Allied invasion of Italy two hours traveling from the transports to the landing beaches. On the German side, Albrecht von Kesselring lacked the strength to push the Salerno landing back, and was refused two panzer divisions from northern Italy to assist him. Operation Avalanche was planned under the name Top Hat and supported by a deception plan, Operation Boardman, a false threat of an Allied invasion of the Balkans. In mid-August, the Germans had activated Army Group B ("Heeresgruppe B") under Erwin Rommel with responsibility for German troops in Italy as far south as Pisa. Army Command South ("OB Süd") under Albert Kesselring continued
British anti-invasion preparations of the Second World War Poland had been completely overrun. There was little fighting over the months that followed. In a period known as the Phoney War, soldiers on both sides trained for war and the French and British constructed and manned defences on the eastern borders of France. On 9 April 1940, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway. This operation preempted Britain's own plans to invade Norway. Denmark surrendered immediately, and, after a short-lived attempt by the British to make a stand in the northern part of the country, Norway also fell. The invasion of Norway was a combined forces operation in which the German