Operation Maple
Part ofWorld War II,Operation Shingle
Date January 1944 Location Italian east coast Result British success
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Italy
Strength
16 troopers

Operation Maple was a series ofWorld War II operations in Italy in support of theAnzio landings. It comprised operations by the BritishSpecial Air Service (2 SAS), starting on 7 January 1944. Operation "Thistledown" was successful but "Driftwood" failed and its objective had to be destroyed later by "Baobab". None of the members of the first two parties returned safely, either being captured or going missing.^[1]

Before Anzio landings, it was required to cut rail links north of Rome and elsewhere on the east coast. Rail lines aroundTerni andOrvieto were to be attacked by four men of "Thistledown" but all the team was captured. "Driftwood" consisted of two four man teams to cut the lines betweenUrbino andFabriano andAncona andRimini: their fate is unknown but they are thought to have drowned or been captured and executed. A reinforcement party ("Baobab") was landed by sea on 30 January and destroyed a bridge betweenPesaro andFano.^[1]

• Conflicts in 1944
• British Commando operations during the Second World War
• Special Air Service operations
• 1944 in Italy
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