Operation Avalanche was disagreement between the Allies as to what the next step should be. Winston Churchill in particular wanted to invade Italy, which he called the "underbelly of Europe" (commonly misquoted as "soft underbelly"). Popular support in Italy for the war was declining, and he believed an invasion would remove Italy, and thus the influence of the Italian Navy ("Regia Marina") in the Mediterranean Sea, opening it to Allied traffic. This would make it much easier to supply Allied forces in the Middle East and Far East, and increase British and American supplies to the Soviet Union. In addition, it would
Operation Scorpion (World War Two) Operation Scorpion (World War Two) Operation Scorpion was a proposed operation in World War Two by Australia's Z Special Unit. It was to be the first operation by Z Special Unit. Australian soldiers were to infiltrate the Japanese-controlled port at Rabaul in New Britain. The mission led to a practice raid on Townsville Harbour. The actual mission was called off but elements were used in the famous Operation Jaywick. The plan was devised by Lieutenant Samuel Warren Carey, a Z Special Unit officer based at Z Experimental Station, Cairns, Queensland who had extensive experience of Papua New Guina. In January