Operation Loyton was the codename given to an SAS mission in the Vosges department of France during the Second World War.

The mission, between 12 August and 9 October 1944, had the misfortune to be parachuted into the Vosges Mountains, at a time when the German Army was reinforcing the area, against General George Patton's Third Army. As a result, the Germans quickly became aware of their presence and conducted operations to destroy the SAS team.

In the immediate post WWII years, the SAS was officially disbanded in an act of petty spite by a British military establishment that hated its maverick ways. But it was the men of Operation Loyton who defied the top brass and secretly kept The Regiment going, ensuring its survival as the unrivalled military strike force it still is today.

With their supplies running out and under pressure from the German army, the SAS were ordered to form smaller groups to return to Allied lines. During the fighting and breakout operations 31 men were captured and later executed by the Germans. Story Mail Online