Undercover operatives have one of the toughest jobs in law enforcement, and their activities can help bring down even the most bulletproof of criminal enterprises. Sometimes, however, as with all human endeavors, there are problems. The following operations were in the best of cases spectacularly ill-conceived and in the worst accomplished the exact opposite of their intended purpose. Some of the names of these operations were made up. Some, amazingly, were not.

10 Operation Wheelchair

Vancouver Police sergeant Mark Horsley had a simple but brilliant plan to put a dent in a gang of thieves that had been conducting a string of robberies on the east side of town in 2015. These cowardly bandits had been robbing disabled citizens in wheelchairs, and Horsley planned to catch them in the act by posing as a wheelchair-bound man himself. For five days, he tooled around the city’s most crime-ridden areas with money hanging out of an open fanny pack. The ploy attracted plenty of attention—just not the kind he had been expecting.

Despite over 300 contacts with citizens, nobody robbed him. They gave him money instead, although he was doing nothing resembling panhandling. Many people just stopped to chat and see if they could help, and two separate people brought him pizza. Only one man reached for Horsley’s fanny pack . . . to zip it shut for him and tell him that he should be more careful with his things. Horsley even recognized crooks he had busted in the past, approaching him to see if he needed assistance. It would appear that either the reports of roving bands of wheelchair robbers were highly overstated, or the Vancouver PD undercover unit has a serious leak.

9 Operation Have It Your Way

In 2016, Officer Nicole Fair had only joined the Thurmont, Maryland, police department about a month prior to her first big assignment. The tiny town of about 6,000 was having a bit of a problem with drugs, and citizens had reported dealing taking place out of the local Burger King. As Fair was not well-known in town yet, she was inserted into the fast food joint to go undercover as an employee and catch the dealers.

For two months, Fair flipped burgers—twice as long as she had actually worn a police uniform at that time—and befriended fellow workers. Finally, she hit pay dirt when she got employees Tommy Lee Miller and Jonathan Moser to sell her the goods. Speaking to the local paper, Fair said: “I was hired to help and protect the community of Thurmont, and that was what I was doing. You hear about all the drug problems [ . . . ] we’re really feeling the effects of it. To be able to do something to directly address that, especially being a new officer, was extremely rewarding.”

The drug haul? 5 grams of marijuana (roughly $50 worth) and two pills. Thurmont, you can sleep easy.

8 Operation Autistic Kid

Burger restaurants are one thing, but everyone agrees that drug dealing in schools is serious business. Since the 1970s, police have used youthful-looking cops to go undercover at high schools and ferret out the dealers, but one such operation at Chaparral High in Southern California in 2012 took a wrong turn on the first day. The undercover cop, “Dan” to his high school friends, immediately befriended young Jesse Snodgrass, an autistic student with bipolar disorder who had extreme difficulty keeping up with conversations.

“Dan” asked Jesse if he could score some weed, and Jesse said he could, barely cognizant of what that meant and ecstatic to have made a friend. After coming up with $20 worth of pot that he’d purchased from a guy outside a legal dispensary, Jesse was arrested and charged with drug dealing.

A judge, recognizing that there’s no way this crime would have ever taken place without the officer’s involvement, threw out the charges. A subsequent lawsuit filed by Jesse’s family against the school district was also, unfortunately, dismissed.

7 Operation Backfire

In 2012, a new store called Fearless Distributing opened in downtown Milwaukee. It was, to put it plainly, a front. Those staffing the store were agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and they were determined to take some illegal guns off the streets by buying them from felons through their storefront. It didn’t work out quite how they intended, but perhaps you’re asking for problems when you name your sting Operation Backfire.

Pretty much everything that could go wrong did. For one, the sting failed to net a single gunrunning operation. Many arrests were made, but the ATF was found to have targeted mentally disabled people almost exclusively, and only a few low-level charges were filed. The store was broken into and robbed of $35,000 worth of merchandise. Agents caused $15,000 worth of damage to the property, resulting in a lawsuit by the landlord. Bungled handling of guns resulted in a military-style machine gun hitting the streets.

After the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel broke the story, they took a look at a few other ATF operations—and discovered that they had employed similar tactics, with about as much to show for it, in at least six storefront stings across the US.

6 Operation Helping Hand

From 2010 to 2012, Florida’s Tri-County Task Force, which strangely consisted of only two agencies, attempted to stem the flow of laundered money from the state’s drug trade by going undercover as money launderers. Operatives from the Bal Harbour Police Department and Glades County Sheriff’s Office would pass tips and information on to federal agencies, which would move in to make the bust when they had enough to do so. The operation was a success, resulting in the seizure of $30 million in dirty money.

Except that the $30 million wasn’t all of the money laundered by the undercover task force. In all, over $70 million was laundered for drug cartels by the task force, more than twice what was seized. The agents involved took a nominal fee for their services, skimming $2.4 million for themselves, which went to various operating expenses like stays at resort hotels and meals at expensive restaurants. After the Miami Herald exposed these shenanigans, the heads of the departments involved in the sting were terminated, and the operation itself was dismantled.

5 Operation Illegal Business

You may recall that in 2015, several states moved to defund Planned Parenthood after a series of undercover videos shot by the “Center for Medical Progress” (CMP) purported to show illegal activity within several of the clinic’s locations, including the sale of aborted fetuses. A grand jury was convened, and it was determined that multiple felony charges were in order—for the people who produced the videos.

The grand jury found that Planned Parenthood was not engaged in any kind of illegal activity and that the videos were edited deceptively to imply that the opposite was the case. Because of this, CMP founders David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt, the creators of the videos, were charged with felony counts of tampering with a governmental record. On top of that, Daleiden was charged with prohibition of the purchase and sale of human organs, because he offered—in a video that he shot—to buy human tissue, which is illegal. Although these charges were eventually dropped in July 2016, a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood against the pair is moving forward.

4 Project Gunrunner

In the mid-2000s, before they’d moved on to busting confused, mentally impaired people in Milwaukee and across the nation, the ATF was busy trying to keep guns from crossing the border into Mexico and getting into the hands of the drug cartels. The nationwide project, centered in Arizona and Texas, did indeed result in a good number of seizures, but the unfortunately named Project Gunrunner proved to be even better at doing what its name implied: running guns.

The project’s strategy was to facilitate “straw purchases” of firearms (which is the illegal purchase of legally obtained guns) and then trace their path into the depths of the cartel, exposing the supply chain. The second part didn’t work out so well, but the operation did result in about 2,500 fresh guns crossing the border and plopping into the cartels’ laps, as estimated by an actual ATF agent. Since the bungled operation has come under fire, it has even been suggested that the ATF was attempting to boost the number of US guns being supplied to the cartels to justify their budget or even for political reasons.

Amazingly, this was not the only time that this incredibly flawed strategy came back to bite the ATF.

3 Operation Fast And Furious

In 2009, an undercover operation began targeting several Phoenix residents thought to be moving guns. For years, undercover agents watched as guns flowed freely through safe houses, resisting every bit of their training to seize them as their superiors repeatedly told them to let the sales go through. By the end of what would become known as Operation Fast and Furious (because one of the suspects belonged to an underground car club) the ATF had let over 2,000 firearms cross into Mexico unimpeded.

The whole sorry saga of the “ATF Gunwalking Scandal” came to light after US Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was killed with a gun that the ATF had declined to remove from the streets. Many more firearms set free by the ATF have been found at crime scenes on both sides of the border. According to former Mexican attorney general Humberto Trevino, at least 150 Mexican civilians have been injured or killed as a result.

2 Operation What Private Property?

Early one morning in 2012, Craig Patty got the weirdest phone call of his life. The owner of a small North Texas trucking company with only two trucks, Patty found himself being informed by a business partner that one of his drivers, hired only five weeks before, had been shot dead inside one of the trucks, which had been loaded up with with enough marijuana to, well, fill a truck. Stunned, Patty tried to figure out how he could have fallen in with drug dealers—but he hadn’t. He had fallen in with an undercover DEA agent, who had been using the truck to try to bust smugglers.

The operation had gone spectacularly awry when said smugglers attempted to hijack the truck and its shipment, killing the undercover operative in a hail of bullets in full view of a dozen federal agents and local police. The officers involved, not all of whom knew each other, even ended up shooting at each other in the confusion, with one Houston cop wounding a sheriff’s deputy.

A lawsuit brought by Patty against the DEA for more than $1.3 million was dismissed in 2015, finding that the DEA was not even liable for his bullet-riddled truck. The decision is currently being appealed.

1 Operation Never Mind

In 2013, Worcester, Massachusetts, police were conducting an online sting operation aimed at snaring child predators. Posing as a 14-year-old girl, an undercover agent began a conversation with a user going by the name Latenightcop171. Soon after the user began making sex talk, officers discovered his identity: Neil Shea, an officer in their department.

So, did they reel him in? Not exactly. The undercover agent was told to terminate the conversation, ostensibly because “no line had been crossed” and there was “insufficient evidence to pursue a criminal complaint.” That is, despite this exchange:

Undercover — What can you teach me
Latenightcop171 — Lot of things
Latenightcop171 — We’d have sex

Also, after the conversation was terminated, Shea left a friend request for who he thought was his underage sexual prospect. While this may seem to indeed be sufficient evidence of the officer’s intent to pursue sex with a minor, the Worcester PD disagreed. Shea was allowed to resign and is free to collect his retirement benefits.

We all love a good fictional rescue story, as it blends adventure, suspense, drama, and all the other good stuff that makes up a good story. Real-life rescues are, however, rarely that exciting, as they often involve real risks for not only the victims, but also the rescuers. These are some of the most daring rescue operations ever attempted in history, and sadly, some of them even ended in failure and tragedy. 

10. Dunkirk Evacuation

Dynamo was the operational codename for one of the largest evacuation efforts of the Second World War, where the BEF – or the British Expeditionary Force – part of the French army, and the remains of the Belgian army were trapped and surrounded by the German forces at Dunkirk in the early phases of the war. The evacuation began on May 26 and lasted until June 4, 1940, and was largely spearheaded by British forces under Capt. William Tennant.

The mission faced intense German air attacks and shelling throughout its execution, making the rescue slow and costly at first, which changed with the continued involvement of the Royal Navy and friendly civilian vessels in the region. Around 338,000 British and French soldiers were evacuated through this operation, which included many highly-trained and experienced troops. 

9. 2010 Chilean Mine Rescue

In 2010, Chile’s Atacama Desert was the site of one of the largest mining disasters in history, when a massive explosion caused a block of stone to collapse inside the San Jose gold and copper mine, trapping 33 miners about 2,300 feet below the surface. Surprisingly, all 33 men survived and were found alive in a refuge within the mine, even after 17 days of no contact with the surface. 

The operation was conducted by the Chilean government and experts from various fields, complete with drilling machines and other industrial equipment to ensure the safety of the miners. It was completed on October 13, 2010, after a total of 69 days following the mine’s collapse. Later investigations into the accident and the miner’s lawsuits revealed many issues that led to the collapse, including bypassed regulations and professional neglect on the part of the mine’s owners.

8. Operation Jericho

In January 1944, hundreds of members of the French Resistance were imprisoned in Amiens, France by the Gestapo. According to information received by intelligence agencies in London, their execution was scheduled for February 19, giving any potential rescue teams only a few weeks to complete the job. It would be named Operation Jericho, involving a low-level bombing operation to assist with the evacuation and rescue effort. 

On the eve of February 18, 19 de Havilland Mosquito aircraft took off from the Hunsdon base and headed towards Amiens. Their mission – comprising special teams from Australia, New Zealand, and Britain – was to breach the prison walls, destroy the guards’ quarters, and create an opportunity for the prisoners to escape. The tense precision-flying operation was successfully executed despite challenging weather conditions, and by the end of it, the prison was severely damaged and over 250 prisoners had escaped to safety. 

7. Operation Eagle Claw

Operation Eagle Claw was launched by the US military in April 1980, aimed at rescuing 66 Americans held hostage in Tehran during the Iran Hostage crisis. It began in November, 1979, when militant students stormed the U.S. embassy and demanded the return of the deposed Iranian ruler and an end to Western influence in the country. After five months of failed negotiations, President Jimmy Carter approved the rescue plan involving helicopters and C-130 aircraft. 

By April 24, however, the mission had already started to face challenges, thanks to a violent sandstorm that struck the aircraft, causing damage and reduced visibility for the rescue team. The operation was aborted when a helicopter crashed into a C-130, killing eight servicemen.

Operation Eagle Claw exposed deficiencies in the U.S. military command structure, leading to the establishment of the United States Special Operations Command. Investigations revealed coordination issues and inadequate equipment maintenance, prompting the adoption of a combined doctrine for future military operations. 

6. Operation Halyard

Operation Halyard was carried out in August 1944 during the Second World War, when a three-man OSS team, led by Lieutenant George Musulin, was dropped into Nazi-occupied Serbia to rescue a group of American airmen. The team was assisted by Serbian Chetniks and the First Air Crew Rescue Unit of the Fifteenth Air Force. 

Over the course of the mission, 432 American airmen and 80 other Allied personnel were rescued by the effort. The mission lasted from August to December, 1944, and the OSS team often worked with Serbian partisans to execute the successful airlift of the trapped personnel. While it was easily the largest rescue operation of Allied soldiers during the war, Operation Halyard received little publicity at the time, as it was overshadowed by the D-Day operations ongoing in France.

5. Operation Solomon

Operation Solomon was a rescue operation conducted by the Israeli military in 1991, when over 14,000 Ethiopian Jews were airlifted to Israel within a 36-hour window. The operation was executed in the backdrop of Ethiopia’s decades-long civil war, as advancing rebel forces posed an existential threat to the Jewish community living in Addis Ababa. 

The rescue was only made possible after negotiations and agreements with the Ethiopian government, supported by Israeli and American-Jewish agencies on the ground. It was done by 34 Israeli planes and 41 continuous flights, and about 15,000 civilians were flown to safety throughout the operation. 

4. Operation Nimrod

Operation Nimrod was a British special forces operation carried out from April 30 to May 5, 1980, when six Iranian gunmen stormed the Iranian embassy in London and took 26 hostages. The gunmen were Iranian Arabs seeking sovereignty for the Khuzestan Province, demanding the release of prisoners in Iran, and their safe passage out of Britain. Their demands were refused by the British government, however, resulting in the tense siege and hostage situation. 

While negotiations eventually resulted in the release of five hostages, the conflict escalated when one hostage was killed, leading the government to finally authorize the use of force. Codenamed Operation Nimrod, the SAS formulated a plan to storm the embassy from all sides simultaneously. Explosions were used to mask the assault, as multiple teams entered from the roof, balconies, and ground floor. The SAS quickly cleared the building within 11 minutes, killing the leader Salim and neutralizing the other terrorists in a firefight. 

3. Operation Barras

Operation Barras was a British hostage-rescue mission in Sierra Leone in September 2000, when 11 British soldiers from the Royal Irish Regiment were taken captive by the heavily-armed rebel group called the West Side Boys. The gang was infamous in the region for their brutal tactics, demanding various ransoms and concessions from the British government in exchange for the hostages.

The mission involved a combined force of the Special Air Service, First Battalion, Parachute Regiment, and Special Boat Squadron operators, along with a few other support troops. The SAS had prior knowledge of the region from previous conflicts, as it deployed observation teams across the region to gather intelligence on rebel-held positions. 

When they ruled out stealth as an option, the assault force launched an old-school helicopter-based operation, hitting the hostage camp and rebel base with overwhelming firepower. The SAS and SBS teams secured the hostages in Gberi Bana, while the Parachute Regiment engaged in a firefight with the rebels on the other side of the river. The mission was largely successful, and despite a few casualties, the assault team was able to save all of the hostages.

2. Operation Jaque

Operation Jaque was a rescue mission of the Colombian military to liberate 15 hostages held captive by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – or FARC – for several years. Among the hostages were Colombian soldiers, American defense contractors, and former presidential candidate Íngrid Betancourt. 

The operation was years in the making, with the involvement of the Special Operations Command South of the United States military in advising and building the capacity of the Colombian forces since the late 1980s. In the follow up to the mission, the Colombian military cracked FARC’s radio communication codes and carried out a two-pronged deception attack. They lured the rebel group into bringing the hostages to a specific location, all the while infiltrating the group as members of a humanitarian mission. The undercover operatives acted convincingly, even taking acting lessons beforehand to ensure the success of the mission.

1. Cabanatuan Prison Raid

The raid on the occupied Cabanatuan prison camp in the Philippines is still sometimes known as The Great Raid, as it remains the largest rescue operation in US military history. In December, 1944, Japanese troops had burned alive and shot 139 Allied prisoners of war, including survivors of the Bataan Death March and the battle at Corregidor. A few soldiers escaped and managed to inform the approaching American forces about the massacre, leading to a decision to rescue the prisoners held at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp.

Led by Lieutenant Colonel Henry Mucci, the rescue force comprised about 120 Rangers and Alamo Scouts – a special operations unit – and 200 Filipino guerrillas. They had to walk over 30 miles through enemy lines to reach the camp, which also happened to be the largest internment camp in the region, housing around 500 Allied troops in total. Divided into assault and support elements, the rescue team launched the operation exactly at 1945 hours on January 30, 1945, quickly overpowering the Japanese guards and saving 489 prisoners of war and 33 civilians.

While big guns and large armies are an important part of modern warfare, they’re ineffective without a network of highly-specialized covert operatives working behind the scenes to support their objectives. Some of the most successful military missions in history have been carried out by small, nameless groups of individuals that could be classified as both spies and soldiers, their exploits usually only coming to light decades later when documents about their missions are finally declassified.

10. Operation Fortitude

Operation Fortitude was a crucial Allied deception operation during the Second World War, designed to mislead Nazi Germany’s high command about the main Allied invasion of Europe in 1944. Officially beginning in 1943, it was organized by a secret group of military officers called the London Controlling Section, and formed a part of the much-larger global operation called Operation Bodyguard. 

Fortitude’s primary goal was to divert German attention away from the real invasion site at Normandy. To achieve this, it focused on two main areas – while Fortitude North kept Germany’s attention on Norway, Fortitude South reinforced the German belief that the invasion would occur in the Pas-de-Calais region of France, as it was closest to the English coast. 

The Germans were led to believe that the fictitious First United States Army Group (FUSAG) was stationed in southeast England under General George Patton, complete with dummy landing crafts, tanks, vehicles, and fake radio traffic to back up the plan. The operation was wildly successful by the end of it, as the Germans continued to believe in the existence of FUSAG even after the D-Day landings in June 1944. 

9. Operation Farewell

Operation Farewell was a CIA campaign of computer sabotage during the Cold War in 1981. It began when French President François Mitterrand informed President Ronald Reagan about a high-level KGB officer, Colonel Vladimir Vetrov, who had decided to switch sides. Vetrov provided what is now infamously known as the Farewell dossier, exposing how the Soviets were systematically stealing or buying advanced technology from the West.

Under the guidance of Gus Weiss, the CIA planted deliberately flawed designs for technology, including computer chips, stealth technology, and space defense, that would appear fine at first but failed during operation. For the USSR, the primary purpose of operations was to obtain computer control systems for a new trans-Siberian gas pipeline. The manipulated software caused a massive explosion in June 1982, leaving the Soviet authorities in shock and raising doubts within the administration about the reliability of stolen technology from the West.

8. The Cambridge Five

The Cambridge Five was a spy ring of British double agents that infiltrated the UK government and passed sensitive intelligence secrets to the Soviet Union during the early stages of the Cold War. The members were Kim Philby (pictured above), Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean, Anthony Blunt, and John Cairncross, recruited by the KGB during their time at Cambridge University in the 1930s. 

They were later found to be openly communist and believing in the Soviet cause, leading them to spy on the British government and undermine its foreign policy, including the development of the British nuclear bomb. The ring had a huge impact on global affairs, especially in its effect on the British relationship with post-war allies like the USA. The Cambridge Five stole and passed on classified documents from British intelligence agencies and the Foreign Office to Soviet authorities throughout the duration of their operations. 

7. Operation Gladio

Operation Gladio was a secret, stay-behind network of anti-communist fighters set up by the CIA, British secret service, NATO, and other European military agencies in Western Europe after the Second World War. Specially trained by Green Berets and SAS Special Forces, these soldiers were armed with explosives, machine guns, and high-tech communication equipment hidden in underground bunkers and forests across the continent. 

Codenamed ‘Gladio’, the Italian branch of the network was exposed in 1990 by Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, revealing similar stay-behind armies in France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and other European countries. These secret armies were usually directly coordinated by NATO and the Pentagon, and were originally created during the Cold War as a defense against a potential Warsaw-block invasion. Gladio would eventually evolve into an extensive NATO-operated network, often involving civilians trained by intelligence operatives. 

6. The Lavon Affair

The Lavon Affair, named for former Israeli Defense Minister Pinhas Lavon, is a media-nickname given to a failed covert operation carried out by Israel against Egypt in 1954. It was a highly controversial mission that had lasting consequences for relationships within the Middle East, as it involved activating an Israeli sleeper cell of young Egyptian Jews to set off bombs across Egypt with the intention to destabilize Gamal Abdel Nasser’s government. 

That didn’t turn out too well, however, as the Egyptian authorities discovered the plot during its planning stages, leading to arrests, trials, and harsh treatment of the spies. Two members of the cell were executed, while others received lengthy prison sentences.

The affair triggered a series of events – a retaliatory military incursion by Israel into Gaza, an Egyptian-Soviet arms deal that angered Western leaders, the nationalization of the Suez Canal by Egypt, and a failed invasion of Egypt by Israel, France, and Britain to topple Nasser. France accelerated its nuclear cooperation with Israel in the aftermath, enabling the latter to eventually develop nuclear weapons.

5. Operation Washtub

Operation Washtub was a clandestine program developed during the 1950s amid Cold War tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. The initiative aimed to create a network of civilian sleeper agents in Alaska who would stay behind in the event of a Soviet invasion, providing intelligence on enemy activities and establishing escape routes for stranded American military personnel. 

Led by US Navy Captain Minor Heine, the plan received approval from the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1950, and was eventually overseen by the Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations with support from the FBI. The FBI’s role involved recruiting, training, and equipping the stay-behind agents, strategically chosen from various local occupations like miners, pilots, fishermen, and others with survival skills and knowledge of Alaska’s geography. The agents were trained in espionage, survival techniques, and were equipped with caches of supplies, including weapons and gold in case of emergencies. 

4. Operation Wrath of God

Operation Bayonet, also known as Operation Wrath of God, was a covert Israeli campaign initiated in the aftermath of the 1972 Munich Massacre, where terrorists belonging to the Black September group killed Israeli athletes and coaches during the Olympic Games in Munich, Germany. Directed by Mossad, the operation was a retaliatory measure aimed at assassinating those responsible for the attack and deterring future terrorist actions against Israel. 

The campaign was authorized by Prime Minister Golda Meir, and the target list included over two dozen individuals affiliated with Black September and the Palestine Liberation Organization. The assassinations began in mid-October 1972, with Mossad agents targeting individuals in various countries across Europe and the Middle East. 

In April 1973, a related operation called Operation Spring of Youth involved a raid on several PLO compounds in Lebanon, resulting in several dozen deaths, including individuals connected to the Munich Massacre. The campaign continued for years until Ali Hassan Salameh, the alleged mastermind of the Munich Massacre, was killed in 1979.

3. Operation Gunnerside

On February 27, 1943, a covert group of nine Norwegian commandos raided a German-held hydroelectric plant called Vemork, just outside Rjukan, Norway. Their mission – now officially known as Operation Gunnerside – was to sabotage the facility by destroying the water pipes in its basement. 

While unaware of its significance at the time, the operatives later discovered that their successful sabotage hindered Germany’s atomic bomb program that relied on heavy water production at the plant. The Germans had been using heavy water – or deuterium oxide – as a moderator for their nuclear reactor to sustain a chain reaction necessary for the bomb. The lack of coordination and support among the German leadership, however, along with heavy water’s technological limitations, prevented them from achieving a successful reaction. 

2. The Red Orchestra

Named by the Nazis, the Red Orchestra was a network of communist spies and resistance fighters operating across Germany during the Second World War. Led by Leopold Trepper, a Polish-born communist, the group provided intelligence to the Soviet government and acted as a resistance organization against the Nazis. 

Trepper established the network in the mid-1930s, and when the war began, he turned it into a spy ring aimed at gathering Nazi secrets for the Soviet army. Operating divisions, or rings, were established in Nazi-occupied France, Belgium, Holland, and neutral Switzerland, as they successfully infiltrated Nazi offices, intercepted intelligence information, and even obtained leaked documents about the Nazi plan to invade the Soviet Union. This crucial intelligence, however, was completely ignored by the Soviet government. 

The Red Orchestra started breaking down some time in 1942, when several agents were arrested in Belgium. The Gestapo subsequently captured Trepper in Paris and eliminated many members of the network, though some rings continued to operate on a smaller scale.

1. Operation LUSTY

Operation LUSTY – short for ‘Luftwaffe secret technology’ – was a post-WW2 effort spearheaded by the US Air Force to collect and study captured German aircraft, technology, and scientific documents. Led by Col. Harold E. Watson, the Air Technical Intelligence teams were tasked with locating enemy systems and equipment listed on ‘Black Lists’ collected throughout the war. After the fighting ended in May 1945, the ATI’s focus shifted to post-war investigations and the acquisition of advanced German technology.

As a part of the operation, Watson’s team of pilots, engineers, and maintenance personnel sought to recover enemy aircraft and weapons for further study in the United States. In total, Operation LUSTY collected 16,280 items, adding up to about 6,200 tons of captured German equipment.

Some people say money is the root of all evil but few of us would deny that having money makes life easier. That said, getting money involves moving it from where it was to where you are. This happens millions of times per day all over the world with small, barely noteworthy amounts of cash. But sometimes someone needs to move a lot of money, and the logistics behind that, whether legal or not, can be pretty impressive.

10. Criminals Used Deep Fake Tech to Move $35 Million Electronically

Technology and finance are inextricably linked and as one changes so too will the other. Just think, once upon a time there were people using cowrie shells as currency and today you can become rich by having a lot of crypto which doesn’t physically exist at all. That’s kind of amazing. But with advances in technology come advances in stealing that money, which is what happened when some crafty bank robbers pulled off a $35 million electronic heist in 2021 essentially through the use of special effects.

The money was pilfered from a bank in the United Arab Emirates and it was all done without the thieves even leaving their home. They used an AI voice simulator to create a Deep Fake of a business executive. They called the bank as this person and the bank manager, recognizing his client’s voice, went ahead and processed a transaction that moved $35 million. 

In the aftermath it was determined the scammers were a team of at least 17 people, and they managed to redirect the cash to several accounts around the world. 

9. Hackers Stole $620 Million From an NFT-Based Gaming Company

As big as the cryptocurrency market is, the cryptocurrency heist market, if you can call it that, is also impressively massive. About $3 billion in crypto was stolen in 2022 alone. Some of the crypto that gets stolen will be recovered, the FBI recovered over $3 billion from a 2016 heist and another $3 billion from an earlier heist as well. But some of it will probably be gone forever. 

In March 2022, hackers managed to pull off an impressive theft of $620 million worth of crypto by sending an engineer a simple email. They enticed an engineer from the NFT-based game Axie Infinity with a fake job offer. After establishing a rapport, they sent him a “formal” offer. That email was loaded with spyware which they then used to pull off the heist and make off with the cash. 

The hackers were based out of North Korea, which is becoming a hub of crypto scamming as it’s apparently a solid source of income for the country now. 

8. The UAE Imported $15 Billion in Gold from Africa in 2016 and the Numbers are Shady

Not every movement of wealth is a straight up robbery, but it can still be a little shady and eyebrow raising. For instance, the United Arab Emirates, known to be a wealthy nation, managed to import a stunning $15 billion worth of gold from Africa in 2016. That alone would be impressive because that’s just a lot of gold. But perhaps slightly more noteworthy is the fact that the amount of gold the UAE reported importing was significantly different from the amount those African nations reported exporting. 

So what does it mean when someone imports more gold than was exported? Well, it’s possible this was a remarkably bad clerical error or some small variables in taxation and shipping costs but the more likely option seems to be some illicit movement of the metal. Taxes generally have to be paid on shipments of raw ore like this so if you claim to export far less than you actually do, you pay a lot less in taxes overall. That means when a country like Mali posts a massively lower number of exports than UAE’s listed imports from that same country, something is up. 

There is a significant black market for African gold, a lot of it based firmly in dangerous and unfair labor practices that even involve child labor. 

7. Smugglers Move Tons of Silver Out of China Every Year

Gold is far from the only precious metal that gets moved in quantities through illicit and suspect means. In China, silver has been covering a lot of ground over the years and at some points you could count on about 500 tons of silver to be smuggled through Hong Kong in a given year.

Officials have minimal luck when it comes to stopping the smuggling – a single truck was seized with about 1.1 tons of silver worth about $500,000 in 2016, but catching every single truck is not feasible. 

The problem is that this is an established industry for smugglers. Officials cracked a smuggling ring worth $220 million back in 2007 that had already moved 456 tons of the stuff. Of course, the New York Times has a story about smuggled Chinese silver being sold on the world market back in 1935. After nearly a century we can only guess at just how much silver has been smuggled out.

6. Officials in Mexico City Seized Over $200 Million in Drug Money

Making $207 million in a day isn’t something most people will ever do, or businesses, but the Mexico City police department managed it back in 2007. They had been following up on evidence of meth production in the city after seizing large quantities of the drug elsewhere.

With some detective work they tracked the drugs back to what turned out to be an incredibly wealthy neighborhood where many diplomats from other countries lived. Inside their target house they found facilities for producing massive quantities of the drug alongside $205.6 million in US $100 bills that had been stored in cupboards, lockers and suitcases. The cash weighed about 4500 pounds. It was also the largest cash seizure from a drug bust in history. 

5. November 2022’s Powerball Lottery Was the Largest Ever with Just a Single Winner

Sure, you could steal money and most of us just work for money but wouldn’t you rather just win it? Just try your luck and get rich out of the blue? That seems like the easiest option and that happened in November 2022 like never before when one person managed to win the world’s biggest Powerball jackpot.

There have been jackpots over $1 billion in the past but the largest to date has been $2.04 billion. The winning ticket was sold in California with the winner becoming one of the wealthiest people in the state overnight. Though not as wealthy as it seems at first glance since the IRS will get 24% before the winner even gets to smell it. But if they live in California which doesn’t tax winnings, then that $2.04 billion turns into $997.6 million which is still a tidy sum to make for literally no effort. 

4. A Chinese Smuggling Ring Moved $10 Billion Through Fake Bank Transfers

Moving cash out of China is generally not allowed in large sums and the government tries to keep tabs on the money its citizens have and what they do with it. You can’t move more than $50,000 a year under normal circumstances. Because of that, cash smuggling has become a problem for Chinese authorities and sometimes they crack down on some massive smuggling rings that can move stunning quantities.

In 2011, a cash smuggling ring was caught moving $10 billion in currency between 2007 and 2011. They were basically operating as a traditional bank, just underground and able to transfer money out of the country. 

18 people were convicted in total for their involvement which included setting up fake accounts and even fake businesses to help account for why the money was moving and to where.

3. The Biggest Crypto Transfer Ever Moved Over $1 Billion Worth of Bitcoin

We’ve seen what happens when cryptocurrency moves through unscrupulous means, but what about legit (or seemingly legit) transactions? A lot of people made a lot of money in the crypto world and they too move their money around in sometimes dramatic fashion. The world’s largest crypto transfer occurred back in 2020 when what, at the time, was $1 billion worth of Bitcoin was moved. 

The owner of the wallet, which hadn’t been touched in about five years, was anonymous. It was possibly a hack, though not very likely, and it was believed the money may have come from Silk Road, that den of criminality that was shut down back in 2013.

At late 2022 rates, the wallet contained substantially more than $1 billion and, in fact, was worth about $2.8 billion. 

2. The US Government Sent $12 Billion in Cash to Iraq and Lost It

These days no matter what side of the political spectrum you’re on you probably think that the US involvement in Iraq was a bit of a debacle to put it mildly. The country was invaded back in 2003 and then plans to try to rebuild it were undertaken and things fell apart badly. Money was sent with very little oversight or guidance which is how $12 billion completely disappeared. 

Just upon hearing this you might think this was a series of electronic transfers or over-billings by contractors or some kind of culmination of months or years of financial mismanagement. It was not. The US literally shrink-wrapped stacks of $100 bills in plastic, piled them in planes, and flew that massive pile of money to Iraq. By most accounts it sounds like the money was then handed out like Johnny Appleseed spreading his seeds across the land with very little, if any, oversight.

Shipments of literal tons of cash were made regularly, the largest of which was over $2 billion at one time. In total, 363 tonnes (400 tons)  of cash was sent.  Money was given out in duffel bags or from the back of pick up tricks. Hundreds of thousands were stolen, cash was stored in sacks and their vault keys were left sitting in backpacks. At one point, $500 million was given to a contractor for no reason at all – it was listed as “to be determined.” Thousands of non-existent employees were getting paychecks as well.

In the end, little of the money left a paper trail and was lost for good. 

1. The Biggest Transfer of Wealth in History Was Operation Fish

In terms of monumental cash transfers, the truly biggest movement of wealth in history happened all the way back in the Second World War. Canada became the unlikely center of European wealth and the potential seat of England’s continued survival. With the German forces storming the continent, Winston Churchill wanted to hedge his bets in case the worst happened and England fell. The solution was Operation Fish.

Britain had been covertly increasing gold reserves in Canada since 1938 and the efforts were amped up as the war progressed. The plan was to essentially move England’s seat of power to Ottawa in Canada if it came to that and run the commonwealth from the other side of the ocean. 

One ship in one trip, the HMS Emerald, carried £230 million in gold and securities in 1940. In 2022, that works out to £15.2 billion or about $18.6 billion US. On just one ship.

The total transfer of wealth in both gold and securities is estimated to have been around £1.72 billion in 1940. Adjusted for inflation that works out to  £113.8 billion or about $140 billion USD. Hands down, that was the largest transfer of wealth in history.

Canada is commonly ignored when contemplating the contributions of the Allies to victory in World War II, with most concentrating on the efforts of the US, Great Britain, the USSR, and China. The Canadian contribution was enormous, and this list of ten main contributions is barely scratching the surface. Prior to WWII, Canada, as a territory of the British Empire, relied on the Royal Navy to guard its ports and transport. When the struggle started the Royal Canadian Navy had only 7 warships. When the struggle ended Canada boasted the third largest fleet on the earth.

Canadian troops fought in a number of theaters with distinction while its naval commanders coordinated the large convoys which carried the instruments of struggle from North America to Great Britain and Europe. Its factories produced weapons, clothes, and tools. Its fields produced meals, its reserves of coal, iron, and oil helped gas the Allied effort to destroy Hitler and the imperialist Japanese. At the same time, Canada supplied refuge for the exiles of Europe, and securely housed the prisoners of struggle taken by its personal troops and people of the British Empire. Right here is only a small a part of Canada’s contribution to the Allied victory in World War II.

10. The Battle of the Atlantic

Of all of the operations of the European Theater throughout World War II, the Battle of the Atlantic was essentially the most vital to the success of the Allies. Ships carried weapons and autos, meals and clothes, medicines and provides, from the commercial bases of North and South America to Great Britain and the Soviet Union. To place it bluntly, whoever managed the ocean lanes of the Atlantic Ocean would win the struggle. Germany acknowledged this truth, and strove to shut the Atlantic to transport by their U-Boat offensive, by floor raiders early within the struggle, and thru bombing or in any other case destroying the port amenities of their enemies. They sank over 13.5 million tons of transport, not together with the 175 warships preventing to cease them, over the course of the struggle.

To defeat the Germans the Allies created the system of convoys to make sure the merchandise of the west reached the struggle zone. In addition to accountability for the vital port of Halifax, in addition to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, giant swathes of ocean traversed by convoys from New York, Boston, and different ports have been protected primarily by Canadian forces. Canada constructed dozens of small, quick, multi-purpose ships of a sort generally known as corvettes. Smaller than destroyers and manned largely by reservists, these ships patrolled the seas between the North American shoreline and Iceland, one of many favored searching grounds of the U-boats within the early years of the struggle. The Royal Canadian Navy was not restricted to operations within the North Atlantic; Canadian escorts accompanied coastal convoys so far as the South American ports collaborating within the struggle towards the Axis.

9. Fortification of the Atlantic Coast and Newfoundland

Newfoundland was self-governed, a British Dominion legally separate from Canada till 1934, and in a sensible sense remained impartial when the struggle started in 1939. In reality, possession of the territory of Labrador was a matter of dispute between Newfoundland and Canada in 1939. The struggle modified the connection. Each the UK and america acknowledged the strategic significance of Newfoundland early within the struggle, and the Bases for Destroyers Agreement of 1940 allowed the US to install military bases to protect the American coast, manned with American troops, and preserve American plane and ships. When the struggle started, Canada put in a navy presence of its personnel.

They labored collectively to make sure Newfoundland and Labrador turned ahead areas for the safety of the North American coast and importantly, the ocean lanes between it and the Iceland – Greenland Hole. The latter space, which incorporates the Denmark Strait, was vital to transport between North America and Europe. The Canadians constructed defenses which included airbases at Gander, Torbay, and Goose Bay, all of which supplied protection towards the German U-boat menace. About 6,000 Canadian troops occupied Newfoundland throughout the struggle, becoming a member of about 10,000 American allies.

Collectively, the People and Canadians ensured Newfoundland and Labrador remained in Allied arms, defending the port of Halifax and the St. Lawrence estuary from German assault. Occupation of Newfoundland by the Germans was a really actual menace in 1940, with the British powerless to cease it within the aftermath of the Dunkirk debacle and the US not but within the struggle. German bases in Newfoundland throughout the struggle isn’t a far-fetched thought. They established a weather monitoring station on the island early within the struggle, which neither the Canadians nor People have been capable of find for many years.

8. The Dieppe Raid: joint strike on Nazi controlled France in 1942

The 1942 Dieppe Raid (Operation Jubilee) was initially a British present. It was an assault on the French mainland, at all times supposed to withdraw after destroying some German amenities and infrastructure, fairly than to ascertain a second entrance in Europe. As such it was largely a commando-type operation, however fairly than assign it to commando troops, the British positioned accountability for the raid on their Canadian allies. It was primarily supposed to be a success and run operation; the Allies would land, supported by armored troops, seize the port of Dieppe, destroy it and help amenities, and withdraw again to the ocean from whence they got here.

Throughout rehearsals in Britain, mishap adopted mishap. Lord Mountbatten, ill-experienced for such an operation, commanded it and after reviewing the coaching operations and the issues they revealed British General Montgomery canceled the plan, up-to-then known as Operation Rutter. However Churchill appreciated it, because it indicated help of Stalin for a Second Entrance in Europe, and it went ahead. The operation was a catastrophe. The British lacked air superiority, so that they refused to danger capital ships for a pre-invasion shore bombardment (the Japanese, with air superiority, had not too long ago sunk two British capital ships off the Malay Peninsula). British intelligence of the touchdown areas was inaccurate and incomplete. The power dedicated was inadequate to overwhelm the defenses they encountered.

A bit of over 5,000 Canadian troops went ashore at Dieppe, encountering heavy German resistance from floor troops, artillery, and the Luftwaffe. Supported by about 1,000 British commandos they compelled their method inland, the place their items have been reduce to items by German resistance. The Canadians suffered about 3,300 killed and wounded, and practically 2,000 extra males have been captured by the Germans (casualty counts fluctuate by supply), a devastating casualty fee. Churchill known as the raid a hit, citing the teachings realized as key to the later victory at Normandy. In Canada it was and still is thought-about a disastrous instance of hubris, which value dearly, although the braveness and capabilities of the Canadian troops have been established past a doubt amongst each Allied and German leaders.

7. Feeding and arming the Allies

Throughout World War II, Canada, like its neighbor to the south and the South American allies even additional away, confronted the duty of feeding the Allies confronting Germany and Japan. On the identical time Canada wanted males, to workers its military, navy, and air forces, and to function the equipment which constructed the engines of struggle. The Canadians, just like the People, changed males in industrial jobs with ladies, liberating extra Canadians to put on the uniforms of their nation. With a a lot smaller inhabitants than US, Canada was compelled to take extra drastic actions. One step was lowering the age at which one may receive a driver’s license. Youthful drivers helped the transport pipeline, and freed extra adults for different duties.

Canadian shipyards produced hulls for cargo, in addition to warships for its quickly increasing navy. Plane have been produced beneath license from American and British producers. Canadian factories constructed tanks and vehicles, jeeps and ambulances, weapons and blankets, uniforms and footwear. Lumber was harvested, hewn, and hauled to factories. Fields produced grains and greens, orchards produced fruit, and the meatpacking business flourished. Canada, one of many world’s main wheat producers earlier than the struggle, was compelled to curtail that beneficial crop and as an alternative focus on rising coarser grains, essential to feed the cattle and hogs demanded by the warring allies. Canada’s farms rose to the problem, by 1944 they produced greater than twice the pre-war variety of hogs for slaughter.

Manufacturing of beef, of eggs and dairy merchandise, of greens and fruits, all rose correspondingly throughout the struggle years. Farm implements and equipment got here beneath rationing restrictions, and labor shortages on Canadian farms threatened manufacturing till interned Germans and Japanese have been put to work within the fields and processing crops. Later they have been supplemented by German and Italian prisoners of struggle, despatched to Canada throughout the battle. Canada’s agricultural production was one of the crucial vital contributions to victory in World War II.

6. Canadians took half within the invasions of Sicily and Italy in 1943

The Anglo-American Allies started their floor struggle towards Nazi Germany with the landings in North Africa in late 1942. American, Free French, and British troops joined the British Expeditionary Military within the marketing campaign towards the Italians and Germans in North Africa, and by early 1943 they have been prepared to maneuver towards the continent of Europe. There was debate over find out how to accomplish that. Churchill wished an invasion of the Caucasus. The People most popular both southern France or Italy. Because it turned evident that Italy would win out because the Allied technique, starting with the capture of Sicily, Canadian Prime Minister William McKenzie King demanded Canadian troops be included within the lively forces engaged.

Though the Sicilian operation was beneath the general command of American Common Dwight Eisenhower, British forces fell beneath the command of Bernard Regulation Montgomery. Montgomery thought-about himself essentially the most skilled of the Allied commanders, and initially opposed the inclusion of Canadian troops, earlier than relenting and assigning them beneath his command as a part of XXX Corps, the 1st Canadian Infantry Division.

Canadian operations in Sicily established them as front-line troops equal to their contemporaries in capabilities and preventing spirit. Following the German evacuation of Sicily the Allies invaded Italy in September, 1943; the identical day Italy surrendered. Canadian troops fought Germans and Italians compelled to proceed preventing by their German “Allies” in a few of the toughest fighting alongside the Italian boot. The Canadians fought in rugged mountain terrain, in winter mud which paralyzed tanks and autos, and in villages and cities in vicious city house-to-house fight. Regardless of heavy casualties and robust resistance by the Germans, in every single place they prevailed.

Canadian troops have been withdrawn from Italy in early 1945, wanted elsewhere on the Western Entrance. Throughout their engagement in the Italian Campaign the Canadians over 5,500 killed, and over 20,000 wounded, a casualty fee which exceeded 27%, serving as testimony to the robust resistance they encountered and their very own tenacity as front-line troops within the Allied forces in Europe.

5. Canadian troops have been murdered by German captors throughout the Normandy Invasion in 1944

The Normandy invasion, recognized to historical past as D-Day regardless of it being one among scores of “D-Days” initiated throughout the struggle, started on June 5, 1944 when Anglo-Franco-Pole-American troops parachuted into France. They have been adopted by the Allied landings on the Normandy seashores on the morning of June 6, 1944. British, American, and Canadian instructions attacked assigned seashores, supported by commandos from France, Poland, and different Allied nations. The People have been assigned Utah and Omaha Seashore as aims; the British Gold and Sword Seashores. The Canadians, with British help, have been assigned Juno Beach, situated between Gold and Sword.

In the course of the arduous preventing which occurred, some Canadian troops fell into the arms of their opponents, amongst them the 12th SS Division, a unit generally known as the “Hitler Youth’ Division. In keeping with survivors’ accounts over 150 surrendering Canadians have been executed by their German captors. Finally, two German officers have been charged with struggle crimes over the atrocities.

In fact, the aims of all of the troops collaborating within the seaborne landings of June 6, recognized to the Allies as Operation Neptune, was not merely to occupy the seashores however to grab vital factors by advancing inland. On the finish of the day’s main fight operations the Canadians advancing from Juno had reached additional inland than another Allied forces concerned within the invasion. Nonetheless, it was however the starting of arduous preventing which might engulf the Allies on the Western Entrance for the remainder of 1944, and into the spring of 1945.

4. The Battle of the Scheldt

In the course of the summer season of 1944 British troops beneath Montgomery seized the Belgian metropolis of Antwerp, which promised a serious boon for the Allies. Antwerp and its invaluable port facilities were seized, intact, by items of the Belgian Resistance in the summertime. In September they have been bolstered by the British 11th Armored Division. Antwerp was in Allied hands, its port prepared to offer badly wanted logistics to the advancing Allied armies, but it surely couldn’t, as but, be used. The Germans had mined the estuary, and established closely bolstered positions to defend it towards allied incursion. Till the estuary was cleared Antwerp was of no use to the Allies. Montgomery was ordered to make clearing the Scheldt his high precedence; he chose instead to concentrate on Operation Market Backyard and preparations for an assault into Germany’s Ruhr Valley. He assigned the opening of Boulogne, Calais, and different Channel ports to the Canadians.

Clearing the estuary, which had been fortified, with sections flooded and the waterways closely mined, fell to the Canadian First Military. Starting in mid-September Canadian troops, supplemented by some British items and Polish commandos, started the troublesome activity. The Canadians fought towards ready defensive positions and practically impassable terrain, struggling mounting casualties as they superior, slowly grinding down the German resistance. On Friday, October 13, the 5th Infantry Brigade, generally known as the ”Black Watch”, was nearly destroyed whereas making an attempt to flank a German place. Montgomery took the chance to criticize Eisenhower and nominate himself for command of all Allied floor forces the next day. Eisenhower responded that Montgomery’s refusal to obey orders was the reason for the debacle, and threatened to fireside him if the Scheldt was not made a high precedence.

Montgomery responded to his boss’s ire and dedicated extra troops to clearing the estuary on October 15. Regardless of the realignment of commitments, arduous preventing within the area continued into early November. Within the Battle of the Scheldt the Canadians suffered over 6,300 casualties, about half of the overall suffered by the Allied forces. The port of Antwerp, captured by the Belgians in early September, opened to be used by Allied transport on November 28. Montgomery’s actions and selections concerning Antwerp and Operation Market Backyard have remained controversial ever since. The Canadian contribution to clearing the Scheldt, one of the crucial troublesome operations of the land struggle in Europe, has lengthy been missed.

3. Canada housed enemy interns and prisoners of struggle all through World War II

Starting in North Africa, and all through the rest of the struggle, Italian and German troops surrendered to the British. German airmen fell from the skies throughout the Battle of Britain and in ensuing campaigns, likewise changing into prisoners of struggle. Great Britain had few amenities to accommodate them for a long run, and in an island beneath extreme restrictions little to feed and dress them with. Though senior prisoners have been typically retained and housed in British amenities (Latimer House was a well-liked location), by 1941 ships which delivered items from the Americas to Great Britain typically returned bearing prisoners of struggle. These captured by the British and Dominions’ troops went to Canada.

Sources differ, however between two dozen and forty particular person prison camps were established throughout Canada to accommodate prisoners from Germany, Italy, and Japan, although the overwhelming majority have been Germans. Sub-camps and labor camps additionally have been created, normally on a seasonal foundation to help work gangs and crews. The camps have been guarded by reserves of the Veteran Guards, for essentially the most half veterans of the First World War. Finally about 33,000 prisoners of struggle have been housed in Canada, over 400,000 remained in Great Britain. Regardless of the difficulties in feeding and housing them, the British elected to maintain them to make use of as a labor supply throughout the struggle. Labor was voluntary, and paid, although remuneration was a pittance.

Canada additionally served to accommodate interns, civilian nationals who have been in Dominion lands when the struggle was declared, corresponding to embassy personnel, information correspondents, businessmen and their households, and so forth. They got here beneath the auspices of the Worldwide Pink Cross, which ensured their well-being whereas in custody. Earlier than America entered the struggle, German prisoners entertained the thought of escaping to America, a impartial nation, and thru diplomatic machination to freedom. In a single escape, maybe apocryphal, a gaggle of Germans turned themselves in at Camp Ozada  after escaping, solely to encounter a Canadian Grizzly as they made their method to freedom. Although bears weren’t unusual in Germany, nothing just like the monstrous Grizzly lived there, and it undoubtedly gave them motive to rethink the wonders of the New World.

2. Royal Canadian Air Power (RCAF) bombing missions towards Nazi Germany

It’s a longstanding fantasy that precision aerial bombing was perfected by the Allies throughout the Second World War. The legendary Norden bombsight, which allegedly enabled such daylight bombing by the People, never achieved the level of accuracy marketed by its proponents. As a substitute the Allies relied on space bombing, destroying cities and cities in addition to the factories and infrastructure they supported. The devastating hearth raids of Dresden, Cologne, and Hamburg stand as testimony to this lengthy standing fantasy of WWII. The casualties suffered by the People, British, Free French, Poles, Norwegians, and different airmen over the course of the bombing campaigns have been horrendous.

Add to them the casualties suffered by the Canadians. The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) operated inside RAF instructions till 1943, when the Canadian squadrons have been united to kind 6 RCAF Group, which continued to function beneath the management of the RAF’s Bomber Command. Finally 6 RCAF group consisted of 14 squadrons of heavy bombers, which flew missions each along with and individually from the RAF, as operational necessities dictated. As with their British cousins, casualties have been heavy all through the struggle.

Canada carried out coaching packages even earlier than hostilities commenced, making a pipeline of educated pilots, navigators, bombardiers, and air crew to the RAF, together with trainees from all through the Dominions. Its contribution to the air struggle thus exceeded the variety of its personal who flew in British (and American) plane in a wide range of roles, together with heavy bombing, tactical bombing, reconnaissance, anti-submarine warfare, and shut air help. Canada misplaced over 8,000 airmen who died throughout the struggle, a part of the over 57,000 airmen who died serving the RAF Bomber Command, a fatality fee of over 46%.

1. Canada performed a serious function within the Manhattan Venture

The Manhattan Project is remembered (and broadly fictionalized) as the US’s super-secret effort to develop and ship an atomic bomb forward of the Germans and thus guarantee victory in WW II. Though it was highly-classified, it was not solely an American effort. In some vital areas, Canadian scientists have been really forward of Enrico Fermi within the growth of a uranium reactor in 1940. In 1942 joint British-Canadian analysis and growth work was underway in Canada. Info exchanges between Canadian, British, and American scientists and researchers continued all through the struggle, although many have been restricted as a consequence of safety restrictions imposed by all sides.

In 1943 the leaders of Great Britain, US, and Canada (Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and McKenzie King) met in Quebec. Full cooperation between the three powers was agreed upon. The next yr Common Leslie Groves, head of the Manhattan Venture, and British leaders together with James Chadwick agreed to assemble a heavy-water reactor utilizing the Canadian design. Canadian-British-American cooperation and shared analysis was a significant component within the growth of each nuclear energy and nuclear weapons, particularly the contribution of Canada, a fact too often ignored by historical past books.

At Quebec, Roosevelt and Churchill added nuclear analysis and weapons to the “particular relationship” between US and Great Britain, with Canada one of many British Dominions. Submit-war, Great Britain developed an atomic, and ultimately a thermonuclear weapon of its personal. Canada didn’t. Nevertheless, as of August 2022, 19 nuclear power plants in Canada generate about 15% of the nation’s electrical wants. Canada has from the start been a pacesetter within the growth of nuclear know-how, a truth practically a secret to many of the residents of its pleasant neighbor to the south.