Raids of the Commandos

The previous page was: "Logistic Regiment"

Dudley Clarke's conception of the Commandos was; a small raids force, to carry out Commando raids. Selecting a small number of hand picked men who were prepared to do work of a very hazardous nature.

The object of maintaining the offensive spirit of the Nation; which had already undergone a significant change. The blow dealt by Hitler on the west of the Continent had the whole world looking at Great Britain.

What could they do against such might?

Would history repeat itself; like the "Great Armada" that they were once confronted with? Would that same creed of people once more say.

"What we have done once we can do again."

There can only be one answer; "Yes."

The brainchild he developed grew very rapidly, and at one moment it appeared that it might possibly outgrow its strength.

The descent on Vaago, the raid on St. Nazaire, and the action against the batteries of Dieppe, proved that the Commando idea was abnormally healthy and vigorous for its age.

With experience the fighting Commandos progressed into something uniquely speacial.

Logistic Regiment

Volunteers every one of them

When the idea was first conceived, the Army asked for volunteers to put their names down for Commando training. The thought was taken onboard by soldiers from nearly every unit in the British Army.

Only the finest men from each unit were chosen for the rigourous training that was planned, the fittest, the strongest, the best men everywhere went forward to follow the Commando notion through.

At first Commanding Officers recommended outstanding people who had excelled through training and were going rapidly through the ranks and gaining promotion quickly.

They all realised their mistakes; no commanding officer wants to lose their best men; obviously they want to keep them in their Unit.

When the Commandos carried out their raids and the men they lost needed replacing, the Commanding Officers no longer put their best men forward, but those who did not tow the line went on to be Commandos instead.

This is not to say the quality of the Commando dropped; for it did not. It meant that the Army had a hard job fulfilling vacancies for Commandos whenever they arose because of the men lost in action. The commanding officers tried to keep as meny good men back as possible.

This problem never arose in the Royal Marines, whenever volunteers were wanted for whatever reason, they were selected for whatever duty required their services. This was possible because they had already volunteered, they would happily carry-out whatever they were expected to do.

Shortly before D-Day Montgomery declared that he needed another Commando Unit to complete his set-up of eight, for the Invasion of Europe.

The Army was already struggling for replacements and could not do it in the time required for "Operation Overlord." So No.48 Commando Royal Marines, was formed and ready and went into action on schedule.

Operation Frankton

the Special Air Squadron

Other units like the Special Air Squadron which had formed in North Africa. They were a self contained group whose tasks were also clandestine.

Their operations of long range reconnaissance patrols behind enemy lines, sabotaging wherever they could get away with it while gathering intelligence, were becoming prominent.

There were also the long range desert groups that sought out targets where they could carry out a hit by surprise, then make a hasty getaway to fight another day.

They too were proving to be very effective at causing serious damage and demoralising the enemy.

Together these units made up the Army's Special Raiding Forces.

Dudley Clarke's conception

These type of small raids had been carried out by Royal Marines all over the globe for hundreds of years. They had Special Boats Service, and Special Service Units already in existance; they were essentially Commandos in nature but not in name.

But like the Army their Commandos were born of Dudley Clarke's conception. His idea of extra fitness and special skills were the addition that made them all that much better.

The Royal Marines had the added advantage of units such as the Boom Patrols, and the Special Boats Squadrons to pick highly trained soldiers from. And they had Royal Marines who were signed-up volunteers for dangerous service.

After Dunkirk, the British Army was depleted. But the Royal Navy was far from that, they were the biggest and strongest Navy in the world.

Her Regiment of the Seas the Royal Marines Brigades were the only equipped formations of its size ready to defend the coasts of Great Britain.

They had been held in reserve to protect the United Kingdom, The Royal Marines were Britains last line of defence.

The first British Commandos?

In October 1939 it was decided to form the first Royal Marine Special Services Brigades. They were entirely recruited for Hostilities Only.

In effect other than name they were the first British Commandos to be trained for that task a task they had done from warships and from land.

The service was designed to be an amphibious unit at the disposal of the Joint Chief of Staff Sub-Committee, for any use he sees fit to use it.

The function of the Brigades was thus appropriate to the Corps and different from the Royal Marines landing parties, only in strength and was designed to operate from a land base instead of ships.

As Lord Mount Batten of Burma said: "Above all the Royal Marines who by virtue of their sailor-soldier training, they are eminently suited for the roll of the Commandos."

Modern-day Pages Fast Boats Pages Joe Wezley Pages

Slaughter to the last man all

The longer the war progressed, the larger the operations of the Commando would become. Nevertheless, the small raids for which they had originally been created for, were as necessary as ever, to ensure their execution, not only were detachments of Commandos used, but also a number of highly trained soldiers of the likes of the Royal Marines.

In their brief history the Commandos had already acquired no small fame.

On 10th October 1942, Herr Adolf Hitler issued a Highly Secret Order, subsequently produced at the Nuremburg trial of "War Criminals," enjoining all his subordinate commanders to: "Slaughter to the last man; all those who take part in Commando engagements."

When this injuction, born of savage fear, became known, those whom it cocerned were filled with legitimate pride.

The order is of some significance; it was a tacit admission that the Commamdos possessed the power to do real hurt to Germany, and that the Commandos were using it with ever-increasing skill.

Today the Commando name lives on with the Royal Marines being Britain's only recognised Commando Units. These courageuos troops are still taking the fight to the enemy; entering into the very centre of the heartlands of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The Commando fights by stealth and guile when the situation allows. When it does not they are still keen to fight face to face; for they fear no enemy, something the enemy cannot boast.

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Raids Bravery

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