2 Commando Brigade

At Lake Commachio

The last days of World War II

The Previous page was: "40 Cdo RM"

2 Cdo Bgd Commachio; A few miles north of Ravenna, in a country of lakes whose quiet surfaces reflect the calm of pine woods, lies the lagoon of Lake Commachio.

It is separated from the sea by a narrow spit of land running north towards the Valetta canal from a point close to where the river Reno makes its way between high banks into the Adriatic Sea.

This desolate part of the world, where Garibaldi stumbled ashore with a dying woman in his arms, was to be the scene of one of the strangest battles of the war.

It was fought by the Second Commando Brigade, under the command of Brigadier R. J. F. Todd, D.S.O. No.43 Commando Royal Marines and No.40 Commando Royal Marines who formed half of the Brigade.

The enemy were noted for maintaining one of the most stubborn lines of defences the Allied had come across. Kesselring had held Alexander and his armies at bay for more than a year. To understand the big picture more clearly; all of the stories of these three Commando Units should be read.

40 Cdo RM

Lake Commachio

March 1945 the brigade was ready for another offensive action, this time in the eastern approaches to Ferrara and the valley of Po. They were set the task of capturing the spit of land separating Lake Commachio from the sea.

To the south of the subsidiary canal 'Bellocchio' were the Turkomans, they were unreliable troops, but stiffened by stout German soldiers of the 142nd Fusilier Battalion of the 42nd Jager Division. They were positioned at all of the strong points which the British had given biblical code names.

If the whole British army couldn't break these soldiers then the job had to be difficult. A close study of how the enemy could maintain such positions, their methods of defence would be scrutinised closely, and how previous assaults were carried out, and why they had failed.

Then use the necessary units required to tackle each situation.

No. 2 Cdo was assigned

There had to be a kink in the enemy's armour somewhere? It was just a matter of finding it, and this was what the Commando's had so far; proven to be good at.

No.2 Commando was assigned the task of crossing the lagoon further north and also the Argine, an artificial dyke composed of mud and stakes. It was then to land north of the Bellocchio canal and seize two bridges.

The difficulties, particularly for the Commandos who had to cross the lagoon, were very great. Information about its exact depth and the nature of the bottom was hard to obtain. Local opinions were inclined to dismiss any idea of crossing the lagoon; as far as they were aware it had not been attempted before.

The Pilotage Party, operating in light canoes, were able, despite the enemy's practice of illuminating the lagoon with flares at irregular periods during the night, to make a reasonably comprehensive reconnaissance.

Storm boats to be launched

The southern end of the lake was found to be too shallow for the Storm boats to be launched from the shore; they would therefore have to be hauled some five-hundred yards before they can be floated empty; although their draught in that condition was only nine inches.

Once afloat they would then have to be pushed another thousand yards to reach deeper water for them to be fully loaded, and be paddled several hundred yards further before they reached a depth of water where outboard engines could be fitted and used.

A Storm-boat weighed about three quarters of a ton, and even when empty was a difficult burden for eighteen men. Another seven were required to carry its engines and equipment, and since each man on board would have to carry the usual seventy pound load of personal arms and ammunition, it seemed probable that their operations would be of the most exhausting nature.

No landmarks were viable because everywhere was flat; the engines had no neutral gear or clutch, once running it would only go forward. The engines were difficult to start; a minimum of eighty craft were required; all in all it was quite some problem, but there was no other plausible option.

An assault against his back door

The enemy were manning defences that were facing east towards the Adriatic; it was hoped he might therefore ignore the possibilities of an assault against his back door.

The Storm-boats were brought from the River Uniti to the south bank of the Reno two nights before the operation, and were then lifted into the lake.

On reaching the lake the boats were dragged a thousand yards through six inches of soft mud and slime, to the end of a small natural jetty of earth.

1st April at last light the Commandos put to sea; or rather to mud.

Aircraft droned overhead on their way to Porto Garibaldi. Just before midnight the last marker boats, manned by the Special Boat Service, was placed in position and No.2 Commando advanced.

For hours the men heaved and dragged and pushed unwieldy craft across more than a mile of stinking glutinous mud. By the time they reached deeper water and could be properly floated; the night hours were slipping away.

Modern-day Pages Fast Boats Pages Joe Wezley Pages

Two-hundred yards of slime

Each boat put across the lake, arriving at the Argine dyke without being observed. At this critical time the 'Chinese' attack developed.

They hauled the heavy Storm-boats over a gap in the dyke; they then paddled six-hundred yards to their start point, which was on the edge of another two-hundred yards of slime. Yet they caught the enemy entirely by surprise.

That morning the mist was very heavy, hiding No.2 Commando from view, and saving them from heavy casualties. They struggled forward along the spit and reached Isaiah, it was taken with the aid of a flame thrower and some fire.

The road bridge was blown by the enemy before the attackers could reach it, but a strong point in the neighbourhood was silenced by fire and a flame-thrower; the tally of prisoners began to mount.

The next success was the capture of Peter Bridge by a troop of No.2 Commando which advanced down a narrow front to seize it.

One after another the strong points fell, including the main positions Ezra and Leviticus both on the western edge of the spit.

Driven the enemy from

Three weeks after engaging the enemy No. 2 Commando, 40 and 43 Commando Royal Marines had driven the enemy from the watery flats and dreary levels south west of the town of Argenta.

2nd May 1945 Field-Marshal Kesselring signed the Treaty of unconditional surrender of all his forces in Italy.

The 5th Army drove through the Argenta gap and the war was over.

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2 Cdo Bgde Commachio 40 Commando Commachio

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