When we think of World War II, what usually comes to mind is the scale of battles, the great leaders, and the terrible aftermath of the conflict that we live with to this day. But the war was also noteworthy for undercover missions that might have tipped the balance in favor of the Allies.
To compile a list of the famous undercover missions of World War II, 24/7 Tempo consulted sources such as the Jewish Virtual Library, the National World War II Museum, Espionage History Archive, Military History Now, History, Britannica, and War History Online, among other sources. We exercised editorial discretion to select the missions that gained the most fame and in some cases impacted the outcome of the Second World War.
Undercover missions included those intended for deception, daring raids on enemy targets, espionage, and assassination attempts.
Many of the deception missions centered around the Allies throwing off German defenders ahead of the D-Day invasion, with operations such as Operations Bodyguard and Fortitude South. From 1940 to 1943, Operation Corona employed Jewish refugees from Germany to redirect German planes from attacking British targets.
Daring operations such as the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo in 1942 and Operation Chastise, when British Lancaster bombers damaged hydroelectric plants in Germany’s Ruhr Valley lifted Allied morale in 1943. That same year, Norwegian commandos blew up a heavy water production site — material used in atomic bombs — setting back the German program in Operation Gunnerside.
Audacity wasn’t in short supply on the Axis side. German commandos rescued Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from anti-fascist captors in Operation Eiche. Nazi Germany also tried assassination attempts against Joseph Stalin and inserted assassins in Iran to try and kill Allied leaders President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Stalin at the Tehran Conference in 1943. German conspirators tried and failed to assassinate Adolf Hitler a year later.
Desperation was behind the Japanese scheme to crash planes packed with infectious fleas in the San Diego area in March 1945. The plan was not executed because of logistical challenges. (Here is a list of 19 weapons from World War II that completely failed.)
Here are famous undercover missions of World War II.
Operation Kitty
- Time period: 1939-1943
- Countries involved: Nazi Germany
- Result: The Nazis used brothel in Berlin to spy on clients
Operation Corona
- Time period: 1940-1943
- Countries involved: Great Britain
- Result: The British used Jewish refugees from Germany to redirect German planes from attacking British targets
Operation Postmaster
- Time period: 1941
- Countries involved: Great Britain
- Result: British commandos neutralized cargo ships in neutral Spain that were fueling U-boats
Attack on Pearl Harbor
- Time period: December 7, 1941
- Countries involved: Japanese Empire
- Result: Japanese surprise attack on American ships at Pearl Harbor severely damaged US fleet
Operation Biting
- Time period: February 27, 1942
- Countries involved: Great Britain
- Result: Also known as the Bruneval Raid, British parachutists landed near Saint-Jouin-Bruneval in France to disassemble a radar station
Doolittle Raid
- Time period: April 18, 1942
- Countries involved: United States
- Result: Surprise attack on Tokyo boosted U.S. morale after Pearl Harbor attack
Operation Anthropoid
- Time period: May 27, 1942
- Countries involved: Czech resistance
- Result: Czech resistance assassinated Reinhard Heydrich, Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia
Operation Pastorius
- Time period: June 1942
- Countries involved: Nazi Germany
- Result: German saboteurs picked up on Long Island
Operation Jubilee
- Time period: August 1942
- Countries involved: Great Britain/Canada
- Result: Seaborne raid on French port of Dieppe ended in disaster
Operation Frankton
- Time period: December 1942
- Countries involved: Great Britain
- Result: Canoe-borne raiders attacked cargo ships in Bordeaux
Olterra Operation
- Time period: December 1942-1943
- Countries involved: Italy
- Result: Italian cargo ship was stuck in Spain and was anchored across the harbor from the British fortress at . Italy smuggled several small submarines and equipment to maintain them
Operation Long Jump
- Time period: Nov. 28-Dec. 1, 1943
- Countries involved: Nazi Germany
- Result: Nazis inserted assassins in Tehran, Iran, to assassinate Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, and Franklin Roosevelt at Tehran Conference but they failed
Operation Mincemeat
- Time period: April 1943
- Countries involved: Great Britain
- Result: Fake Allied plans to invade Sardinia and Greece diverted Nazi Germany from the real invasion in Sicily
Operation Vengeance
- Time period: April 18, 1943
- Countries involved: United States
- Result: U.S. warplanes intercepted plane carrying Japanese admiral and Pearl Harbor attack architect Isoroku Yamamoto and downed the plane over Bougainville
Operation Chastise
- Time period: May 16-17, 1943
- Countries involved: Great Britain
- Result: British Lancaster bombers damaged two hydroelectric plants in Germany’s Ruhr Valley. The mission was immortalized in the movie “The Dam Busters”
Operation Source
- Time period: Sept. 22, 1943
- Countries involved: Great Britain
- Result: British midget submarines damaged the German battleship Tirpitz in Norway
Operation Eiche
- Time period: Sept. 12, 1943
- Countries involved: Nazi Germany
- Result: German commandos rescued Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from Allied captors
Operation Gunnerside
- Time period: Feb. 27, 1943
- Countries involved: Great Britain/Norway
- Result: Norwegian commandos blew up heavy water production site — material used to develop atomic bombs — setting back the German program
Operation Bodyguard
- Time period: 1943-June 1944
- Countries involved: Western Allies
- Result: Disinformation campaign designed to have Nazi Germany believe invasion could take place anywhere along 1,500-mile coastline
The Kreipe Operation
- Time period: April 1944
- Countries involved: Great Britain/Crete
- Result: British commandos kidnapped General Heinrich Kreipe, the German commander of occupied Crete
Operation Zeppelin
- Time period: Spring 1944
- Countries involved: Nazi Germany
- Result: Adolf Hitler’s plan to kill Joseph Stalin failed
Operation Fortitude South
- Time period: June 1944
- Countries involved: Western Allies
- Result: Ruse was designed to fool the Germans into thinking the Allies would land in France at the Pas de Calais instead of Normandy
Operation Valkyrie
- Time period: July 1944
- Countries involved: German officers
- Result: Attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler at Wolf’s Lair headquarters in East Prussia
Operation Greif
- Time period: December 1944
- Countries involved: Nazi Germany
- Result: A team of commandos dressed as American soldiers sowed chaos behind U.S. lines at start of Battle of the Bulge
The Great Raid
- Time period: January 1945
- Countries involved: United States/Philippines
- Result: US rangers and Filipino guerrillas rescued 513 prisoners from the Cabanatuan prison of war camp
Operation Cherry Blossoms at Night
- Time period: March 1945
- Countries involved: Japanese Empire
- Result: Japan planned to crash planes loaded with infectious fleas in the San Diego area. The plan was not carried out because of logistical challenges