No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando was a
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 ...
unit of the
British Army during the Second World War
At the start of 1939, the British Army was, as it traditionally always had been, a small volunteer professional army. At the beginning of the Second World War on 1 September 1939, the British Army was small in comparison with those of its enem ...
, recruited largely from non-British personnel from
German-occupied Europe. This unit was used to help co-ordinate attacks with other allied forces.
The unit's origins were in a British volunteer unit proposed in August 1940 which recruited from
Northern Command. A low number of recruits, however, meant that the unit was disbanded and the volunteers returned to their units. In July 1942, the unit was raised again as a multinational force, recruiting volunteers from German-occupied Europe and
enemy alien
In customary international law, an enemy alien is any native, citizen, denizen or subject of any foreign nation or government with which a domestic nation or government is in conflict and who is liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured and ...
s. It included volunteers from France, Belgium, the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
,
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 the ...
,
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark
, establish ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
and
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
, organised into independent sub-units known as "troops".
Units from No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando served in North-West Europe, the Mediterranean, Scandinavia and Burma, mostly in small numbers attached to other military formations. By the end of the war, No. 10 Commando had become the largest commando formation in 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 ...
.
Background
![Kieffer philippe](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Kieffer_philippe.jpg)
"
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 were first created in 1940, by order of the British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
, as small highly trained units which would "develop a reign of terror down the enemy coast". At first they were a small force of volunteers who carried out small raids against enemy-occupied territory, but by 1943 their role had changed into lightly equipped assault
infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...
specialised in spearheading
amphibious landings
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 conducte ...
.
The man selected as the overall commander of the force was Admiral Sir
Roger Keyes
Admiral of the Fleet Roger John Brownlow Keyes, 1st Baron Keyes, (4 October 1872 – 26 December 1945) was a British naval officer.
As a junior officer he served in a corvette operating from Zanzibar on slavery suppression missions. Ea ...
, himself a veteran of the
landings at Galipoli and the
Zeebrugge raid
The Zeebrugge Raid ( nl, Aanval op de haven van Zeebrugge;
) on 23 April 1918, was an attempt by the Royal Navy to block the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge. The British intended to sink obsolete ships in the canal entrance, to prevent Germ ...
of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. By March 1941 there were 11
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 a ...
-sized units now called commandos. Each commando would consist of around 390 men in a small headquarters and six "
troop
A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Tr ...
s" of three officers and 62 men each.
The idea for a foreign commando unit came from a junior French naval officer,
Philippe Kieffer
Philippe Kieffer (24 October 1899 – 20 November 1962), '' capitaine de frégate'' in the French Navy, was a French officer and political personality, and a hero of the Free French Forces.
Life and career
Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to a ...
, after he heard of the successful
Lofoten raid
Operation Claymore was a British commando raid on the Norwegian Lofoten Islands during the Second World War. The Lofoten Islands were an important centre for the production of fish oil and glycerine, used in the German war economy. The landings ...
. The idea was eventually put to the then
Chief of Combined Operations, Admiral Lord
Louis Mountbatten who could see the value of a foreign commando unit but insisted it should include volunteers from all the occupied territories. It falls under the command of
1st Special Service Brigade
The 1st Special Service Brigade was a commando brigade of the British Army. Formed during the Second World War, it consisted of elements of the British Army (including British Commandos) and the Royal Marines. The brigade's component units saw a ...
.
Formation
![Komando](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Komando.jpg)
No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando under the command of
Lieutenant Colonel Dudley Lister was formed on 2 July 1942. The men of the new commando were all foreigners except for the British headquarters.
Headquarters consisted of a British
Commanding Officer, second in command, adjutant, intelligence officer and NCO, medical officer and medical orderlies, signals officer and signals section, training officer,
quartermaster
Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions. In ...
, administration officer and drivers.
[ The formation of No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando meant that by the end of the war it was the largest commando unit in the British Army.] Like all British Commandos the men of No. 10 (Inter Allied) Commando went through the six-week intensive commando course at Achnacarry
Achnacarry ( gd, Achadh na Cairidh) is a hamlet, private estate, and a castle in the Lochaber region of the Highlands, Scotland. It occupies a strategic position on an isthmus between Loch Lochy to the east, and Loch Arkaig to the west.
Ac ...
. The course in the Scottish Highlands concentrated on fitness, speed marches, weapons training, map reading, climbing, small boat operations and demolitions both by day and by night. In May 1943 the commando moved to Eastbourne
Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...
on the Sussex coast where they carried out specialist training which unusually for a non parachute unit included parachute training at No.1 Parachute Training School RAF
The Airborne Delivery Wing is a Royal Air Force training unit that provides parachute training to all three British Armed Forces. It is based at RAF Brize Norton. in Oxfordshire.
It was formed at RAF Ringway, now Manchester Airport, on 21 June ...
, Ringway near Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
(over 80% of the Polish troop were parachute qualified) and they also trained in mountain climbing and Arctic warfare.[van der Bijl, p.11] At the same time as the move to Eastbourne the commando got a new commanding officer when Lieutenant Colonel Peter Laycock took over command on 15 May.[van der Bijl, p.25]
No. 1 (French) Troop
No. 1 Troop was formed in April 1942 By Philppe Kieffer, from an intake of 40 Frenchmen, who were initially called 1re Compagnie de Fusiliers Marins (1st Company of Naval Rifles). Over time the Unit grew up to a second troop (see below, Troop 8) and a half Troop (K-GUN). The unit retained its links with the Free French Forces
__NOTOC__
The French Liberation Army (french: Armée française de la Libération or AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (french: Forces françaises libres, l ...
wearing FNFL
The Free French Naval Forces (french: Forces Navales Françaises Libres, or FNFL) were the naval arm of the Free French Forces during the Second World War. They were commanded by Admiral Émile Muselier.
History
In the wake of the Armistice a ...
insignia and headgear.[van der Bijl, p.5] Troop 1, Troop 8 and K-Gun were attached to No 4 Commando for Overlord opération and the Netherlands campaign.
No. 2 (Dutch) Troop
Free Dutch Forces
No. 2 Troop consisted of 62 men under command of Captain Mulders. The troop formed in June 1942 was always below establishment and never deployed as a complete independent unit. The men acted as liaison officers, guides and interpreters during operations Market Garden
A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under to ...
, Infatuate I and II.
About 48 men from the Royal Brigade "Princess Irene" started on 22 March 1942 with preliminary training at No 3, No 4, No 9 and No 12 Commando. In May 1942, the group met at the Commando Basic Training Centre in Achnacarry
Achnacarry ( gd, Achadh na Cairidh) is a hamlet, private estate, and a castle in the Lochaber region of the Highlands, Scotland. It occupies a strategic position on an isthmus between Loch Lochy to the east, and Loch Arkaig to the west.
Ac ...
, Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
, for command training. Ultimately, of those 48 men, 25 received the green beret. No. 2 Dutch Troop was part of No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando. June 29, 1942, the graduates left Achnacarry and moved on to RAF Dundonald
Royal Air Force Dundonald or more simply RAF Dundonald is a former Royal Air Force station located in South Ayrshire, Scotland, three miles north-east from the coastal town of Troon.
During its brief existence during the Second World War the ai ...
at Troon
Troon is a town in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport.
Troon has a port with freight services and a yacht marina. Up until January 2016, P&O ope ...
on the Scottish west coast for commando air support and assault troop training. It was here the foundations were laid for the post-war Dutch commando unit. From Troon they went to the new port of Portmadoc
Porthmadog (; ), originally Portmadoc until 1974 and locally as "Port", is a Welsh coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd and the historic county of Caernarfonshire. It lies east of Criccieth, south-west of Blaenau Ffesti ...
in North Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
, where they were included as N0 2 (Dutch) Troop in No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando. Several members of the Brigade “Princess Irene” then followed the commando training to supplement No 2 Dutch Troop. In May 1943 the strength of No 2 Dutch Troop was five officers, 12 NCOs and 67 corporals and men. In 1943 No. 2 (Dutch) Troop was assigned to be deployed in the Far East against the Japanese. Only five Dutchmen were deployed from India, partly with No 44 (Royal Marine) Commando and partly with No 5 Commando, behind enemy lines in Araan, Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
.
After the war, members of No. 2 Dutch troop served in Depot Speciale Troepen (DST) after former in Korps Speciale Troepen
(KST; 'Special Forces Corps') was a Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) special forces unit that was established for deployment against the Indonesian revolutionaries during the Indonesian National Revolution. It was formed in 1948 with ...
(KST) (1945–1950); after that it formed the Korps Commandotroepen
The (KCT) ( en, Commando Corps) is the elite special forces unit of the Royal Netherlands Army. The KCT traces its origins to the Second World War with the founding of No. 2 (Dutch) Troop, and the founding of the during the Indonesian War of ...
.
No. 3 Troop ("X" Troop)
No. 3 Troop, perhaps better known as "X" Troop, was possibly the strangest unit in the British Army, since it consisted mostly of personnel who were technically enemy alien
In customary international law, an enemy alien is any native, citizen, denizen or subject of any foreign nation or government with which a domestic nation or government is in conflict and who is liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured and ...
s – German and Austrian Jews – under the command of Captain Bryan Hilton-Jones. However, its first members, in July 1942, were eight men from Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
. The troop was also known as the "English Troop", "Jewish Troop" or "British Troop", and was officially renamed the "Miscellaneous Troop" in 1944.
Most members of the troop were Jews of German, Austrian or Eastern European origins. Other members were German political refugees, or members of other religious minorities persecuted by the Nazis in Germany.[van der Bijl, p.5] At least one member had been imprisoned in Dachau and Buchenwald concentration camps.
All members of the troop adopted British names and false personal histories. A total of 130 men served in X Troop; they never fought as a complete unit but provided valuable service to other formations as interpreters and interrogators. The troop lost 21 men killed and 22 wounded.
James Leasor
James Leasor (20 December 1923 – 10 September 2007) was a prolific British author, who wrote historical books and thrillers. A number of Leasor's works were made into films, including his 1978 book, ''Boarding Party'', about an incident from ...
first revealed the existence of X-Troop in 1980 in his book, ''The Unknown Warrior'',. Leasor had heard the story about the unit from Colonel Sir Ronald Wingate and had it confirmed by Admiral Earl Mountbatten of Burma
Earl Mountbatten of Burma is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 28 October 1947 for Rear Admiral Louis Mountbatten, 1st Viscount Mountbatten of Burma. The letters patent creating the title specified the following r ...
, who suggested that he write the book. Many of the members of the troop were still alive at the time of writing and so the author was able to carry out interviews with them and others involved, as acknowledged in the book. However many still wished to remain anonymous, fearing retribution for what they did, even though it was 35 years after the end of the war. The book tells the true story of "X" Troop commando Stephen Rigby, a.k.a. Stefan Rosenberg and "Nimrod", a German Jew by birth. He is chosen for a secret and dangerous part in the deception plans to persuade the Germans that the D-Day invasion would take place near Calais and not in Normandy. His secret mission saw him dropped in France, pursued by both the Resistance and the Germans, and eventually briefing in person first Rommel and then Hitler before escaping to return to British forces.
Leah Garrett's history of X Troop, published in 2021, found a previously classified report about X Troop's part in the disastrous and unsuccessful Dieppe raid of 19 August 1942. Five X Troop members, all Sudeten Germans, were ordered to enter the German HQ and "pick up all documents, etc of value, including, if possible, a new German respirator” with the inference that 'respirator' referred to the Enigma cypher machine. It has been suggested that the whole large military operation was cover for the objective of securing Enigma materials.
No. 4 (Belgian) Troop
No. 4 Troop was formed on 7 August 1942, by seven officers and 100 men from the 1st Independent Belgian Brigade under the command of Captain Georges Danloy. As Belgium had surrendered in 1940, the Belgian forces serving with the Allies risked facing charges of treason on their return; the charges were only annulled in 1948.[van der Bijl, p.8]
After the war, the Belgian troop formed the core of the newly created 2nd Commando Battalion.
No. 5 (Norwegian) Troop
No. 5 Troop was formed in August 1942 under command Captain Rolv Hauge, the men of the troop came from refugees brought back to Britain after commando raids and sailors stranded abroad after the German invasion of 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 the ...
.[
]
No. 6 (Polish) Troop
No. 6 Troop was first formed in August 1942 as the 1st Independent Commando Company. It was integrated into No. 10 Commando in October 1942. Commanded by Captain Smrokowski it comprised seven officers and 84 men. These men were sometimes approached to join personally.
No. 7 (Mediterranean) Troop
No 7 Troop was formed in May 1943 after a need was identified for Italian speakers. The commander was Captain Coates but difficulties finding Italian speakers in the British Army led to the Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...
offering Italian-speaking Slovenes from the Royal Yugoslavian Army. The troop only numbered two officers and 20 men and it was renamed No. 7 Yugoslavian Troop.[
]
No. 8 (French) Troop
No. 8 Troop was formed in 1943 from 45 men of the disbanded 2nd Naval Infantry Battalion which had been stationed in the Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
and men who had been interned and released in Spain. The two French troops were combined under command of Kieffer and called the ''1er Battaillon de Fusiliers Marins Commandos'' ("1st Naval Rifles Commando Battalion").[ The troop commander, Captain Charles Trepel, was killed in action with five of his men in a recce on the Dutch coasts on 28 February 1944.
]
Operations
The men from No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando were usually attached to other units who used their knowledge of the area of operations and the language to their advantage as interpreters and interrogators.
1942
The first action men from the Commando took part in was the Raid on Dieppe (Operation Jubilee
Operation Jubilee or the Dieppe Raid (19 August 1942) was an Allied amphibious attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe in northern France, during the Second World War. Over 6,050 infantry, predominantly Canadian, supported by a regime ...
) on 19 August 1942.[Moreman, p.22] Men from No. 3 ("British") Troop were tasked with gathering German documents from the town hall and distribute French Franc
The franc (, ; sign: F or Fr), also commonly distinguished as the (FF), was a currency of France. Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money. It w ...
s to the local French resistance
The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...
. The No. 1 (French) Troop were attached to No.3 and No. 4 Commando, to act as interpreters, gather information, and also to persuade Frenchmen to return with them and enlist in the Free French
Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...
forces.[van der Bijl, p.13] The men attached to No. 4 Commando assisted them in the capture of the Hess gun battery.
Most of the men from No. 3 Commando were captured during the landings. The men from No. 10 Commando / No. 3 Troop had one killed and two captured and never heard of again.[ Among the Frenchmen of No. 10 Commando / No. 7 Troop captured were ]Sergeant Major
Sergeant major is a senior non-commissioned rank or appointment in many militaries around the world.
History
In 16th century Spain, the ("sergeant major") was a general officer. He commanded an army's infantry, and ranked about third in th ...
Montailleur and Corporal
Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...
Cesar. Montaillaur was executed under the Commando Order issued by Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
, but Cesar managed to persuade the Germans he was a French Canadian and eventually escaped and returned to England.
1943
In early 1943, No. 5 Norwegian Troop worked with No. 12 and No. 14 Commando raiding the Norwegian coast from their base in Lerwick in the Shetland Islands[ and No. 3 Troop were involved in the ]Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
landings (Operation Husky
Operation or Operations may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity
* Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory
* ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...
) attached to No. 40 (Royal Marine) Commando and No. 41 (Royal Marine) Commando and later the landings on mainland Italy.
Starting in July a series of raids were carried out, by men from the two French troops and No. 3 Troop, on the French and Low Countries
The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...
coastlines. These raids under the code names of Operation Forfar
Operation Forfar was the name given to a series of British Commando raids on the French coast during World War II. The raids were part of Operation Starkey, a military deception intended to draw out the Luftwaffe. The purpose of these raids was ...
, Operation Hardtack and Operation Tarbrush were for beach reconnaissance, for the purpose of bringing back photographs and examples of mines and obstacles that had been laid. In one of these raids Hungarian born Lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...
George Lane (real name Gyuri Lányi) was captured and taken to see Field Marshal Erwin Rommel to be questioned, Lane believed he was not executed under the Commando Order because of his meeting with Rommel. In total 12 men were reported missing during the Hardtack raids and only five were later accounted for.[ The commando also took over responsibility for small scale parachute operations together with 4 (PARA) Troop, No. 12 Commando in September.][van der Bijl, p.24]
In November No. 4 Belgian and No. 6 Polish Troops joined the 2nd Special Service Brigade
The 2nd Special Service Brigade was formed in late 1943 in the Middle East and saw service in Italy, the Adriatic, the landings at Anzio and took part in operations in Yugoslavia.Army Commandos 1940–45 By Mike Chappell, p 31
On 6 December 1944 th ...
in Italy.[van der Bijl, p.19] Notably the Poles captured a German-occupied village alone when the 2/6th Battalion Queen's Regiment
The Queen's Regiment (QUEENS) was an infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1966 through the amalgamation of the four regiments of the Home Counties Brigade. Then, until 1971 the regiment remained one of the largest regiments in the ar ...
failed to reach a rendezvous on time. Later in the year No. 2 Dutch Troop was sent to the Far East to work with No. 44 (Royal Marine) Commando and No. 5 Commando behind the Japanese lines in the Arakan in Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
.
1944
In January 1944 the Belgian No. 4 Troop and the Yugoslav No. 7 Troop attached to the 2nd Special Service Brigade were sent to the Adriatic to assist the Yugoslav Partisans
The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод ...
. Political differences in the Yugoslav troop and hostility from the partisans led to its disbandment. No. 4 Troop then worked with the Vis Motor Gun Boat
The motor gun boat (MGB) was a small, high-speed British military vessel of the Second World War, which was armed with a mix of guns, in contrast to the physically similar motor torpedo boat (MTB), whose main offensive weapon were torpedoes. ...
flotilla boarding enemy shipping.[ In April 1944, the commando lost No. 6 Polish Troop which was transferred to the ]II Polish Corps
The Polish II Corps ( pl, Drugi Korpus Wojska Polskiego), 1943–1947, was a major tactical and operational unit of the Polish Armed Forces in the West during World War II. It was commanded by Lieutenant General Władysław Anders and fought wit ...
and later took part in the Polish assault on Monte Cassino
Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Latin Valley, Italy, west of Cassino and at an elevation of . Site of the Roman town of Casinum, it is widely known for its abbey, the first ho ...
.[
By the time of the D-Day landings the commando had lost the Yugoslav and Polish troops, and the two French troops were attached to No. 4 Commando in the ]1st Special Service Brigade
The 1st Special Service Brigade was a commando brigade of the British Army. Formed during the Second World War, it consisted of elements of the British Army (including British Commandos) and the Royal Marines. The brigade's component units saw a ...
and landed on Sword Beach
Sword, commonly known as Sword Beach, was the code name given to one of the five main landing areas along the Normandy coast during the initial assault phase, Operation Neptune, of Operation Overlord. The Allied invasion of German-occupied Fr ...
. No. 3 Troop was divided by sections between the other eight commando units involved in the landings.
The French troops of 185 men in total landed on the left flank of Sword Beach during the second wave, of these only 144 managed to reach the assembly point half a mile inland. Their objective was the Riva Bella Casino in Ouistreham
Ouistreham () is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy region in northwestern France.
Ouistreham is a small port with fishing boats, leisure craft and a ferry harbour. It serves as the port of the city of Caen. The town borders the ...
. When they reached the casino the lightly armed French commandos were unable to break into the fortified building and called upon a Centaur IV from 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 ...
to assist and soon captured the position. In another sector of the landings Working Corporal Peter Masters of No. 3 Troop attached to No. 6 Commando was ordered to walk down the main street of what seemed a deserted village. The intention was to draw fire and identify where the Germans were hiding.
By the night of D Day 1st Special Service Brigade, including No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando elements had crossed the River Orne
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 ...
and were dug in guarding the left flank of the 6th Airborne Division.
For the next three months No. 3 Troop carried out patrols in advance of the British lines. These patrols were not without loss. The troop commander Captain Bryan Hilton-Jones was captured trying to lead resistance fighters through the lines. Some of the men captured would become prisoners of war while others were never heard of again. Hilton-Jones was later released from captivity by No. 46 (Royal Marine) Commando
No. 46 (Royal Marine) Commando was a battalion size formation of the Royal Marines, part of the British Commandos, formed in August 1943 during the World War II, Second World War. The Commando was assigned to the 4th Special Service Brigade and ser ...
when they captured a German field hospital at Pont-l'Évêque.
By the time the Allies reached the River Seine
)
, mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur
, mouth_coordinates =
, mouth_elevation =
, progression =
, river_system = Seine basin
, basin_size =
, tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle
, tributarie ...
the original 185 French troops, had been reduced to only 40 unwounded. The numbers in the French ranks were quickly filled by men who had started training as a new No. 7 French Troop using the number left vacant when the Yugoslav troop was disbanded.
In mid-1944 No. 2 Dutch Troop returned to Europe their first mission on the European mainland was Operation Market Garden 17 September 1944. The troop was divided between the three parachute divisions, 12 men were assigned to 1st British Airborne Division, 11 were assigned to 82nd Airborne Division, Five were assigned to 101st Airborne Division and three were assigned to 1st Airborne Corps headquarters. Another five were assigned to 52nd (Lowland) Division
The 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was originally formed as the Lowland Division, in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force. It later became the 52nd (Lowland) Division in 1915. The 52nd (Lowland ...
, which was to have been flown into the area when Deelen Airport was captured, eventually they ended up in the Staff of 1st British Airborne Corps.
The Belgian No. 4 Troop had returned to England in June and were selected to capture the French island of Yeu only to find during a reconnaissance that the Germans had already left. They moved to the European mainland and were attached to the 4th Commando Brigade for the amphibious assault on the 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 ...
(Operation Infatuate
Operation Infatuate was the code name given to an Anglo-Canadian operation in November 1944 during the Second World War to open the port of Antwerp to shipping and relieve logistical constraints. The operation was part of the wider Battle of the ...
).
The assault on Walcheren saw the largest concentration of No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando men since their formation parade in 1943. Under command Lieutenant Colonel Laycock the commando was deployed; Headquarters and a section from No. 3 Troop and No. 2 Dutch Troop with Headquarters 4th Commando Brigade. The French No. 2 and No. 8 troops with a section from No. 2 Dutch Troop with No. 4 Commando. While with No. 41 (Royal Marine) Commando were No. 4 Belgian and No. 5 Norwegian Troops. In December the new No. 7 French Troop having completed training joined the other two French Troops still serving with No.4 Commando.[van der Bijl, p.49]
1945
In January to March the three French troops carried out raids on the island of Schouwen-Duiveland
Schouwen-Duiveland () is a municipality and an island in the southwestern Netherlands province of Zeeland. The municipality has 33,737 inhabitants (1 January 2016) and covers an area of (of which is water).
The northside of the island has two fi ...
to prevent the Germans using the island to mount operations against Antwerp.[
In February the Norwegian High Command requested No. 5 Norwegian Troop take part in the Liberation of Norway. The troop was transferred to the ]Norwegian Army
The Norwegian Army ( no, Hæren) is the land warfare service branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces. The Army is the oldest of the Norwegian service branches, established as a modern military organization under the command of the King of Norway ...
at the end of April and then flown to Sweden dressed as civilians to join the Free Norwegian Brigade which was ready to cross the border if the German garrison refused to surrender.
The next major operation involving men from No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando was the crossing of the River Rhine (Operation Plunder
Operation Plunder was a military operation to cross the Rhine on the night of 23 March 1945, launched by the 21st Army Group under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. The crossing of the river was at Rees, Wesel, and south of the river Li ...
) and then crossing the River Weser
The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports of B ...
. The main commando force was 1st Commando Brigade with German-speaking men from No. 3 (X) Troop attached.
Also in 1945 two new Belgian troops had gone through the commando school and now formed No. 9 and No. 10 Troops. Together with No. 4 Troop they came under command 80th Anti-Aircraft Brigade to provide local security. No. 10 Belgian Troop went on to liberate Neuengamme concentration camp
Neuengamme was a network of Nazi concentration camps in Northern Germany that consisted of the main camp, Neuengamme, and more than 85 satellite camps. Established in 1938 near the village of Neuengamme in the Bergedorf district of Hamburg, th ...
.
Legacy
No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando was disbanded on 4 September 1945, after the end of the war,[van der Bijl, p.58] but many of No 3 Troop continued in sensitive and secret work in the occupation zone, tracking Nazi Resistance groups, war criminals and translating captured documents. At the same time the rest of the Army Commandos were also disbanded and the commando role was taken over by the Royal Marines. However the present day Parachute Regiment, Special Air Service and Special Boat Service
The Special Boat Service (SBS) is the special forces unit of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. The SBS can trace its origins back to the Second World War when the Army Special Boat Section was formed in 1940. After the Second World War, the Roya ...
can all trace their origins to the Army Commandos.
Of the Western nations represented in No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando only Norway did not develop a commando force.[
The French troops are the predecessors of the Naval commandos. The Dutch Troop are the predecessors of the ]Korps Commandotroepen
The (KCT) ( en, Commando Corps) is the elite special forces unit of the Royal Netherlands Army. The KCT traces its origins to the Second World War with the founding of No. 2 (Dutch) Troop, and the founding of the during the Indonesian War of ...
, and the Belgian Troops are the predecessors of the Paracommando Brigade.
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
* Alethangyaw
* 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 fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine Islands ...
* 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, ...
*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 N ...
* Dives Crossing
* Djebel Choucha
*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
** Flushin ...
* 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
* Litani
*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, 1944–1945
* 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
* 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
*Termoli
Termoli ( 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 after World War II, ...
* 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
Notes
References
Notes
Bibliography
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External links
No.2 Dutch Troop
{{Authority control
10
Commando, No. 10
Military units and formations established in 1942
Military units and formations disestablished in 1945
Military units and formations of Belgium in World War II
Military units and formations of the Netherlands in World War II
Military units and formations of France in World War II
Military units and formations of Poland in World War II
Military units and formations of Norway in World War II
Expatriate military units and formations
1942 establishments in the United Kingdom
1945 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
International special forces