Operation Hercules

'Hercules' was a British unrealised plan for the combined British and Turkish capture of German-occupied island of Rhodes in the eastern end of the Aegean Sea, an undertaking proposed to Turkey as an inducement for that country’s entry into the war after the breaking of German strength in the Aegean basin (winter 1943/44).

Based on the use of two divisions from the forces of General Sir Bernard Paget’s Middle East Command, the plan was cancelled in February 1944, just one month before its scheduled implementation, as a result of Turkish reluctance to furnish the Allies with any kind of assistance such as the provision of airfield facilities in Turkey.