Operation Goldflake

Operation Goldflake was the administrative move of I Canadian Corps and the British 5th Infantry Division from Italy to Northwestern Europe during the Second World War. British-led forces had been fighting in Italy since the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943. The Allied commanders decided to move the British and Canadian troops to fight in Northwestern Europe in the spring of 1945.

Operation Goldflake was the codename of the plan to arrange the move and to conceal the shifting of such a large number of troops to another war theatre. The move was publicized as a regrouping away from the Italian front to allow for recuperation of the troops. A massive amount of planning was needed, since troops and administrative centres were widely dispersed in southern Italy. Trains and road convoys had to be arranged, while not leaving any of the front-lines vulnerable to counter-attacks by the German forces. Troops and materiel were to be moved from ports at Naples and Leghorn in Italy to Marseilles in France, at the rate of 3700 people, 40 tanks, 650 wheeled vehicles, and 50 carriers each day.

Wikipedia