Including World War II 15 covert operations, madness is a genius.

Not all the secret missions of World War II were successful (in fact, several were disastrous), but they all required extraordinary originality and/or extraordinary courage.

The covert operations of World War II organized in this paper cover all the major participants, as well as the European and Pacific war zones. Some of these actions changed the course of history, while others were desperate attempts at the end of the war. Read on to learn about some little-known secret operations in World War II.

1942 In February, nine men parachuted near Vimoc, Norway. They are Norwegians with special aircrew training and plan to blow up a Nazi-controlled heavy water factory in Vimoc. Heavy water is the key material to produce plutonium, which is the raw material of the nuclear device that Hitler's scientists tried to build. This is the only such facility in the world.

This remote heavily guarded factory was completely unable to withstand the bombing, so it had to be destroyed on the spot, so they climbed a 500-foot cliff in the severe winter and sneaked into the heavily guarded basement laboratory. Then they successfully detonated the explosives and closed the facility forever.

1943, British intelligence was asked to help conceal the intention of the allied forces to invade Sicily that summer. Germany and its allies are involved in a high-risk deception/guessing game to determine where the first attack in Europe will take place. British intelligence officials came up with the idea of "minced meat operation", which spread false information by letting Germans "accidentally" discover forged top secret documents.

In order to carry out the "meat stuffing plan", the British obtained the body of a tramp-Gerlind Michael, and turned him into "Major william martin". When a submarine crew gently pushed Michael Martin's body into the waters off the coast of Spain, he was handcuffed to a briefcase full of forged military documents and ordinary items.

The official letter between the two British generals contained rumors of an invasion of Greece. Britain hopes that the Spanish authorities can hand over these materials to the German intelligence department and a higher command system, which is exactly the case. Hitler decided to make Greece his next ally. According to the information found in the British body, he transferred the personnel and equipment to Greece. When the Allies invaded Sicily on July 10, they met with the least resistance.

194 1 In September, Reinhard Heydrich, a senior Nazi official and the main planner of the Holocaust, was appointed as the protector of Bohemia and Moravia (formerly Czechoslovakia). He immediately declared martial law, began to execute political prisoners and intellectuals, and expelled a large number of Czech Jewish communities. The Czech government in exile in London decided to assassinate heydrich.

19411On February 28th, two Czech agents, Jan Kubis and Joseph Gabchik, successfully parachuted into Czechoslovakia as part of "Operation Ape". They spent months perfecting the plan with local resistance fighters. 1942 On May 27th, Kubis and Gechick waited for the Nazi Prague headquarters along the route that heydrich usually took in the morning. The protector of the empire proudly rode an open-top Mercedes, thinking that it was impossible to be attacked by local residents.

When heydrich's car slowed down on an L-shaped curve, Gabcik shot at heydrich with a machine gun, but missed. Then Kubis threw a grenade at Gesik, which exploded near the right fender of heydrich's car. Heydrich ordered the driver to stop, so as to shoot back at Gaisik. However, both agents escaped. heydrich initially thought that he was not injured, but he died on June 4th.

/kloc-in June, 2008, Kubis and Gabcik were betrayed by a member of the resistance and died heroically after a gun battle with the Gestapo in Prague Church. The couple's roles in the 20 16 film Tarzan of the Apes were played by Jamie Donan and Cillian Murphy.

After Hitler came to power, Kitty Schmidt ran the most luxurious brothel in Berlin. Uneasy about the Nazi regime, Schmidt helped Jewish refugees fleeing Germany through this brothel, delivered cash to the British bank, and planned to leave by himself. 1June, 939, he escaped, but was detained by the Nazi Central Security Bureau before reaching the Dutch border.

Then, Katie was taken to the Gestapo headquarters, where she was interrogated by Walter Schellenberg, director of the Secret Service. Shellenberger gave a choice: either go to the concentration camp or keep his brothel open, so that the Gestapo could keep an eye on the prestigious customers. Kitty agreed to the latter, so the brothel was soon bugged and reopened. Nazi agents from all over Berlin sent uninformed foreign diplomats and military personnel to Sharon and told them to use the code word "I'm from Rosemburg".

The mark given by the Gestapo to Katie Schmidt can be identified from the code above. They got a book with 20 specially trained photos of women. Their job is to question the arrested people in various ways. The plan went on until 1943, and the allied bombing destroyed the brothel beyond repair. Kitty survived World War II and lived with this secret until her death in 1954. Shellenberger was tried as a war criminal, but because of his extensive knowledge and cooperation (and poor health), he only stayed in prison for two years.

Imperial japanese navy's outstanding commander, General Isoroku Yamamoto, planned the attack on Pearl Harbor on February 7th, 194 165438. 1943 In April, Yamamoto made a morale-boosting trip at the Japanese position in Solomon Islands. The American intelligence department cracked the Japanese password and arranged a trip for him. Because he seized the opportunity of the person responsible for the Pearl Harbor incident, President Roosevelt personally ordered an action called "Revenge Action".

This task required a round trip of 65,438+0,000 miles, which was a perfect opportunity and surprise, and these Americans did it. On the morning of April 1943, 18, the American P-38 lightning plane was ready to intercept the Japanese admiral. In the air over Bougainville, American troops attacked Yamamoto's bombers and frigates. In the ensuing scuffle, Yamamoto's plane crashed in the jungle.

During World War II, the Japanese Imperial Army often tried and used biological warfare. Its notorious unit 73 1, under the command of Major Ishii Shiro, conducted terrible experiments on China civilians and American prisoners of war, including hypothermia, heart disease and infectious diseases. Therefore, the Japanese have developed biological weapons that can spread plague, cholera and anthrax bombs. These weapons have been used many times in cities of China, killing thousands of non-combatants.

Japan is hesitant about the use of biological weapons by the United States, but with the approaching defeat, Japan's war efforts are becoming more and more desperate, and Ishii plans to launch a large-scale biological attack on Southern California. Operation Cherry Blossom at night will command five long-range submarines to the area near San Diego. This submarine will launch a special bomber carrying fleas infected with plague. The pilots of these planes will crash at the first time, hoping to cause a plague.

Although the plan was approved in March 1945, it could not be implemented before Japan surrendered due to logistical reasons. Ishii used his rich knowledge in biological warfare to avoid prosecution of war crimes.

1in July, 943, the allied forces successfully invaded Sicily. Faced with the inevitable attack from Italy, Italian government officials removed the dictator Mussolini. Mussolini was arrested and sent to all parts of Italy, and finally came to an old hotel in the rugged Apennines-Grand Sasso. Hitler believed that the Italians planned to surrender and then join the Allies, which would endanger Germany's southern defense. He personally ordered trained commandos and paratroopers Otto Skorzeni to find and rescue Mussolini.

After tracking Mussolini's whereabouts in Italy, the Italian authorities regularly transferred their prisoners to keep his location secret. 1943, 12 In September, Skozeni led German paratroopers to the hotel where the Italian dictator was held and rescued him without firing a shot. In the hype of Germany, Mussolini was re-appointed as the leader of Italian society and country, and the region was controlled by Germany. Scozeni was promoted, decorated and praised, so Winston Churchill called him "the most dangerous man in Europe".

Nearly two years before landing in Normandy, the allied forces launched an attack in Dieppe, a port city on the northern French coast. Although this was a raid, not an invasion, the mission was a disaster and embarrassment. More than 6,000 British and Canadian soldiers tried to occupy Dieppe, destroy German positions and carry out large-scale amphibious invasion, which was called "Operation Jubilee".

Unfortunately, the Germans are ready to attack and have deployed a large number of defensive positions. However, none of the allies' goals were achieved. After the first landing 10 hour, Jubilee miscarried. More than 1000 allied soldiers were killed or injured, and nearly 2000 people were captured. Nevertheless, many lessons learned in Dieppe were successfully applied to the Normandy landings.

Bordeaux port in France is an important shipping center, which played a vital role in the process of German occupation of France. 1942, an elite Royal Navy commando was ordered to sneak into the 50-mile-long gironde estuary, enter the port and destroy as many cargo ships as possible with timed explosive devices. As the estuary is closely protected, this task will have to be carried out by six canoes, and two crew members will paddle all the way to Bordeaux. The mission was named "Operation Frankton".

On the night of February 7, 65438, after a submarine was launched into the estuary, a canoe was damaged, one of which capsized in a 5-foot-high wave, two crew members were captured before reaching the port, and the other two canoes continued to perform their tasks.

The surviving team planted bombs on four cargo ships and left the port. The plan requires them to destroy their canoes and try to reach the Spanish border. However, only two of the remaining four members managed to escape. Of the members of *** 10, two drowned, six were arrested and executed under the orders of German commandos, and two fled to Spain and returned to Britain from there.

The strategic value of the Ruhr Dam in Germany is well known to allied intelligence agencies. The torpedo net and air defense system on the dam make traditional bombing impossible and expensive. A special drum bomb was designed under the supervision of the British Admiralty. When released, the equipment will quickly rotate backward, jump along the river and sink after hitting the dam. Then, the water pressure started a special still water fuse and detonated it.

In May 1943, 16 and 17, 19, British Lancaster planes bombed the dam in the Ruhr Valley in a mission called "Punishment Action". The bomber successfully destroyed two dams. Two hydropower stations were paralyzed, and about 1300 civilians died, followed by massive floods. However, the effectiveness of this action has been controversial when the British casualties rate exceeded 40%, but the emotional impact caused by this action at that time was undeniable.

1942 June 13 in the early morning, john callen, a young coastguard, patrolled the beach near Ama Guincestre on Long Island. Suddenly, a group of people came out of the fog and startled Karen. He asked him to tell his identity. The man claimed that he and his team were fishermen. When the group rejected Karen's proposal to go to the coast guard, and after he heard one of them speak German, Karen was sure that he had discovered a conspiracy. The captain introduced himself and handed Karen a stack of money, warning him to forget the whole thing.

Karen ran back to the Coast Guard and reported the encounter. A few minutes later, a patrol came, but all the strangers left, but explosives, uniforms and wine buried underground were found on the beach. At noon, the FBI discovered this conspiracy and actively searched for Germans. These are two Germans, George Dash and Ernst Berg, who have no intention of carrying out the industrial destruction in Pastori. In new york, Dash tried to report the organization by phone, but the FBI agent who answered the phone thought it was a prank and hung up. Then Dash went to Washington, D.C. and was transferred to the FBI office. Finally, in anger, he threw $84,000 on the desk of a skeptical agent.

The spy was arrested soon. J. Edgar Hoover publicly applauded, but did not disclose the real situation behind the incident. President Roosevelt learned the details from the records of the military court. These people were sentenced to six death sentences, including life imprisonment of Berg and 30 years imprisonment of Dash. Finally, Dash and Berg were deported to Germany.

Most history students have heard of "Operation Valkyrie", that is, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg's briefcase bomb-trying to detonate the bomb at Adolf Hitler's military headquarters in East Prussia, and then taking control of Germany through a military coup. Less well known is the series of events that saved Hitler from assassination.

Stauffenberg's attempt took place in an underground concrete bunker. At the last minute, due to the hot summer, the venue was changed into a wooden conference room on the ground. Weakened the power of the explosion. Stauffenberg was injured in the battle in North Africa, leaving only one eye and three fingers of one hand. The general staff repeatedly asked him to speed up, but his situation only allowed him time to pour gunpowder for one of the two blasting bricks.

Due to stauffenberg's physical disability, an orderly offered to carry his briefcase and put it a few inches away from Hitler. Unfortunately, after von stauffenberg received a pre-arranged fake phone call, Colonel Heinz Brandt moved the box behind the thick oak partition because it blocked his way. The subsequent explosion was powerful enough to kill four people. Those who were blocked by the legs of the table, including Hitler, survived.

At the end of 1944, the Japanese army was driven out of the Philippines and began to execute allied prisoners of war. Allied authorities feared that when they left cabannes Tu, one of the largest prison camps in the Philippines, the Japanese would kill all 56,5438+03,000 prisoners. 1945 65438+ 10, about 100 army rangers traveled 30 miles behind enemy lines, joined the Philippine guerrillas, and carefully scouted the heavily guarded camp for several days.

1945 65438+1At sunset on October 30th, rangers and guerrillas crawled on the flat ground around the camp. The attackers quickly destroyed the Japanese bunkers and bunkers. More than 500 prisoners returned safely to the American defense line.

By 1942, Germany's offensive in the Soviet Union had expanded to a dangerous level, trying to occupy the oil fields in the Caucasus and Stalingrad. By June 165438+ 10, the German Sixth Army had occupied most of Stalingrad, and it seemed that it was ready to occupy it in an all-round way. But the Soviet high command is secretly preparing for a large-scale counterattack, that is, Operation Uranus, which will take advantage of the fragile flank of the Sixth Army, and these positions are defended by relatively cold Italian and Romanian troops.

This operation used 1 10,000 people, 1 10,000 tanks and 1 10,000 aircraft. From 1.942,1.654,38+0.9, the Romanian position collapsed. Because the German reserve forces did not respond, the German Sixth Army was trapped. Hitler refused to retreat strategically, thus isolating this Axis army. 1February 2, 943, when friedrich paulus, the commander of this doomed army, surrendered, there were only 65,438+million German soldiers left. This military disaster was an important turning point in World War II and the beginning of the end of Nazi Germany.

1944 65438+In February, as part of the large-scale German counterattack, a secret armored brigade commanded by Otto Skorzeni was preparing to create chaos behind the US military. At the beginning of the attack, Operation Grave (German: Griffin) successfully infiltrated several English-speaking Germans in American uniforms into the rear of the United States. These commandos changed the road signs, misled the troops and quickly returned to the German rear.

However, four Germans were captured, and one of them claimed that their real mission was to go to Paris to assassinate General Eisenhower. The military immediately tried the four men and other 12 German prisoners, who also wore American military uniforms for espionage (the Geneva Convention prohibits wearing foreign military uniforms in combat) and executed them. After World War II, Skozeni was acquitted.