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
Operation Hornbill (World War Two) by Hedleys Folboat section for army testing, were found to be extremely unstable in any but flat water and also infringed Hoehn's patent. ‘Special Operations Executive’ (SOE), the British clandestine warfare agency, was behind Ivan Lyon’s scheme, but because of the shortage of required submarines to help reconnoiter and deploy the small craft, and the growing complexity of the plan, the project was eventually shelved. 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