In January 1942, Special Operations Executive agents led by Gus March-Phillipps carried out a daring raid in the neutral Spanish colony of Fernando Po (now Bioko, Equatorial Guinea). Their targets were an Italian liner, the Duchessa d'Aosta, and two smaller vessels being used to supply German U-boats in the Gulf of Guinea.
While local SOE operatives hosted the ships' officers at an elaborate party onshore—plying them with drinks laced with sleeping pills—March-Phillipps and his team cut the ships' anchor chains with explosive charges and towed them out to sea. The crews who remained aboard were quickly subdued.
Spain protested furiously but could prove nothing. The British government denied any involvement. The operation provided a template for future SOE maritime operations and demonstrated that even "ungentlemanly warfare" could be conducted with a certain flair. March-Phillipps later died leading a similar raid on the French coast.