Operation Defoe

'Defoe' was a British special forces operation by the 2nd 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 2nd Army, which failed to issue meaningful instructions as to what exactly the party should be examining.