Operation Chestnut
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During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Operation Chestnut was a failed British raid by 2
Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terro ...
, conducted in support of the Allied
invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It bega ...
.


Background

Two teams of ten men each, codenamed 'Pink' and 'Brig', parachuted into northern
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...
on the night of 12 July 1943, to disrupt communications, transport and the enemy in general. All radios were broken and much ammunition, explosives, and food were lost in the jump. One team landed near an inhabited area, alerting the defenders. Without radios, neither team was able to contact and direct the planes bringing in reinforcements, which subsequently returned to base without any drops being made. The raiders were unable to achieve anything worthwhile and worked their way towards friendly lines evading the enemy. This was the first parachute raid for 2 SAS, and also the raid when Maj. Geoffrey Appleyard, (former commander of the
Small Scale Raiding Force No. 62 Commando or the Small Scale Raiding Force (SSRF) was a British Commandos, British Commando unit of the British Army during the Second World War. The unit was formed around a small group of commandos under the command of the Special Operatio ...
), was lost. Appleyard was aboard the plane carrying 'Pink' team as drop supervisor. After the drop was made the plane failed to return to base.


See also

*
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
*
Operation Husky Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
: The Allied invasion of Sicily.


References

World War II British Commando raids Allied invasion of Sicily Special Air Service 1943 in Italy July 1943 events {{UK-mil-stub