Operation Big was a task force which was part of the overarching Allied effort (called Operation Alsos) to capture German nuclear secrets during the final days of World War II. Worried that French forces might beat the US to Werner Heisenberg's laboratory in Hechingen, Boris T. Pash hastily organized a flying column of Sixth Army combat engineers ("Task Force A"). His team reached Horb three days later and headed for Haigerloch while the French troops occupied themselves with looking for members of the Vichy Government in nearby Sigmaringen.