| Operation Bigamy | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofOperation Agreement, theSecond World War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United Kingdom |  Italy Germany | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| David Stirling | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| ~70 vehicles | Unknown | ||||||
Operation Bigamy[1]a.k.a. Operation Snowdrop was a raid during theSecond World War by theSpecial Air Service in September 1942.This was done under the command ofLieutenant ColonelDavid Stirling and supported by theLong Range Desert Group. The plan was to destroy the harbour and storage facilities atBenghazi and raid the airfield atBenina inLibya in coordination with the RAF. The raid was part of a deception plan forOperation Agreement, the much larger raid onTobruk.
The plan involved a "gruelling journey around the southern edge of theGreat Sand Sea"[2] but ended in failure. The raiding force was discovered at a road block by an Italian reconnaissance unit and Stirling decided to withdraw[1] toKufra. During the withdrawal, theLuftwaffe picked off nearly 70 of the vehicles on the barren terrain. The survivors were reformed as the 1st Special Air Service regiment.[3]
The frequently used, albeit inaccurate, name "Operation Snowdrop" stems from early editions ofWilliam Boyd Kennedy Shaws' bookLong Range Desert Group. At the time,War Office security policy would not permit Shaw to use real operational code names.
In September 1967Len Deighton wrote an article inThe Sunday Times Magazine about Operation Snowdrop. The following year Stirling was awarded "substantialdamages" in alibel action about the article.[4] The passage complained of states "Stirling himself had insisted upon talking about the raid at two social gatherings at the British Embassy in Cairo although warned not to do so". Stirling made the point thatWinston Churchill had been at both gatherings and the issue was raised in a private discussion with thePrime Minister.[2]
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