Haddock Force

Haddock Force
Part of the Battle of France
Map showing the location of bases in the Channel Islands and at Salon and the target cities of Turin and Genoa
Type	Bombing campaign
Location	Salon, France 43°36′23″N 005°06′33″E / 43.60639°N 5.10917°E / 43.60639; 5.10917 (Salon-de-Provence Air Base)
Objective	Disruption of the Italian war economy
Date	11–17 June 1940
Executed by	RAF Bomber Command
Outcome	Operational failure

Haddock Force was the name given to a number of Royal Air Force bombers dispatched to airfields in southern France to bomb northern Italian industrial targets, once Italy declared war, which was thought to be imminent. Italy entered the Second World War on 10 June 1940 and the plan was put into effect but at first, the local French authorities prevented the RAF Vickers Wellington bombers from taking off. Armstrong Whitworth Whitleys flying from England via the Channel Islands made the first raid on the night of 11/12 June 1940.

After negotiations between the French and British governments and directives from Paris to the authorities in the south of France, the Wellingtons flew back. Operations commenced on the night of 14/15 June but all but one of the eight bombers returned without bombing due to bad weather. Eight Wellington crews tried again the next night and six claimed to have bombed Milan; the raid was the last by RAF Bomber Command from French bases until 1944.