The British had tried mounting liaison operations into Italian-occupied Albania in early 1941, from what was then neutral Yugoslavia. These attempts were quickly abandoned after the Germans and Italians overran Yugoslavia. Thereafter, no attempt was made to contact Albanian resistance groups until 17 April 1943, when M.O.4, a branch of the liaison organisation SOE, dispatched a mission commanded by Lieutenant Colonel "Billy" MacLean, with Major David Smiley as his second-in-command. Rather than drop "blind" into Albania, the mission was dropped into North-West Greece, where British parties were already operating with Greek guerrillas. From there, they made their way into Albania on foot or on mules.