Operation Foxley

Operation Foxley
Name	Operation Foxley
Partof	Second World War
Date	1944
Location	Bavaria, Berchtesgaden
Objective	Assassination of Adolf Hitler
Outcome	Not executed

Operation Foxley was a British Special Operations Executive plan developed in 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler at his alpine residence in Berchtesgaden. Conceived by members of the Special Operations Executive, coordinated with elements of the British Secret Intelligence Service, and informed by intelligence from the Royal Air Force and the British Army, the proposal remained unapproved for execution and was never carried out. Historians debate its potential impact on the European Theatre of World War II and its ethical implications.

Background and planning

Planning for the operation emerged from the later stages of the Second World War amid Allied advances after the Normandy landings and the attrition of the Wehrmacht. The Special Operations Executive officers tasked with clandestine operations in Europe studied assassination as a tool after assessments of the Adolf Hitler assassination attempts including the 20 July plot and the earlier Operation Valkyrie ramifications. Analysts drew on operational lessons from Operation Anthropoid, Operation Mincemeat, Operation Fortitude, and Operation Market Garden to craft a targeted plan that would exploit Hitler's predictable travel and routines at Berghof and the Eagle's Nest (Kehlsteinhaus). Coordination considered resources from the British Army, liaison with the United States Office of Strategic Services, and intelligence inputs from MI6 and resistance networks such as the White Rose and various German resistance cells.

Objectives and targets

Primary objectives centered on removing Adolf Hitler to potentially destabilize the Third Reich leadership structure and influence postwar succession among figures like Heinrich Himmler, Hermann Göring, and Joseph Goebbels. Secondary aims included disrupting command continuity to affect operations related to the Western Allied invasion of Germany and limiting the capacity for orders such as the Nero Decree destruction policy. Planners considered impacts on high-level events including reactions within the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht and shifts in allegiance among commanders like Walther Model and Erwin Rommel. Political ramifications for the Soviet Union and the United States leadership—specifically Joseph Stalin and Franklin D. Roosevelt—were also contemplated.

Intelligence and reconnaissance

Intelligence shaping the plan integrated aerial photography from the Royal Air Force Bomber Command, human intelligence from émigré and resistance sources such as German émigrés and the Polish Home Army, and intercepted communications via Bletchley Park decrypts of Enigma traffic. Detailed reconnaissance targeted the Berghof, the Eagle's Nest, and transit routes between Berchtesgaden and Obersalzberg, using maps and reports from the Feldgendarmerie observations, local guides, and postwar testimonies from figures like Albert Speer and Heinrich Hoffmann. SOE agents compiled schedules, security routines, and guard dispositions comparable to intelligence collected for Operation Sea Lion countermeasures and analyses used in planning for Operation Cobra.

Proposed methods and contingency plans

Planned methods included sniping by a trained marksman from an elevated position, sabotage of transportation using explosives similar to techniques from Special Air Service raids, and poisoning via personal staff infiltration drawing on precedents from Operation Foxley-adjacent clandestine doctrines. Contingencies addressed increased security such as fortified convoys, relocation to Berlin or other bunkers like the Wolfsschanze, and reprisals against civilian populations as seen during reactions to the 20 July plot. Extraction plans invoked exfiltration routes through Switzerland, coordination with French Resistance networks, and fallback options involving US Office of Strategic Services safe houses. Planners weighed risks of false attribution to figures such as Heinrich Himmler or Martin Bormann and the possibility of accelerating a hardline succession under Göring or Goebbels.

Operational approval and secrecy

The scheme required high-level authorization from senior ministers within Winston Churchill's wartime administration and consultation with military chiefs including Alan Brooke and theatre commanders such as Bernard Montgomery. Debates over legal and moral implications involved advisors influenced by international law perspectives and concerns about reciprocity given Allied actions including strategic bombing campaigns by RAF Bomber Command and the United States Army Air Forces. Secrecy protocols mirrored those used in Operation Bodyguard and involved compartmentalization across Special Operations Executive, MI6, and liaison officers attached to Combined Chiefs of Staff. Ultimately, political caution, inter-Allied sensitivities involving Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin, and fears of unintended strategic consequences prevented formal approval.

Legacy and historical assessments

Postwar historiography has examined the plan in works referencing archival material from Public Record Office collections, memoirs of SOE officers, and analyses by historians of the Second World War and the Holocaust. Scholars contrast hypothetical scenarios had the assassination succeeded with outcomes of events like the Nuremberg trials and the division of Germany culminating in the Potsdam Conference. Debates involve ethical assessments similar to those concerning targeted killings in later contexts such as Cold War covert action and counterinsurgency doctrine, with commentators comparing Operation Foxley to Operation Wrath of God and other state-sponsored assassinations. The operation remains a topic in biographies of Adolf Hitler, studies of British intelligence, and examinations of resistance activity across occupied Europe.

Category:Special Operations Executive