Operation Flavius
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Operation Flavius was an operation by a small Special Air Service team on Gibraltar on 6 March, 1988. Three Irish Republican Army terrorists had targeted the changing of the guards at governor’s residence.
Their plan called for a radio-controlled bomb to be hidden in a car and detonated so as to kill a large number of soldiers and tourists.
The SAS team was told (incorrectly) that the terrorists had already placed their bomb and were ready to detonate it. The commandos quickly killed the terrorists when the soldiers thought they were reaching for a detonator. In fact all three were unarmed and the bomb was still in nearby Spain.