133rd (Parachute) Field Ambulance involved in was Operation Slapstick, a landing at the port of Taranto during the Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943. Slapstick was in part a deception operation, to divert German forces away from the main Allied landings at Salerno (Operation Avalanche), which would be taking place on the same day and also an attempt to seize intact the ports of Taranto and Brindisi. The main advantage of Tranato was its large port. Positioned on the eastern side of the country, together with the expected capture of Naples in the west by the Americans, it would give the Allies two
Operation Hornbill (World War Two) Operation Hornbill (World War Two) Operation Hornbill was a proposed commando operation by Australian forces during World War Two. It was proposed by Ivan Lyons following the success of Operation Jaywick. A precursor to Operation Rimau, it was an ambitious plan by Ivan Lyon to sabotage Japanese military operations in the Pacific by using so called 'Snake Boats'; a craft made to look like an Asian junk, which were to be built in Melbourne, Australia. A number of folboats and fifteen one-man submersible canoes, called ‘Sleeping Beauties’ (SBs) were to be deployed from the junks. The operation was to be