The Commandos formed during the Second World War, following an order from the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in June 1940 for a force that could carry out raids against German-occupied Europe. Churchill stated in a minute to General 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..." Commandos were all volunteers for special service and originally came from the British Army but volunteers would eventually come from all branches of the United Kingdom's armed forces and foreign volunteers from countries occupied by the Germans. These volunteers formed over 30 individual units and four assault brigades.
The commandos would serve in all the theatres of war from the Arctic Circle, to Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific. 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 Second World War most of the commands were disbanded leaving just the Royal Marine 3 Commando Brigade but their legacy is the present day Royal Marines Commandos, the Parachute Regiment, Special Air Service and the Special Boat Service who can all trace their origins to the commandos.Dunning, p. 109 Their legacy also extends to mainland Europe, the French Naval commandos, the Dutch Korps Commandotroepen and the Belgian Paracommando Brigade can all trace their origins to men who volunteered to serve with the British Commandos.
Operations
1940 The first commando raid was Operation Collar, which took place on 24/25 June 1940.Clarke, Dudley. "The Birth of the Commandos". The Listener. 25 November 1948. p. 799. The raid was not carried out by a commando unit, but by one of their predecessors, No.11 Independent Company. Under the command of Major Ronnie Tod it was an offensive reconnaissance on the French coast south of Boulogne-sur-Mer and Le Touquet. The operation was a limited success, and the only British injury was a bullet graze to Lieutenant Colonel Dudley Clarke (who was there as an observer), while at least two German soldiers were killed.Moreman, p.13 A second and similarly inconsequential attack, Operation Ambassador, was launched on the German-occupied island of Guernsey on the night of 14 July 1940, by men drawn from H Troop of No. 3 Commando under command of John Durnford-Slater and No. 11 Independent Company. One unit landed on the wrong island, another disembarked from its launch into water that came over their heads. Intelligence had indicated that there was a large German barracks on the island but the Commandos only discovered empty buildings. On their return to the beach they discovered that heavy seas had forced their launch off shore and they then had to swim out to sea to get picked up.Haswell, p.47
1941 In February 1941, a force of commandos under Colonel Robert Laycock was sent to the Middle East to carry out raids in the eastern Mediterranean. This force became known as 'Layforce' after their commander and initially they were drawn from 'A' Troop from No. 3 Commando, No. 7 Commando, No. 8 (Guards) Commando, and No. 11 (Scottish) Commando.Chappell, p.15Saunders, p.52
The next raid of any consequence from the United Kingdom was Operation Claymore in March 1941, by No. 3 and No. 4 Commandos. This was the first large scale raid from the United Kingdom during the war. Their objective was the undefended Norwegian Lofoten Islands. They successfully destroyed the fish-oil factories, petrol dumps, and 11 ships, capturing 216 Germans, encryption equipment and codebooks.Moreman, p.54
In April, Layforce received orders to begin carrying out raids on the Afrika Korps lines of communication along the North African coast. On 12 April, they carried out a preliminary move to Alexandria and three days later they received orders to carry out a raid on Bardia and another on Bomba. The attacks had to be abandoned, however, due to high seas which would have made disembarking and re-embarking too dangerous. The appearance of the commandos behind their lines forced the Germans to divert the main part of an armoured brigade from where they had previously been undertaking offensive action around Sollum, in order to defend against further raids.Saunders, p.54
Layforce less No. 11 (Scottish) Commando was next involved in the Battle of Crete in May. They were deployed to the island to carry out raids on the German lines of communications with a view to either turning back the invasion or enabling an evacuation to take place.Saunders, p.55 By 31 May the evacuation from Crete was drawing to a close and the Commandos, running low on ammunition, rations and water, fell back towards Sphakia. Laycock and some of his headquarters, including his intelligence officer Evelyn Waugh managed to get out on the last ship to depart, however the vast majority of the Commandos were left behind. Of the 800 commandos that had been sent to Crete, by the end of the operation about 600 were listed as killed, missing or wounded and only 23 officers and 156 others managed to get off the island.Saunders, p.57Parker, p.52Chappell, p.16
In June, the Allies invaded Vichy French controlled Syria and Lebanon, Operation Exporter. As a part of this operation, No. 11 (Scottish) Commando were tasked with seizing a crossing over the Litani River.Saunders, p.58 The action cost the Commando over 120 casualties, which equated to nearly a quarter of their strength.
By July, the operations that Layforce had undertaken had severely reduced their strength and in the circumstances reinforcements were unlikely.Saunders, p. 61 The operational difficulties that had been exposed during the Bardia raid, combined with the strategic imperatives that had developed as the situation in the Middle East had evolved, and the overarching inability of the high command to fully embrace the commando concept had largely served to make the force ineffective and as a result the decision was made to disband Layforce.Chappell, p.17 Many of the men went back to their previous regiments following the decision, while others chose to remain in the Middle East and subsequently joined the Special Air Service and the Special Boat Squadron.
In August, No. 5 Commando carried out landings near Hardelot and Merlimont in France as part of Operation Acid Drop. The objective of the raids was to generally harass the garrison, and carry out reconnaissance and gather intelligence. In the end, however, they spent only half an hour ashore and failed to make contact with the defenders before re-embarking on their landing craft.
In November, No. 11 (Scottish) Commando took part in Operation Flipper. The objectives of the raid were: attack the German headquarters near Beda Littoria, the Italian headquarters at Cyrene, the intelligence centre at Apollonia and various communications facilities. One of the main goals was to kill the German commander Erwin Rommel. This was intended to disrupt enemy organisation before the start of Operation Crusader. The raid was not a success but one of the raid commanders Lieutenant Colonel Geoffrey Charles Tasker Keyes was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.Jones, p.197
There were two raids in Norway, in December. The first, which took place on 26 December, was Operation Anklet. This was a raid on the Lofoten Islands by No. 12 Commando. The raid was to provide a diversion for the larger raid at Vågsøy Island, Operation Archery. The German garrison, amid Christmas celebrations, was easily overcome and the Commandos re-embarked after two days. The second raid on 27 December, Operation Archery, involved men from Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 6 Commandos, a flotilla from the Royal Navy, and limited air support. The raid caused significant damage to factories, warehouses, the German garrison, and also sank eight ships. The raid prompted the Germans to reinforce the garrison occupying Norway by an extra 30,000 troops, upgrade coastal and inland defences, and send a number of capital ships to the area.
1942
Operation Postmaster was launched in January 1942. During this, No. 62 Commando carried out a raid in neutral Spanish Guinea, when they seized an Italian liner, a German tanker and a yacht from Santa Isabel.
In March, No. 2 Commando plus demolition experts from Numbers 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9 and 12 Commandos took part in Operation Chariot the St Nazaire Raid. The destroyer HMS Campbeltown had 24 Mark VII depth-charges (4 tons) cemented below decks behind the forward gun support. Accompanied by 18 smaller ships, the Campbeltown sailed into port where she was rammed directly into the Normandie dock gates. The commandos engaged the German forces and destroyed the dock facilities. Eight hours later, delayed-action fuses set off the explosives in the Campbeltown which wrecked the dock gates and killed some 360 Germans and French. A total of 611 soldiers and sailors took part in Chariot; 169 were killed and 200 (most wounded) taken prisoner. Only 242 returned immediately. Of the 241 commandos who took part 64 were posted as killed or missing and 109 captured. Among participants in the raid two commandos Lieutenant Colonel Augustus Charles Newman and Sergeant Thomas Durrant together with three members of the Royal Navy were awarded the Victoria Cross, while 80 others received decorations for gallantry.Moreman, p.66
In April, No. 4 Commando supported by 50 men from the Canadian Carleton and York Regiment and some Royal Engineers, took part in Operation Abercrombie a raid on Hardelot, France. This was a small raid with just two hours ashore. Its objectives were to reconnoitre and damage the beach defences, take prisoners and destroy a searchlight battery. Defences were found to be light and/or abandoned as they advanced and only three Germans were encountered at close quarters who withdrew immediately. The official report recorded, "no determined opposition". A fighting patrol of 12 men sent to destroy the searchlights reached their objective but had to retire before pressing home their attack due to lack of time remaining signalled by the re-call rocket.Dunning, pp.58–63
On 19 August 1942, the Dieppe raid a major landing took place at the French coastal town of Dieppe. The main force was provided by the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division supported by No. 3 and No. 4 Commando. The mission of No. 3 Commando was to neutralize a German coastal battery, near Berneval-le-Grand, which could fire upon the landing at Dieppe. The landing craft carrying No. 3 Commando, ran into a German coastal convoy. Only a handful of commandos under the second in command, Major Peter Young, landed and scaled the barbed wire-laced cliffs. Eventually 18 commandos reached the perimeter of the battery via Berneval and engaged their target with small arms fire. Although unable to destroy the guns, their sniping of the German gun crews prevented the guns from firing effectively on the main assault. In a subsidiary operation, No. 4 Commando, including the French Troop, No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando and 50 United States Army Rangers, landed in force and destroyed their target, the artillery battery at Varengeville and most of No. 4 Commando safely returned to England. After the raid Captain Patrick Porteous No. 4 Commando, was awarded the Victoria Cross.Dunning, pp.65–87