In January 1943 Allied high command put off the invasion of France until the following year, and by April had decided to focus on the Mediterranean.

The newly appointed Chief of Staff to the Supreme Allied Command (COSSAC), Major-General Frederick Morgan, was directed to conduct military deception operations against western Europe, in the hope that it would tie down enemy forces during the assault on the south of the continent.

The directive included explicit reference to creating fictional amphibious assaults on the French coastline, in an effort to draw out the Luftwaffe.

[1] Operation Starkey was a threatened invasion in the Pas de Calais area of France in early September 1943, with the intention of drawing the Luftwaffe out to combat the threat, and into an air battle.

[4][5] In his history of 10 Commando Nick van der Bijl places the planned number at thirteen, with only 6 undertaken (one had to be aborted twice).