The Gertrude or Gertrud was the

code name A code name, codename, call sign, or cryptonym is a code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may also be used in ...

of the joint invasion plan for

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

and the Tsardom of Bulgaria, during

Case Blue Case Blue (German: ''Fall Blau'') was the ''Wehrmacht'' plan for the 1942 strategic summer offensive in southern Russia between 28 June and 24 November 1942, during World War II. The objective was to capture the oil fields of Baku ( Azerb ...

. The Gertrud was scheduled to begin in late 1941 and would be completed in five weeks. Initially, four infantry divisions were to be brought in from Denmark, all supported by an artillery brigade. This army would lead the attack from northern Turkey, leading the invasion. The Kriegsmarine would support the army with twenty-seven ships stationed in the Aegean Sea and the Dodecanese. However, the project was abandoned because of the rapid advance of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

in the

Caucasus region The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, incl ...

, the conclusion of the

German–Turkish Treaty of Friendship The German–Turkish Treaty of Friendship (, ) was a non-aggression pact signed between Nazi Germany and Turkey on 18 June 1941 in Ankara by German ambassador to Turkey Franz von Papen and Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Şükrü Saracoğlu ...

, and the

Allied invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as the Battle of Sicily and Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allies of World War II, Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis p ...

References

Turkey in World War II Cancelled military operations involving Germany Cancelled invasions Cancelled military operations of World War II Germany–Turkey relations Bulgaria–Germany relations Bulgaria–Turkey relations {{WWII-stub