Libya with secret bases inland at Al Mukaram and Wadi Tamet, as well as at Shott al Jerid behind the Mareth Line. These used a (long range) Messerschmitt Bf-108, two Heinkel He 111s, and a captured B-17 - given the fictional designation "Dornier Do 288" (as a "confusive reuse" of the 8-288 RLM airframe number for Junkers' Bomber B design competitor) - which despite being badly damaged during a raid on Al Mukaram by a Sudan Defence Force detachment, managed to return to Athens for repair. As well as local intelligence and meteorological work their aim was to ferry agents via French West Africa to Cairo, Freetown and Durban.The KG200.org site mentions "bases .. in the Algerian (sic) desert" - this appears to be an error - Kelly seems to make clear that KG 200 only operated in the Libyan desert. On the night of 27 November 1944, KG 200 pilots Braun and Pohl flew a Junkers Ju 290 transport from Vienna to a position just south of Mosul, Iraq, where they successfully air-dropped five Iraqi parachutists in bright moonlight. The Luftwaffe crew flew back to the island of Rhodes, still under German occupation. After dealing with engineering problems, they evacuated some thirty casualties from Rhodes, reaching Vienna two nights later. See also No. 100 Group RAF, Royal Air Force special duties group, engaged in electronic warfare and countermeasures No. 138 Squadron RAF, No. 161 Squadron RAF, Royal Air Force squadrons responsible for dropping agents in occupied Europe No. 1426 Flight RAF, RAF unit that flew captured German aircraft Zirkus Rosarius, German unit that test-flew captured Allied aircraft Ruse of war Notes References Geoffrey J Thomas, Barry Ketley: KG 200: The Luftwaffe's Most Secret Unit, Hikoki Publications, 2003, . Peter Wilhelm Stahl: KG 200: The true story, Jane's, 1981, . German original: Geheimgeschwader KG 200: D. Wahrheit nach uber 30 Jahren, Motorbuch-Verlag, 1977, (later edition co-authored by Manfred Jäger). P.W. Stahl had served in the KG 200 unit. Saul Kelly: The Hunt for Zerzura, John Murray, 2002, . Includes much information on the LRDG (Long Range Desert Group) and its 'foundation' before World War II. A small well referenced section refers to KG 200. Kelly refers to (a) K. Jozsef: A Homok Atyja, Magyar Repulestortereti Tarasag, Budapest 1995 (in Hungarian), and (see also above) (b) P W Stahl: KG 200: Gehaimaesch wuden''(? sounds like "Geheimgeschwader" - "secret squadron") Motorbuch-Verlag, 1992