Shoulder flashes Commando (set)

The British Commandos were formed during the Second World War in June 1940, following a request from the British prime minister, Winston Churchill, for a force 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 would eventually be filled by members of all branches of the United Kingdom's armed forces and a number of foreign volunteers from German-occupied countries.

Reaching a wartime strength of over 30 individual units and four assault brigades, the Commandos served in all theatres of war from the Arctic Circle to Europe and from theMediterranean 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 just the Royal Marines 3 Commando Brigade. However, the present day British Royal Marine Commandos, Parachute Regiment, Special Air Service, and Special Boat Service trace their origins to the original Commandos. The Second World War Commando legacy also extends to mainland Europe and the United States: the French Naval commandos, Dutch Korps Commandotroepen, Belgian Paracommando Brigade and United States Army Rangers were all influenced to some degree by the British Commandos.

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. At the same time there were four Commando units 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.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.

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. After their re-designation a new No. 2 Commando was formed. Other Commandos were grouped together in a larger formation known as Layforce and sent to the Middle East. The Special Air Service and the Special Boat Squadron were formed from the survivors of Layforce.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. 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.

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. 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.

In February 1942 the Royal Marines were tasked to organise Commando units of their own. 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 (Royal Marines) Commando, which was only formed in 1944. In 1943 two other Commando units were formed. The first was the Royal Navy 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.