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In the fictional Gundam Universe, Operation British was the final culmination of the Principality of Zeon's massive offensive during the opening week of the One Year War. The operation, supposedly named in reference to independence of British colonies after World War II, involved the seizure of one of the defunct colonies and its subsequent drop onto earth.

On January 10 the Principality of Zeon sortied a fleet of Musai-Class Light Cruisers under the command of Dozle Zabi with the intention of securing one of the defunct colonies from Side 2 or Side 4. The plan was to secure the colony cylinder and utilize it as a ballistic weapon against the Earth Federation. The intended target was the headquarters of the Earth Federal Forces, the vast subterranean base in South America named Jaburo. The operation commenced without a hitch, with Zeon forces successfully hijacking the colony.

The Earth Federal Forces had been caught completely by surprise at the start of the war, and were ill prepared to deal with Zeon's Mobile Suits; none-the-less when sensors detected movement from one of the abandoned Sides the Federation was quick to grasp the nature of the situation. An all hands operation was thrown out to the federal space Force Commanders, who ordered their fleets into the path of the colony. Although several of the Federation's Salamis and Magellan class ships were lost in the ensuing battle, they succeeded in altering the colony's course.

The colony's course was altered to enough to cause it to break into four separate pieces — the cylinder and its three mirrors — which struck the earth at various locations and caused massive destruction. The largest piece — the colony cylinder itself — eventually collided with Sydney, Australia, eliminating the city and annihilating 16% of Australia's total land mass. The rest of the colony's parts landed in the Atlantic, amounting to little more than a meteor shower.

The impact caused by the colony resulted in massive climate changes on earth. Massive tidal waves and the collateral damage from the impact eliminated some of the Federation's naval fleets . Shortly after this drop operation the Federation and the Principality agreed to meet with one another and eventually negotiated the Antarctic Treaty. Earth's weather had dramatically changed until U.C. 0081, when the Earth Federation government had confirmed that the impact of the colony drop was gone.