'Defoe' was a British special forces operation by the 2^nd Special Air Service to reconnoitre the Argentan region of Normandy in German-occupied France (19 July/23 August 1944).

Undertaken by 21 men under the command of Captain B. McGibbon-Lewis, this operation was largely a failure as a result of the party’s inadequate radio equipment and the vacillation of the headquarters of Lieutenant General Sir Miles Dempsey’s British 2^nd Army, which failed to issue meaningful instructions as to what exactly the party should be examining.