The Commandos, also known as the British Commandos, were formed during the Second World War in June 1940, following a request from Winston Churchill, for special forces that could carry out raids against German-occupied Europe. Initially drawn from within the British Army from soldiers who volunteered for the Special Service Brigade, the Commandos' ranks were eventually filled by members of all branches of the British Armed Forces and a number of foreign volunteers from German-occupied countries. By the end of the war 25,000 men had passed through the Commando course at Achnacarry. This total includes not only the British volunteers, but volunteers from Greece, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Canada, Norway and Poland. The United States Army Rangers and US Marine Corps Raiders were modelled on the Commandos.Moreman, p. 40.
Reaching a wartime strength of over 30 units and four assault brigades, the Commandos served in all theatres of war from the Arctic Circle to Europe and from the Mediterranean and Middle East to South-East Asia. Their operations ranged from small groups of men landing from the sea or by parachute, to a brigade of assault troops spearheading the Allied invasions of Europe and Asia.
After the war most Commando units were disbanded, leaving only the 3 Commando Brigade of the Royal Marines, which is now known as the UK Commando Force. The modern Royal Marine Commandos, Parachute Regiment, Special Air Service, British Army Commandos and the Special Boat Service trace their origins to the Commandos. The Second World War Commando legacy also extends to mainland Europe and the United States: the French Commandos Marine; Dutch Korps Commandotroepen; Belgian Special Operations Regiment; the Greek 1st Raider–Paratrooper Brigade; the United States Army Rangers and Green Berets were influenced by the wartime Commandos.
Formation The British Commandos were a formation of the British Armed Forces organised for special service in June 1940. After the events leading to the British Expeditionary Force's (BEF) evacuation from Dunkirk, the disastrous Battle of France, Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, called for a force to be assembled and equipped to inflict casualties on the Germans and bolster British morale. Churchill told the joint chiefs of staff to propose measures for an offensive against German-occupied Europe. He stated in a minute to General Hastings Ismay on 6 June 1940: "Enterprises must be prepared, with specially-trained troops of the hunter class, who can develop a reign of terror down these coasts, first of all on the "butcher and bolt" policy..."Churchill, p. 217. The Chief of the Imperial General Staff at that time was General John Dill and his Military Assistant was Lieutenant-Colonel Dudley Clarke. Clarke discussed the matter with Dill at the War Office and prepared a paper for him that proposed the formation of a new force based on the tactics of Boer commandos, 'hit sharp and quick – then run to fight another day'; they became 'The Commandos' from then onwards.Clarke, Dudley. "The Birth of the Commandos". The Listener. 25 November 1948. p. 799. Dill, aware of Churchill's intentions, approved Clarke's proposal.Haskew, p. 47. The first commando raid, Operation Collar, was conducted on the night of 24/25 June 1940.Haskew, pp. 47–48.
The request for volunteers for special service was initially restricted to serving Army soldiers within certain formations still in Britain, and from men of the disbanding divisional Independent Companies originally raised from Territorial Army (TA) divisions who had served in the Norwegian campaign.
By the autumn of 1940 more than 2,000 men had volunteered and in November 1940 these new units were organised into a Special Service Brigade consisting of four battalions under the command of Brigadier Joseph Charles Haydon.Joslen, p. 454. The Special Service Brigade was quickly expanded to 12 units which became known as Commandos.Haskew, p. 48. Each Commando had a lieutenant-colonel as the commanding officer and numbered around 450 men (divided into 75-man troops that were further divided into 15-man sections). Technically these men were only on secondment to the Commandos; they retained their own regimental cap badges and remained on the regimental roll for pay.Moreman, p. 12. The Commando force came under the operational control of the Combined Operations Headquarters. The man initially selected as the commander of Combined Operations was Admiral Roger Keyes, a veteran of the Gallipoli campaign and the Zeebrugge Raid in the First World War.Chappell, p. 6. Keyes resigned in October 1941 and was replaced by Vice Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten. Major-General Robert Laycock was the last Commander of Combined Operations; he took over from Mountbatten in October 1943.Chappell, p. 30.
Organisation
Commando units
The Commando units formed in the United Kingdom were: No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No. 5, No. 6, No. 7, No. 8 (Guards), No. 9, No. 10 (Inter-Allied), No. 11 (Scottish), No. 12, No. 14 (Arctic), No. 30, and No. 62 Commando.Chappell, pp. 45–48. At the same time four Commando units were formed in the Middle East: No. 50, No. 51, No. 52, and the Middle East Commando. The No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando was formed from volunteers from the occupied territories and enemy aliens.van der Bijl, p. 6. It was the largest Commando unit formed, and contained troops from France, Belgium, Poland, Norway, the Netherlands, and No. 3 (X) Troop. The No. 3 (X) Troop consisted of enemy aliens; it was also known as the English, Jewish, or British troop and was officially renamed the Miscellaneous Troop in 1944. Most of the troop had German, Austrian, or Eastern European backgrounds, while others were political or religious refugees from Nazi Germany.van der Bijl, p. 5.
Some Commandos were designated for different tasks from the start. No. 2 Commando was always intended to be a parachute unit. In June 1940 they began parachute training and were re-designated the 11th Special Air Service (SAS) Battalion, which eventually became the 1st Parachute Battalion.Shott & McBride, p. 4. After their re-designation a new No. 2 Commando was formed.Moreman, p. 91. Other Commandos were grouped together in a larger formation known as Layforce and sent to the Middle East.Chappell, p. 15. The Special Air Service and the Special Boat Squadron were formed from the survivors of Layforce.Shortt & McBride, pp. 6–9.Morgan, p. 15. The men of No. 14 (Arctic) Commando were specially trained for operations in the Arctic Circle and specialised in using small boats and canoes to attack shipping.Macksey and Woodhouse, p. 308. The joint service unit No. 30 Commando was formed for intelligence gathering. Its members were trained in the recognition of enemy documents, search techniques, safe cracking, prisoner handling, photography, and escape techniques. No. 62 Commando or the Small Scale Raiding Force was a small 55–man unit under the operational control of the Special Operations Executive (SOE). They carried out raids planned by SOE such as Operation Postmaster on the Spanish island of Fernando Po off the coast of West Africa.Chappell, p. 48.Binney, p. 129.
In February 1941 the Commandos were reorganized in accordance with a new war establishment. Each Commando unit now consisted of a Headquarters and six troops (instead of the previous 10). Each troop would comprise three officers and 62 other ranks; this number was set so each troop would fit into two Assault Landing Craft. The new formation also meant that two complete Commando units could be carried in the 'Glen' type landing ship and one unit in the 'Dutch' type landing ship.Moreman, pp. 16–17. The motor transport issued to each commando consisted of one car for the commanding officer, 12 motorcycles (six with sidecars), two 15 hundredweight (cwt) trucks, and one 3-ton truck. These vehicles were only provided for administration and training and were not intended to accompany the men on operations.Morman, p. 17.
In February 1942 the Royal Marines were tasked to organise Commando units of their own.Haskew, pp. 48–49. In total nine Commando units were formed by the Royal Marines: No. 40, No. 41, No. 42, No. 43, No. 44, No. 45, No. 46, No. 47 and the last, No. 48, which was not formed until 1944. In 1943 two other Commando units were formed. The first was the Royal Naval Commandos, who were established to carry out tasks associated with establishing, maintaining, and controlling beachheads during amphibious operations. The other was the Royal Air Force Commandos, who would accompany an invasion force either to make enemy airfields serviceable, or to make new airstrips operational and contribute to their defence.
1943 reorganization
In 1943, the formation of the Commando unit was changed. Each Commando now consisted of a small headquarters group, five fighting troops, a heavy weapons troop, and a signals platoon. The fighting troops consisted of 65 men of all ranks divided into two 30–man sections which were subdivided into three 10–man subsections. The heavy weapons troop was made up of 3-inch mortar and Vickers machine gun teams.van der Bijl, p. 28. The Commandos were provided with the motor transport needed to accompany them on operations. Their transport now consisted of the commanding officer's car, 15 motorcycles (six with side cars), ten 15 cwt trucks, and three 3-ton trucks. The heavy weapons troop had seven Jeeps and trailers and one Jeep for each of the fighting troops and the headquarters. This gave them enough vehicles of their own to accommodate two fighting troops, the heavy weapons troop, and the Commando Headquarters.Moreman, p. 28.
By now the Commandos started to move away from smaller raiding operations. They were formed into four brigades to spearhead future Allied landing operations. The previous Special Service Brigade Headquarters was replaced by Headquarters Special Services Group under command of Major-General Robert Sturges.Chappell, p. 28. Of the remaining 20 Commando units, 17 were used in the formation of the four Special Service brigades. The three remaining Commandos (Nos. 12, 14, and 62) were left out of the brigade structure to concentrate on smaller scale raids.Moreman, pp. 84–85. The increased tempo of operations, together with a shortage of volunteers and the need to provide replacements for casualties, forced their disbandment by the end of 1943.Chappell, p. 14. The small scale raiding role was then given to the two French troops of No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando.
From 1944 the Operational Holding Commando Headquarters was formed. It was responsible for two sub-units: the Army and Royal Marines Holding Commando Wings. Both units had an establishment of five troops and a heavy weapons troop of fully trained commandos. The men in these troops were to provide individual or complete troop replacements for the Commando units in the field.Moreman, pp. 37–39. In December 1944, the four Special Service brigades were re-designated as Commando brigades.Moreman, p. 32.
Training