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Commando raids were made by the Western Allies during much of the Second World War against the Atlantic Wall. The raids were conducted by the armed forces of Britain, the Commonwealth and a small number of men from the occupied territories serving with No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando during the Second World War. All the operations took place between the Arctic Circle in Norway and the France–Spain border, along what was known as the Atlantic Wall.

The raiding forces were mostly provided by the British Commandos, but the two largest raids, Operation Gauntlet and Operation Jubilee, drew heavily on Canadian troops. The size of the raiding force depended on the objective. The smallest raid was two men from No. 6 Commando in Operation J V. The largest raid involved over 10,500 men in Operation Jubilee. Most of the raids were scheduled to only last overnight, but some, like Operation Gauntlet, were conducted over a number of days.

Commando raids during the Second World War became so effective that by October 1942 Adolf Hitler issued the Commando Order, which required the execution of all commandos captured.

The 57 raids were all between 1940 and 1944 and were mostly against targets in France, which saw 36 raids. There were 12 raids in Norway, seven in the Channel Islands and one each in Belgium and the Netherlands. The raids met with a mixture of fortunes. Operation Chariot—the raid against dock installations at Saint-Nazaire—has since been called the greatest raid of all. Others, like Operation Aquatint and Operation Musketoon, resulted in the capture or death of most of the commandos involved.

The raids ended in mid-1944 on the orders of Major-General Robert Laycock, the chief of Combined Operations Headquarters. He suggested that they were no longer as effective and only resulted in the Germans strengthening their beach defences, which could be detrimental to Allied plans.

Commandos formation

The Commandos were formed after the British Expeditionary Force was evacuated from Dunkirk in 1940. Prime Minister Winston Churchill 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, and stated, "they must be prepared with specially trained troops of the hunter class who can develop a reign of terror down the enemy coast."

One staff officer, Lieutenant Colonel Dudley Clarke, had already submitted such a proposal to General Sir John Dill, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff. Dill, aware of Churchill's intentions, approved Clarke's proposal. Three weeks later the first commando raid took place. The raiders failed to gather any intelligence or damage any German equipment; their only success was in killing two German sentries.

In 1940 the call went out for volunteers from among the serving Army soldiers within certain formations still in Britain, and men of the disbanding Divisional Independent Companies originally raised from Territorial Army Divisions who had seen service in Norway. In November 1940 the new army units were organised into a Special Service Brigade under Brigadier J. C. Haydon, with four Special Service Battalions. By the autumn of 1940 more than 2,000 men had volunteered for commando training.

There were 19 British Army Commandos formed in the United Kingdom and the Middle East. The No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando was formed from volunteers from the occupied territories and enemy aliens. In February 1942 the Royal Marines were asked to organise commando units of their own; 6,000 men volunteered, forming nine commandos. In 1943 the Royal Naval Commandos and the Royal Air Force Commandos were formed from volunteers from the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force.

Also in 1943, the commandos started to move away from smaller raiding operations. They were being formed into brigades of assault infantry to spearhead the future Allied landing operations. Of the remaining 20 Commandos, 17 were used in the formation of the four Special Service brigades. The three remaining units, No. 12, No. 14 and No. 62 Commandos, were left to carry out smaller-scale raids. A shortage of volunteers and the need to provide replacements for casualties forced the disbandment of these three commando units by the end of 1943. No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando was left for the task of small scale raiding. No. 10 was the largest commando and was formed from volunteers belonging to the occupied territories. It could now provide both parachute and canoe trained sub units.

The Commandos came under the operational control of the Combined Operations Headquarters. The man initially selected as the commander was Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Keyes, a veteran of the Gallipoli Campaign and the Zeebrugge Raid in World War I. Keyes resigned in October 1941 and was replaced by Admiral Louis Mountbatten. The final Commander of Combined Operations was Major General Robert Laycock, who took over from Mountbatten in October 1943.

List

Gallery

• Operation Jubilee destroyed Landing craft on fire with Canadian dead on the beach
• British Commandos during Operation Archery
• Wounded commandos after Operation Chariot
• Commandos marching away from a quayside. A collapsible Goatley boat is to their right.
• Two men of 101 (Folbot) Troop, No. 6 Commando training
• Men of No. 3 Commando after Operation Jubilee
• Poles of No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando during training in Scotland
• The two man canoe used in operations J V, Astrakan and Frankton

Notes

Footnotes

1. The 10 independent companies were raised from volunteers in second-line Territorial Army divisions in April 1940. They were intended for guerrilla style operations in Norway following the German invasion. Each of the 10 companies initially consisted of 21 officers and 268 other ranks.
2. Also known for security reasons as Department V Corps School, Warsash
3. Out of 622 men who entered the St Nazaire harbour, 169 were killed, 215 became prisoners of war, and only 228 returned to England. To recognise their bravery a total of 89 decorations were awarded, including five Victoria Crosses. After the war St Nazaire was one of 38 battle honours awarded to the commandos.
4. No. 62 Commando was also known as the Small Scale Raiding Force.
5. Operation Jubilee was the largest raid conducted, with 10,500 men taking part.

Citations

1. Messenger 1985, p. 251
2. ^ Haskew 2007, p. 47
3. Haskew 2007, pp. 47–48
4. Moreman 2006, p. 13
5. Joslen 1990, p. 454
6. ^ Haskew 2007, p. 48
7. ^ Chappell 1996, pp. 45–48
8. Bijl 2006, p. 6
9. Haskew 2007, pp. 48–49
10. "Memories of D-Day: Juno Beach". D Day museum. Archived from the original on 2 September 2010. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
11. "Royal Air Force Servicing commandos 1942 to 1946". The RAF Servicing commando and Tactical Supply Wing Association. Archived from the original on 25 June 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
12. Moreman 2006, pp. 84–85
13. ^ Chappell 1996, p. 48
14. Chappell 1996, p. 14
15. ^ Bijl 2006, p. 24
16. Chappell 1996, p. 6
17. Chappell 1996, p. 30
18. ^ Messenger 2004, p. 15
19. Haining 2004, pp. 118–119
20. Durnford-Slater 2002, p. 32
21. "No. 38331". The London Gazette (Supplement). 22 June 1948. p. 3689.
22. Ladd 1983, p. 41
23. "Biography: Philip Vian". Royal Navy Museum. 2004. Archived from the original on 15 July 2008. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
24. Messenger 1985, p. 58
25. O'Sullivan 2004, pp. 96–97
26. "Operation Deepcut". Commando Veterans Association. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
27. Ladd 1978, p. 31
28. "No. 9 Commando". Commando Veterans Association. Archived from the original on 6 January 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
29. Miocene 2006, p. 182
30. ^ "No. 38342". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 July 1948. p. 3881.
31. ^ Messenger 1985, p. 120
32. Dowding, Taylor: Night Raid, The True Story of the First Victorious British Para Raid of WWII, Page 167
33. Dowding, Taylor: Night Raid, The True Story of the First Victorious British Para Raid of WWII, Page 200
34. Harclerode 2005, p. 218
35. Saunders 2005, p. 82
36. Moreman 2006, p. 66
37. Ford 2001, p. 89
38. Moreman 2006, p. 94
39. Chappell 1996, p. 23
40. Saunders 1959, p. 102
41. Young 1969, p. 122
42. Dunning 2003, pp. 58–63
43. Campbell 1993, p. 128
44. ^ Binney 2006, p. 152
45. Thompson, Julian. "The Dieppe Raid". BBC. Archived from the original on 25 July 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
46. Forty 2005, p. 192
47. Macksey 1990, p. 138
48. "Obituary;Freddie Bourne". London: The Daily Telegraph. 5 March 2002. Archived from the original on 3 July 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2010.
49. "History of No. 2 Commando". Commando Veterans Association. Archived from the original on November 21, 2008. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
50. Messenger 1991, p. 165
51. Saunders 2005, p. XXV
52. Macksey 1990, p. 142
53. "12 Commando". Commando Veterans Association. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 8 June 2010.
54. Macksey 1990, p. 143
55. Otway 1990, p. 72
56. Mears 2004, pp. 85–87
57. ^ Bijl 2006, p. 23
58. Mackenzie 2001, p. 144
59. "Operation Checkmate – Haugesund, Norway". Commando Veterans Association. Archived from the original on 30 September 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
60. ^ Messenger 1985, p. 248
61. Messenger 1985, p. 243
62. Ladd 1978, p. 270
63. ^ Ladd 1978, p. 260
64. Messenger 1985, p. 254
65. Cruickshank 1975, pp. 243 & 244
66. ^ Anderson 2000, p. 23
67. "Colonel George Lane". The Daily Telegraph. London. 26 March 2010. Archived from the original on 23 December 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
68. Naughton, Philippe; Costello, Miles (7 April 2010). "George Lane, wartime commando". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 28 August 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
69. Allen 2003, p. 150

References

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• Military history of the Channel Islands during World War II
• World War II British Commando raids
• Military history of Norway during World War II
• Battles of World War II involving Germany
• Battles of World War II involving France
• Battles of World War II involving Canada
• Military history of Canada during World War II
• World War II-related lists