United Kingdom - Named Operations Post-World War II
A UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokeswoman says operaton names such as ELLAMY have been randomly generated by a computer programme. It's how all military operations are named and it's done this way so the name doesn't relate in any way to the action. Today, RAF Akrotiri provides facilities to support Op SHADER. It was also the vital link in the Airbridge operating 24 hours a day in support of Op HERRICK and the wider KIPION. It supported GRANBY in 1990 (Iraq), TELIC in 2003 (Iraq), HIGHBROW in 2006 (Non-combatant Evacuation from Lebanon), ELLAMY in 2011 (Libya), and LUMINOUS in 2013 (air defence of Cyprus during Syrian Chemical Weapons Crisis).
| OP MASTERDOM | 13 Sep 1945 - May 1946 | Viet Minh fought a brigade of 20,000 British and Indian troops stabilization force in South Vietnam |
| OP AGATHA | 29 Jun 1946 | action against Jewish illegal armed terrorist organisations in Palestine after the bombing of the King David Hotel |
| OP SHARK | 30 Jul 1946 | Massive British search operation in Tel Aviv after the bombing of the King David Hotel |
| OP JUNGLE | 1948–1955 | British Baltic Fishery Protection Service was set up as a cover for operation "Jungle," the clandestine agent transport organized by the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) into Poland and the Baltic states |
| OP LUCKY ALPHONSE | Jun 1956 | in the Cyprus Emergency, ‘Unlucky Alphonse’ was intended to capture Colonel George Grivas and his terrorist groups, but 20 British soldiers died when the tinder-dry and tree-smothered hills caught fire |
| OP MUSKETEER | 05 Nov 1956 | UK and French Airborne invasion of Port Said during the Suez Crisis |
| OP CORDAGE | 6 Nov 1956 | Franco-British parachute drops during the 1956 Suez Crisis |
| OP TELESCOPE | 6 Nov 1956 | Franco-British conventional seaborne landing during the 1956 Suez Crisis |
| OP VANTAGE | Jun 1961 | Britain moved forces into newly independent Kuwait in response to Iraqi threats, and tensions continued to ebb and flow |
| OP CLARET | Jul 1964 - Jul 1966 | secret cross-border raids by conducted by British Commonwealth forces in Borneo to stop Indonesian incursions by forcing them onto the defensive |
| OP MOTORMAN | 31 Jul 1972 | UK operation against IRA terrorists. British troops dismantled barricades to re-establish free access to the no-go areas in the Bogside, Brandywell and Creggan areas of Londonderry. |
| OP NIMROD | 05 May 1980 | SAS Assault at the Iranian Embassy, Princes Gate London. |
| OP KIPION | Sepr 1980 - ONGOING | UK maritime presence in the Gulf and the Indian Ocean |
| OP CORPORATE | 1982 | UK re-capture of the Falkland Islands from Argentine Forces. |
| OP BLACK BUCK | 1982 | RAF bombing of Port Stanley airfield during the Falklands War. Conducted by Vulcan B.1 bombers, this was the longest range bombing mission in RAF history. |
| OP FLAVIUS | 06 Mar 1988 | SAS operation against IRA terrorists in Gibraltar. Resulted in three dead terrorists and much political fallout. |
| OP GRANBY | 1990 | UK contribution to US led coalition that expelled Iraqi armed forces from Kuwait. |
| OP VIGILANT WARRIOR | 14 Oct-21 Dec 1994 | response to Iraq moving ground forces toward Kuwait in October 1994 |
| OP PROVIDE COMFORT | 6 Apr 1991 - 31 Dec 1996 | humanitarian assisstance to Iraqi Kurdistan |
| OP SOUTHERN WATCH | 1991 - 17 Mar 2003 | no-fly zone operations in Iraq below the 32nd parallel |
| OP PROVIDE PROMISE | Jul 1992 - Mar 1996 | air protected humanitarian relief efforts in the besieged cities of the former Yugoslavia |
| OP NORTHERN WATCH | 31 Dec 1996 - 17 Mar 2003 | no-fly zone over Iraqi Kurdistan |
| OP PALLISER | 2000 | UK joint operation to support evacuation of British nationals from Sierra Leone spearheaded by 1 PARA, later expanded into general intervention and support to GoSL. |
| OP BARRAS | 10 Sep 2000 | UK rescue assault of 6 British soldiers of the Royal Irish Regiment on a UN peacekeeping mission from West Side Boys in Sierra Leone conducted by troops from 1 PARA, SAS and SBS |
| OP TARROCK | 2001 | UK personnel deployed with NATO International Security Assistance Force |
| OP VERITAS | 2001 | UK operations against the Taliban government of Afghanistan |
| OP LANDMAN | 2001 | UK aircrew operations in Afghanistan |
| OP ORACLE | 2001 | personnel on board HMS SCOTT and HMS BEAGLE |
| OP CONDOR | May 2002 | Major British-led operation in southeastern Afghanistan. The operation began on 17 May 2002 when a patrol of the Australian SAS was ambushed. The British 45 Commando then flew in to destroy the guerilla force that had exposed itself. |
| OP FINGAL | 2002 | UK operations in Afghanistan |
| OP TELIC | Mar 2003 | UK contribution to US-led coalition which invaded Iraq. |
| OP HERRICK | 2005 - 01 Jan 2015 | UK operations in Afghanistan |
| OP ELLAMY | 19 Mar - 31 Oct 2011 | UK contribution to operations in Libya |
| OP GRITROCK | Sep 2014–2015 | response in Sierra Leone to rapidly build Ebola treatment centers |
| OP SHADER | 26 Sep 2014 - 31 Jan 2019.. | British military operations undertaken as part of the US-led international coalition against ISIS |
| OP TORAL | 01 Jan 2015 - ONGOING | British Army's deployment to Afghanistan as part of NATO's Resolute Support Mission, followed on immediately from Operation Herrick XX |
| OP TEMPERER | .. | mobilisation plan for military support to the police service in response to a major terrorist attack |
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