Operation Brave Defender 1985 - on the brink of WW3: Operation Brave Defender 1985 was the largest peace time excersice ever held in the UK, involving more than 65,000 personnel, mostly TA, but also involving all three services. It was a home defence exercise a sequel to Operation Lionheart 1984 the British Army's largest ever deployment exercise.. Both exercises took place during a period when the Cold War between East and West intensified, just two years previous a similar large scale NATO exe