North West Europe

A co-ordinated assassination offensive against Nazi security forces in Occupied Europe was mounted in January 1944 by the Special Operations Executive

Special Operations Executive

The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...

 (SOE), whose intention was to create confusion and trepidation at the same time as the Allies increased preparations for the Resistance

Resistance during World War II

Resistance movements during World War II occurred in every occupied country by a variety of means, ranging from non-cooperation, disinformation and propaganda to hiding crashed pilots and even to outright warfare and the recapturing of towns...

's contribution to the Normandy Landings. Full details have never been released, but it is known that "Ratweek" achieved successes against Nazi personnel and collaborators in Norway

Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany

The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany started with the German invasion of Norway on April 9, 1940, and ended on May 8, 1945, after the capitulation of German forces in Europe. Throughout this period, Norway was continuously occupied by the Wehrmacht...

, France, Denmark

Occupation of Denmark

Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark began with Operation Weserübung on 9 April 1940, and lasted until German forces withdrew at the end of World War II following their surrender to the Allies on 5 May 1945. Contrary to the situation in other countries under German occupation, most Danish...

, and the Netherlands. In 2000 it was revealed that the operation had been supervised by Edwin Hardy Amies, at the time head of the SOE's Belgian Section.

Balkans

Within the Balkans, Ratweek was a series of coordinated attacks on the Axis

Axis Powers

The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...

 lines of communication

Lines of Communication

"Lines of Communication" is an episode from the fourth season of the science-fiction television series Babylon 5.-Synopsis:Franklin and Marcus attempt to persuade the Mars resistance to assist Sheridan in opposing President Clark...

 - principally the railways. It was launched on 1 September 1944 by Yugoslav partisans

Partisans (Yugoslavia)

The Yugoslav Partisans, or simply the Partisans were a Communist-led World War II anti-fascist resistance movement in Yugoslavia...

, the combined operations units of Land Forces Adriatic, the heavy bombers of the 15th Air Force heavy bombers and the light and medium bombers of the Balkan Air Force

Balkan Air Force

The Balkan Air Force was a late-World War II Allied air formation.-History:The formation was based at Bari in Italy, and activated on 7 June 1944 from AHQ 'G' Force to simplify command arrangements for the air support of Special Operations Executive-operations in the Balkans, i.e. across the...

. The attacks paralysed movement of the German forces. In his memoir Eastern Approaches

Eastern Approaches

Eastern Approaches is an autobiographical account of the early career of Fitzroy Maclean. It is divided into three parts: his life as a junior diplomat in Moscow and his travels in the Soviet Union, especially the forbidden zones of Central Asia; his exploits in the British Army and SAS in the...

, Fitzroy Maclean

Fitzroy Maclean

Sir Fitzroy Hew Royle MacLean of Dunconnel, 1st Baronet KT CBE was a Scottish soldier, writer and politician. He was a Unionist MP from 1941 to 1974 and was one of few people who entered World War II as a private and left having risen to the rank of Brigadier.Maclean wrote several books, including...

claims this was his idea.