 and HX.229 convoys (7/20 March 194... Read More