Operation Hydra was a failed British attempt during

World War II in Yugoslavia World War II in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia began on 6 April 1941, when the country was swiftly conquered by Axis forces and partitioned between Germany, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria and their client regimes. Shortly after Germany attacked the US ...

to develop contact with the Partisans led by

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...

, in

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

in February 1942. Two British

Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...

agents and an officer of the former

Royal Yugoslav Air Force The Royal Yugoslav Air Force ( sh-Latn, Jugoslovensko kraljevsko ratno vazduhoplovstvo, JKRV; sh-Cyrl, Југословенско краљевско ратно ваздухопловство, ЈКРВ; ( sl, Jugoslovansko kraljevo vojno letalstv ...

were put ashore at Perazića Do, just north of Petrovac. On 4 February the three agents went ashore from the British submarine HMS ''Thorn''. They were Major

Terence Atherton Arthur Terence Atherton (3 August 1902 – 15 July 1942) was a British journalist, War correspondent and a newspaper proprietor of various English language publications in Belgrade between 1931 and 1941. He was also a British Special Operations ...

(a former journalist and agent in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

), Lieutenant Radoje Nedeljković of the Yugoslav Royal Air Force and Sergeant Patrick O'Donovan, wireless operator. The operation failed completely. The presence of the Yugoslav officer implied links to the royalist

Chetniks The Chetniks ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Четници, Četnici, ; sl, Četniki), formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland and the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationa ...

, which is suggested to have caused Tito to suspect the British of being spies. Nothing beneficial arose, therefore, and the British agents left Tito. They vanished soon thereafter, as did the large amount of gold and Italian money that they carried. British liaison officer at

Mihailović Mihailović ( sr, Михаиловић) is a Serbian surname, a patronymic derived from the masculine name ''Mihailo'' ( Michael). There is also the spelling variant '' Mihajlović''. It may refer to: *Doksim Mihailović (1883–1912), military com ...

's headquarters Duane "Bill" Hudson prompted Mihailović to order a formal inquiry into the fate of the Atherton mission. A summary of the results of this investigation was sent by Hudson to SOE office in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

. According to the results of the inquiry, the most probable culprit for Atherton's death was četnik leader Spasoje Dakić.

Citations

References

* Hydra Yugoslavia in World War II United Kingdom–Yugoslavia relations Conflicts in 1942 February 1942 events 1942 in Yugoslavia Balkans campaign (World War II) {{World-War-II-stub