DK - World War II Map by Map

138 THE WIDENING WAR 1942

Crete

Sardinia

Corsica

Malta

Lofoten

Islands

Altafjord

Pointe

de Saire

Berlin

St. Nazaire

Vannes

London

Tempsford

Bern

Rome

Bari

Calitri Monopoli

Gorgopotamos

Madrid

Stockholm

Foggia

SouthamptonNewhaven

Falmouth

Dieppe

Sainte-Honorine-

des-Pertes

Saint-Jouin-Bruneval

Bordeaux

Pessac

Lisbon

Gibraltar

Rjukan

Alta

Holy Loch

Giro

nde

B

a

lt

ic

S

e

a

North

Sea

M

ed

it

er

ra

ne

an

Se

a

Skag

er

ra

k

GREATER

GERMANY

ITALY

UNITED

KINGDOM

SPAIN

IRELAND

BULGARIA

PORTUGAL

HUNGARY

ALBANIA

SWITZERLAND

DENMARK

BELGIUM

MO

LD

A

V

IA

U S S R

A

R

C

T I

O C

C

E

A N

N

O

R

W

A

Y

S

W

E

D

E

N

F

I

N

L

A

N

D

SE

RB

IA

SLOV

AKI

A

PO

LA

N

D

VICHY^ FRANCE

FRE

NCH^

NORTH

AFRICA

T U R K

E Y

ROMANIA

NET

HE

RL

AN

D

S

CR

OA

TIA

YU

GO

SLA

VIA

OCCUPIED

FRANCE

GREECE

OSTMARK

(AUSTRIA)

Assault route

Diversionary raid

Attack on

aqueduct

OPERATION COLOSSUS FEBRUARY 10, 1941

In the first British airborne sabotage operation,

commandos were sent from Malta to southern

Italy to blow up an aqueduct near Calitri. As

a diversion, bombers concurrently attacked

railroad yards at Foggia to the north. The raiders

succeeded in damaging their target, but all were

captured as prisoners of war; their anti-Fascist

Italian translator was tortured and executed.

1

△ Aftermath of a failed raid

German troops inspect a knocked-out Canadian Churchill

infantry tank after the Dieppe Raid of August 1942. The

Allies did not succeed in their objective of taking the port.

Mar 4, 1941 Allied

commandos disrupt

industrial production on

the Lofoten Islands.

Sep 20–22, 1943 Six

midget submarines damage

the German battleship

Tirpitz in a fjord.

Feb 27–28, 1942

Raiders capture a

German radar site.

Mar 15–16, 1941 Operation

Savanna, the first to employ

SOE-trained Free French forces,

fails in an attack on Vannes airfield.

Jun 7–8, 1941 Free French

saboteurs parachuted

from England destroy

an electrical installation.

Sep 12–13, 1942

A commando raid in

Normandy fails, with

all the commandos

captured or killed.

Oct 3, 1942 A raid

on Sark leaves

three Germans

dead, leading to

German reprisals.

JAN 1941 JUL JAN 1942 JUL JAN 1943 JUL

1

2

3

4

5

TIMELINE

THE UNDERGROUND WAR

While Hitler’s armies rolled across Europe, another, more clandestine

war was going on within the occupied lands. Allied operatives carried

out surprise raids, while local resistance groups, supported from London,

rose up against their oppressors in a variety of ways, such as producing

propaganda, sabotage, and direct armed conflict.

KEY

Allied territory, 1942

Axis territory,

occupations, and

cobelligerents, 1942

Neutral territory, 1942

Main SOE

operations area

SOE main bases

SOE secondary

bases

Raids and attacks

by SOE

Sabotage

Resistance

Partisan support

Communications

Supplies delivered

by air

Aug 14–15, 1942 British

commandos cross the

Channel to attack

coastal defenses

in Normandy.

Sep 3, 1942 Allied

commandos raid the

Casquets lighthouse

in the occupied

Channel Islands.

Jul 22, 1940 The SOE is

formed under the leadership

of the British Labour Party

politician Hugh Dalton.

Jan 23–25, 1941 Operation

Rubble sees five Norwegian

merchant ships run a

German blockade from

neutral Sweden to Britain.

US_138-139_Raids_and_Subversions.indd 138 20/03/19 3:29 PM