Operation Animals

Operation Animals
Part of Operation Barclay
Date 21 June – 11 July 1943 (1943-06-21 – 1943-07-11) Location Central/Northern Greece Result Allied victory
Belligerents
Germany  Italy Hellenic State	United Kingdom  United States ELAS PAO EDES Organization Zeus
Commanders and leaders
Alexander Löhr Georgios Poulos	Henry Wilson Eddie Myers Stefanos Sarafis Napoleon Zervas
Units involved
Army Group E  • 117th Jäger Division  • 1st Mountain Division Hellenic Gendarmerie Poulos Verband	SOE ELAS PAO Organization Zeus USAAF
Casualties and losses
41 killed 92 executed 129 wounded 22 airplanes destroyed 15 airplanes damaged 32 killed	165 executed 16 villages destroyed

Operation Animals was a World War II mission by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE), in cooperation with the Greek Resistance groups ELAS, Zeus, EDES, PAO and the United States Army Air Force. The operation took place between 21 June and 11 July 1943 and included an organized campaign of sabotage in Greece, to deceive the Axis Powers into believing that Greece was the target of an Allied amphibious landing, instead of Sicily. Despite the mission's success, the Greek civilian population suffered from mass reprisals and British intervention into the internal affairs of the Greek resistance exacerbated the tensions between its various components.