Operation Hoathley 1

Operation Hoathley 1 was one of the two Special Operations Executive (SOE) exploratory missions to the Yugoslav Partisans during World War II. Both Hoathley 1 and the second mission, Operation Fungus, flew out on the night of 20 April 1943 from an airfield Derna, Libya. The missions' objective was to establish who the Partisans were, who their leader was and if and how they could be utilised to further the Allies' military ambitions. They also served as each other's backup, in case one failed to reach the Partisans or fell into the enemy's hands.^[1] The mission consisted of three Yugoslav Canadians who were recruited by the SOE and trained in clandestine operations at Camp X on the Lake Ontario, near the US border.^[2] It was led by Stevan Serdar who was joined by George Diklić and Milan Družić. They wore no identifiable uniform or rank.^[3]