'Pender' was an Allied two-element deception designed to persuade the Axis powers and Vichy France that 'Torch' had been delayed (October/November 1942).

'Pender I' promulgated the 'story' that Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the commander-in-chief, had been recalled to Washington for important talks and that 'Torch' could take place only after his return, and 'Pender II' that Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, the naval commander, was in Gibraltar only temporarily as he was bound for Lagos en route to Ceylon to take up an appointment as commander-in-chief of the British Eastern Fleet.