The 4th Special Service Brigade was a

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. Br ...

-sized formation of the

British Commandos The Commandos, also known as the British Commandos, were formed during the Second World War in June 1940, following a request from Winston Churchill, for special forces that could carry out raids against German-occupied Europe. Initially drawn ...

formed during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in March 1944 from

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

-sized units of the

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

. Due to the success of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

Commandos' operations in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

, St. Nazaire, and the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

, the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

dissolved the

Royal Marines Division The Royal Marine Brigade and subsequent Royal Marine Division were amphibious warfare units formed by the United Kingdom, British Royal Marines at the start of the World War II, Second World War. The composition of both units was almost const ...

in late 1942 and reorganized its

amphibious assault Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducted ...

infantry into eight additional

Commando Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...

units. The Brigade was part of the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

on 6 June 1944 during

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...

; it subsequently participated in the

Battle of the Scheldt The Battle of the Scheldt in World War II was a series of military operations led by the First Canadian Army, with Polish and British units attached, to open up the shipping route to Antwerp so that its port could be used to supply the Allies ...

and the assault of the Walcheren Islands.Army Commandos 1940-45 By Mike Chappell, p 31 On 6 December the same year, the Brigade was renamed 4th Commando Brigade, removing the title ''Special Service'' and its association with the

German SS The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe duri ...

Formation

*Commander : Brigadier B. W. Leicester ** No. 41 Commando (

(RM)), Lieutenant-Colonel E. C. E. Palmer ** No. 46 Commando (RM), Lieutenant-Colonel C. R. Hardy ** No. 47 Commando (RM), Lieutenant-Colonel C. F. Phillips ** No. 48 Commando (RM), Lieutenant-Colonel J. L. Moulton **

No. 4 Commando No. 4 Commando was a battalion-sized British Army commando unit, formed in 1940 early in the Second World War. Although it was raised to conduct small-scale raids and harass garrisons along the coast of German occupied France, it was mainly emp ...

(

) was attached for the

in place of No. 46 Commando (RM) **

No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando was a commando unit of the British Army during the Second World War, recruited largely from non-British personnel from German-occupied Europe. This unit was used to help co-ordinate attacks with other allied forces ...

, elements of non-British personnel from German-occupied Europe.

Normandy

The plan

The brigade's task was to secure the flanks of the invasion beaches, linking up the British front from the

Orne Orne (; nrf, Ôrne or ) is a département in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne. It had a population of 279,942 in 2019.Port-en-Bessin Port-en-Bessin-Huppain () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. The commune contains the two towns of Port-en-Bessin and Huppain. Population History The name ''Huppain'' stems from Norse ...

and the Americans on

Omaha Beach Omaha Beach was one of five beach landing sectors designated for the amphibious assault component of operation Overlord during the Second World War. On June 6, 1944, the Allies invaded German-occupied France with the Normandy landings. "Omaha" r ...

. The newly raised 46 and 47 Commandos joined 41 Commando and it became apparent to the Allied planners that a fourth Commando unit was needed for the brigade's mission, so in mid-March the remaining men of the Royal Marine Division and other volunteers began training to form No. 48 Commando in time for the invasion. The Brigade was expected to be in combat for at most a week before being returned home. * No 41 Cdo (RM) to land at the far right (west) of

Sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

. * No 46 Cdo (RM) at

Juno Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods *Juno (film), ''Juno'' (film), 2007 Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno'' *Ju ...

to scale the cliffs on the left (east) side of the Orne River estuary and to destroy a battery. * No 47 Cdo (RM) to go to the west flank of

Gold Beach Gold, commonly known as Gold Beach, was the code name for one of the five areas of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during the Second World War. Gold, the central of the five areas, was lo ...

. * No 48 Cdo (RM) to go to Juno beach with the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and the

2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade The 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade was an armoured brigade of the Canadian Army that saw active service during World War II. The brigade was composed of the 6th, 10th and 27th Canadian Armoured regiments and saw service in northwest Europe, landin ...

Sword

No 41 RM Commando was the senior unit in the Brigade, it landed at

Hermanville-sur-Mer Hermanville-sur-Mer () is a Communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados Departments of France, department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy Regions of France, region in northwestern France. Population Sig ...

and then moved west to

Lion-sur-Mer Lion-sur-Mer (, literally ''Lion on Sea'') is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. Geography Lion-sur-Mer is located on the edge of the English Channel, more precisely on the '' Côte de Nacre'' ...

. The unit's first task was to link up with their fellow commandos at

Luc-sur-Mer Luc-sur-Mer (, literally ''Luc on Sea'') is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. Population Sights * The "Maison de la Baleine" created by Jean Chabriac. On January 15, 1885 a 40-ton and 19 me ...

. As the Commando came ashore under moderate fire, it lost several men including their

Regimental Sergeant Major Regimental sergeant major (RSM) is an appointment that may be held by warrant officers class 1 (WO1) in the British Army, the British Royal Marines and in the armies of many other Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, including Australi ...

, the Naval

Forward Observation Officer An artillery observer, artillery spotter or forward observer (FO) is responsible for directing artillery and mortar (weapon), mortar shooting, fire onto a target. It may be a ''forward air controller'' (FAC) for close air support (CAS) and spo ...

and the second-in-command. Once clear of the beach defences it found itself in a relatively quiet sector. From its assembly area, it marched down the coastal road toward Lion-sur-Mer joined by three

Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers (AVRE), also known as Assault Vehicle Royal Engineers is the title given to a series of armoured military engineering vehicles operated by the Royal Engineers (RE) for the purpose of protecting engineers durin ...

(AVRE)s. As P and Y troops approached the town, a well-concealed German PaK 38 gun ambushed the tanks, knocking all three out and stalling the assault. A and B troops had been moving ahead on to their second objective at the Chateau, but were attacked on their approach and forced back. Facing overwhelming defences and artillery, the commandos dug in and awaited reinforcements. At 1330 Hours the 2nd Battalions,

Lincolnshire Regiment The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army raised on 20 June 1685 as the Earl of Bath's Regiment for its first Colonel, John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath. In 1751, it was numbered like most other Army regiments ...

and the 2nd Battalion,

Royal Ulster Rifles The Royal Irish Rifles (became the Royal Ulster Rifles from 1 January 1921) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army, first created in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot and the 86th (Royal County ...

moved up to the commandos' position, bringing with them a replacement Naval Observation Officer. As soon as he arrived, the

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s offshore began a one-hour-long naval bombardment, battering the strong point and chateau. It was now too late for the commandos to launch an effective assault, so they dug-in for the night. When dawn broke the German artillery fire began once again, pinning the commandos and supporting infantry down for another two hours. They were then subject to a bombing attack by German

Heinkel Heinkel Flugzeugwerke () was a German aircraft manufacturing company founded by and named after Ernst Heinkel. It is noted for producing bomber aircraft for the Luftwaffe in World War II and for important contributions to high-speed flight, with ...

bombers which dropped anti-personnel bombs onto their position, killing several men, including their royal artillery observer and severely wounding the commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Gray. Having already lost the second-in-command, Major Barclay, command fell to the

Adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

John Taplin. Under his leadership the Commando joined the Lincolnshire Regiment in the final assault on the strongpoint and chateau. Once the two units had seized the position, 41 Commando moved on alone to Luc-sur-mer. They found the town undefended and dug-in to wait for their colleagues to join them from the Canadian beach.

Juno Beach (48 Commando)

48 Commando were to land at Nan Red sector of Juno Beach with the objective of assaulting the strongpoint at

Langrune-sur-Mer Langrune-sur-Mer (, literally ''Langrune on Sea'') is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europ ...

and then to link-up with 41 Commando, sealing the breach between the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and the British 3rd Infantry Divisions. On their approach to the shore, two of their ships struck underwater obstacles and sank. Weighed down by their equipment, many of the marines drowned in the surf. Those that did get ashore faced intense German small arms fire. The combined effect of these two situations was that only fifty percent of the Commando got off the beach unscathed. Once off the beach, 48 Commando advanced to their objective, the heavily defended guns at Langrune. As they approached, the destroyer HMS ''Vigilant'' bombarded the position, with little effect due to the heavy fortifications. The commandos found the strong-point protected by snipers, mines, machine guns and a concrete wall. They were then joined by two Centaur Support Tanks from the 1st Royal Marine Support Regiment. The first of these tanks moved toward the wall firing its 95mm howitzer and obliterated a machine-gun bunker that had been covering the crossroads. The second Centaur began to move into position, but struck a mine while approaching the wall, forcing the crew to bail out and join the commandos. With the Centaurs out of ammunition or disabled, the attack faltered. B Troop raced across the intersection to a house opposite only to discover that it had been fortified, with the windows and doors facing the strongpoint filled with concrete. The commandos had no choice but to bring down the wall. They set a charge at its base, but the fortification was too strong. The commandos then received news that the

21st Panzer Division The 21st Panzer Division was a German armoured division best known for its role in the battles of the North African Campaign from 1941–1943 during World War II when it was one of the two armoured divisions making up the Deutsches Afrikakorps ...

's counter-attack had already stopped the British advance on

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,716th Infantry Division's positions only to find that they were still manned and situated between the two units of the 4th Special Service Brigade. The next event was the

glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...

assault landing of the

6th Airlanding Brigade 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

of the

6th Airborne Division The 6th Airborne Division was an airborne infantry division of the British Army during the Second World War. Despite its name, the 6th was actually the second of two airborne divisions raised by the British Army during the war, the other being t ...

to the east. Seeing the gliders landing, the German commander feared he would be outflanked and ordered his force to withdraw towards Caen. Had he pushed onward and attacked the commandos, Sword would have been isolated and the entire eastern flank of the Allied invasion may have collapsed. In the morning the commandos were joined by a pair of Canadian

M10 tank destroyer The M10 tank destroyer was an American tank destroyer of World War II. After US entry into World War II and the formation of the Tank Destroyer Force, a suitable vehicle was needed to equip the new battalions. By November 1941, the Army requeste ...

s, which fired anti-tank rounds at the wall; for the next hour the M10s peppered the wall with solid shot and the fortification began to disintegrate. A

Sherman tank } The M4 Sherman, officially Medium Tank, M4, was the most widely used medium tank by the United States and Western Allies in World War II. The M4 Sherman proved to be reliable, relatively cheap to produce, and available in great numbers. It w ...

of the

Royal Marines Armoured Support Group The current Royal Marines Armoured Support Group (RMASG) is an element of the Royal Marines that operates the Viking BvS 10 All Terrain Vehicle. It is based at Bovington in Dorset. The original RMASG was formed in the Second World War to give Bri ...

then appeared and opened fire on the wall and allowed the commandos to launch an assault. Advancing behind the Sherman, covered by its guns, the commandos seized the interior of the strongpoint and spent the rest of the day silencing the remaining pockets of resistance around Langrune.

Juno Beach (46 Commando)

The brigade's reserve element, No. 46 Commando, landed on Juno beach at 0900 on 7 June and advanced on to Petit Enfer. They faced stiff German resistance, but were able to force their way through the German positions and on to Luc-sur-Mer. There they met up with 41 Commando, linking Juno and Sword.

Gold Beach

No. 47 Commando was the last British unit to land and came ashore on Gold Beach east of Le Hamel. Their task was to go inland then turn right (west) and make a twelve-mile (19.3 km) march through enemy territory to attack Port en Bessin from the rear. This small harbour, on the British far right, was well sheltered in the chalk cliffs and significant in that it was to be a prime means of supplies being brought in, including fuel by underwater pipe-line from tankers moored offshore. On 47's approach they could see the preceding units were struggling. Due to intense fire, the

Hampshire Regiment The Hampshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot and the 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot. The regi ...

had landed one and a half miles further to the east than originally planned.
Ordered to avoid contact with the enemy and advance on Port en Bessin, the commanding officer, Lt. Col. Phillips, ordered his

LCAs Link Capacity Adjustment Scheme or LCAS is a method to dynamically increase or decrease the bandwidth of virtual concatenated containers. The LCAS protocol is specified in ITU-T The ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) is one of ...

to approach the beach behind the Hampshires near Les Roquettes. The commandos landed under intense fire, five of their craft being sunk before reaching the shore and almost all the others were damaged, resulting in five officers, (including Lt. Col. Phillips, swimming to shore late in the day), 71 other ranks were reported missing. Unable to locate Phillips, the second-in-command, Major P.M. Donnell led his men off the beach and turned inland to avoid engaging the enemy. Behind the lines, the commando moved quickly to Buhot where Phillips rejoined it after his long swim. For the next several hours the Commando pushed steadily on, occasionally encountering snipers and small units of unsuspecting rear guards from whom they captured several "spandau" (

MG-34 The MG 34 (shortened from German: ''Maschinengewehr 34'', or "machine gun 34") is a Nazi Germany, German recoil-operated air-cooled general-purpose machine gun, first tested in 1929, introduced in 1934, and issued to units in 1936. It introduced ...

machine guns) and other small arms. As dusk descended upon the Commando they reached Point 72, the highest point on a ridge near Escures, which they discovered was undefended. They dug-in for the night and prepared for the attack on Port-en-Bessin at dawn. Originally the attack on Port-en-Bessin was planned to be supported by American artillery, but having no working radio made this coordination impossible. The arrival of two French civilians, a replacement Forward Observation Officer and a

Gendarme Wrong info! --> A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to "Man-at-arms, men-at-arms" ...

named Gouget, assisted the planned assault. The two civilians identified the German positions and the artillery officer repaired the unit's wireless set, allowing him to contact the navy ships off-shore.
At 1400 hours two Landing Craft Gun (Large), "LCG(L)", opened fire on the port and were joined by HMS ''Emerald'''s six-inch (152 mm) main armament an hour later. By 1600 hours the city was hit by

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

Hawker Typhoon The Hawker Typhoon is a British single-seat fighter-bomber, produced by Hawker Aircraft. It was intended to be a medium-high altitude interceptor, as a replacement for the Hawker Hurricane, but several design problems were encountered and i ...

air strikes and the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

bombarded the area with smoke in preparation for the commando's assault. Gouget guided A and B troops through ditches surrounding the town, past the outer ring of gunpits, while X Troop fixed bayonets and charged the machine-gun nests, quickly taking the positions. Once the outer ring of defences had been breached, A Troop advanced on the western feature, but were repelled when two ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

Flak Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

'' ships, that had moved into the port on 5 June, opened fire on the men with their rapid fire cannons.
B Troop also launched an assault on the town itself, but were pinned down by a pillbox on the heights and machine-gun positions in houses throughout the village. Philips next ordered his men to launch an assault on the ''Flak'' ships, but were repelled once again. Seeing their problem, the captains of HMS ''Ursa'' and the Polish ship ORP ''Krakowiak'' approached the port, but were unable to open fire on the ''Flak'' ships, which were behind the port's concrete and stone breakwater. The navy then formed boarding parties and launched their motorboats, which crossed the harbour net and attacked the German vessels. With the ''Flak'' ships silenced, B and Heavy weapons troops made their way up the eastern feature and assaulted the German blockhouse, forcing the defenders to surrender. Sporadic fighting continued on until dawn of 8 June when the remaining defenders on the western feature surrendered. On 9 June ''

PLUTO Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the S ...

'' (Pipe Line Under the Ocean) he fuel pipe arrived in the form of an army port company and the petrol started to flow, supplying Allied vehicles across the Normandy front.

Douvre radar station

After being rested and reinforced, the Brigade less 41 Commando moved south to the

Douvres-la-Délivrande Douvres-la-Délivrande () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. The name was simply Douvres until 1961, when it was expanded to refer to the basilica Notre-Dame de la Délivrande ("Our Lady of Del ...

Radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

Station. This fortified position was the primary

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

radar station in the area. It was covered with gun pits, minefields, tunnels, bunkers, five 5 cm anti-tank guns, a 7.5 cm field gun and a ring of barbed wire in height. The Brigade was to isolate the station which would allow other Allied forces to pass by and advance on Caen. After securing the perimeter, 46, 47 and 48 Commandos were sent to support the Canadians and Airborne divisions while 41 Commando stayed behind. For the next week, the commandos continued to harass the strongpoint with occasional mortar fire, Typhoon strikes and volleys from two attached Royal Marine Support Group (RMASG) Centaurs. Although the site did not actively threaten Allied movements in the area, it did provide radar-ranging information for Luftwaffe night fighters and constantly reported on British movements. On 17 June the assault began with a bombardment from the Royal Artillery's guns and ships off-shore. Under their new commander, Lt. Col Palmer, 41 Commando and forty-four armoured engineering vehicles attacked from the north while other tanks created a diversion from the southwest. Sherman Crabs (a mine-clearing tank), cleared the way through the minefields while the AVREs battered the bunkers with their guns. The effect of such fire was devastating on the German defenders. When the commandos entered the entrenchment and opened fire, it was clear that the station could no longer be defended. The two hundred and twenty seven remaining Luftwaffe force surrendered and the last of the 4th Special Service Brigade's D-Day objectives was finally achieved.

6th Airborne Division

The Brigade less No 41 Commando moved to the

Orne River The Orne () is a river in Normandy, within northwestern France. It is long. It discharges into the English Channel at the port of Ouistreham. Its source is in Aunou-sur-Orne, east of Sées. Its main tributaries are the Odon and the Rouvre. The ...

, where they joined 1st Special Service Brigade and the 6th Airborne Division, under the command of Major General Richard 'Windy' Gale. The Brigade would remain in the Orne area until mid-August while the

British Second Army The British Second Army was a field army active during the First and Second World Wars. During the First World War the army was active on the Western Front throughout most of the war and later active in Italy. During the Second World War the army ...

launched a series of assaults on Caen. In mid-August, following the capture of Caen, General Gale's forces broke out of their positions and launched a major offensive. Before sunrise on 20 August, 46 Commando launched an attack on the heights above Putot and the commandos seized the position overlooking the entire

Dozulé Dozulé () is a Communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados Departments of France, department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy Regions of France, region in northern France. Population The apparitions an ...

area. For the remainder of the day, 48 Commando pushed through the

bocage Bocage (, ) is a terrain of mixed woodland and pasture characteristic of parts of Northern France, Southern England, Ireland, the Netherlands and Northern Germany, in regions where pastoral farming is the dominant land use. ''Bocage'' may als ...

, without support, to Point 134 and Point 120 followed by 41 Commando. This location nearly cut the Germans escape route from the town; realizing that they had been out-flanked, they set the village ablaze and withdrew. With Dozulé captured the Commandos pushed on through

Beuzeville Beuzeville () is a commune in the north-western part of the department of Eure in the Normandy region in northern France. Located on the Lieuvin plateau, it is adjacent to the communes of Pont-l'Évêque, Honfleur and Deauville. Beuzeville i ...

to the Risle River. On many occasions the commandos and airborne troops would arrive in a village less than hour after the Germans had made a hasty withdrawal. Following the capture of

Pont-Audemer Pont-Audemer () is a commune in the Eure department in the Normandy region in northern France.49th (West Riding) Infantry Division The 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army. The division fought in the First World War in the trenches of the Western Front, in the fields of France and Flanders. During the Second World War, the divis ...

and returned to England. Leaving behind the 4th Special Service Brigade, which remained in the area for several weeks, clearing pockets of resistance between the

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

and Valmont, they then took up the role of garrison troops in and around the shattered city of

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

before finally moving up to positions near

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.De Haan, Belgium De Haan (; french: Le Coq, ; vls, D'n Oane; literally ''The Rooster'') is a place and a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the villages of De Haan proper, Wenduine, Klemskerke, Vlissegem and ...

. It then prepared for another amphibious assault, on the Dutch island of

Walcheren Walcheren () is a region and former island in the Dutch province of Zeeland at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. It lies between the Eastern Scheldt in the north and the Western Scheldt in the south and is roughly the shape of a rhombus. The two ...

. The island lay at the mouth of the

Scheldt River The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to ...

, which ran from

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

to the sea. Until the island and the northern banks of the river were cleared, the port could not be used to support the Allied advance. Allied bombers breached the dykes on 3 October at Westkapelle,

Flushing Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushing ...

and

Veere Veere (; zea, label=Zeelandic, Ter Veere) is a municipality with a population of 22,000 and a town with a population of 1,500 in the southwestern Netherlands, in the region of Walcheren in the province of Zeeland. History The name ''Veere'' ...

, flooding the island, leaving only a few dry areas around its perimeter and greatly restricting the Germans' freedom of movement. The 4th Special Service Brigade formed the seaborne element of the attack while British and Canadian infantry attacked overland from the mainland. This time the commandos came ashore in

Landing Vehicle Tracked The Amphibious Vehicle, Tracked (LVT) is an amphibious warfare vehicle and amphibious landing craft, introduced by the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. (The USN and USMC use "L" to designate Amphibious vessels, also c ...

, (also known as Buffaloes), which had already proven their worth in the Pacific campaign. 41 Commando was tasked with assaulting the town of Westkapelle and then to move north along the causeway to

Domburg Domburg is a seaside resort on the North Sea, on the northwest coast of Walcheren in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Veere, and lies about 11 km northwest of the city of Middelburg, the provincial capital. ...

. Just to their south, 48 Commando took on a radar station and naval gun battery, while 47 completed the encirclement of the western part of the island by moving south towards Flushing. The brigade would spend the rest of the war making raids across the

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...

(''Maas'') in Operations Incalculable and

Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart (; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American film and stage actor. His performances in Classical Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film Ins ...

. After occupation duties in Germany, the Brigade returned to the United Kingdom in 1946 and was disbanded.

Battle honours

The following

Battle honour A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In European military t ...

s were awarded to the British Commandos during the Second World War:Moreman, p.94 *

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...

* Alethangyaw *

Plunder Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...

(crossing the Aller) *

Anzio Anzio (, also , ) is a town and ''comune'' on the coast of the Lazio region of Italy, about south of Rome. Well known for its seaside harbour setting, it is a Port, fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine I ...

* Argenta Gap * Burma 1943–45 *

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

Dieppe Dieppe (; Norman: ''Dgieppe'') is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newha ...

* Dives Crossing * Djebel Choucha *

* Greece 1944–45 *

Italy 1943–45 Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Kangaw The Battle of Hill 170 was a battle between the British 3rd Commando Brigade and the Japanese 54th Division during the Second World War. The battle was fought in January 1945, as part of the Burma Campaign. The 3rd Commando Brigade were give ...

* Landing at Porto San Venere *

Landing in Sicily Landing is the last part of a flight, where a flying animal, aircraft, or spacecraft returns to the ground. When the flying object returns to water, the process is called alighting, although it is commonly called "landing", "touchdown" or ...

* Leese *

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

* Middle East 1941, 1942, 1944 * Monte Ornito *

Myebon Myebon ( my, မြေပုံမြို့ Myebon Township) is a town of Mrauk-U District in Rakhine State, Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ eve ...

Normandy Landing The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

* North Africa 1941–43 * North-West Europe 1942, 1944–45 * Norway 1941 * Pursuit to Messina *

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

* St. Nazaire *

Salerno Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...

* Sedjenane 1 *

Sicily 1943 (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

* Steamroller Farm *

Syria 1941 Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

Termoli Termoli (Neapolitan language, Molisano: ''Térmëlë'') is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south Adriatic coast of Italy, in the province of Campobasso, region of Molise. It has a population of around 32,000, having expanded quickly af ...

* Vaagso *

Valli di Comacchio The Valli di Comacchio, meaning "fish basins of Comacchio", are a series of contiguous brackish lagoons situated to the south of Comacchio, close to the Adriatic coast of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. They lie within the comuni of ...

* Westkapelle

References

{{British Commando units of the Second World War, state=collapsed 4 Special Service 1944 establishments in the United Kingdom 1946 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Military units and formations established in 1944 Military units and formations disestablished in 1946