No. 14 (Arctic) Commando sometimes also called the Special Commando Boating Group, was a 60-man Commando unit of the British Army during the Second World War. The commando was formed in 1942 for service in the Arctic and was disbanded in 1943.

Background

The commandos were formed in 1940, by the order of

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 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

the British Prime Minister. He called for specially trained troops that 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 which specialised in spearheading amphibious landings. The man initially selected as the overall commander of the force was

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

Sir Roger Keyes himself a veteran of the landings at Galipoli and the Zeebrugge raid in the First World War. Keyes resigned in October 1941 and was replaced by Admiral

Louis Mountbatten Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979) was a British naval officer, colonial administrator and close relative of the British royal family. Mountbatten, who was of German ...

. By the autumn of 1940 more than 2,000 men had volunteered for commando training, and what became known as the Special Service Brigade was formed into 12 units called commandos.Haskew, p.48 Each commando would number around 450 men commanded by a

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

. They were sub divided into troops of 75 men and further divided into 15-man sections. Commandos were all volunteers seconded from other British Army regiments and retained their own

cap badge A cap badge, also known as head badge or hat badge, is a badge worn on uniform headgear and distinguishes the wearer's nationality and/or organisation. The wearing of cap badges is a convention commonly found among military and police forces, as w ...

s and remained on their regimental roll for pay.Moreman, p.12 All volunteers went through the six-week intensive commando course at Achnacarry. 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. By 1943 the commandos had moved away from small raiding operations and had been formed into brigades of assault infantry to spearhead future Allied landing operations. Three units were left un-brigaded to carry out smaller-scale raids,

No. 12 Commando No. 12 Commando was a battalion-sized commando unit of the British Army during the Second World War. Formed in 1940 in Northern Ireland, they carried out a number of small-scale raids in Norway and France between 1941 and 1943 before being disbande ...

No. 62 Commando No. 62 Commando or the Small Scale Raiding Force (SSRF) was a British Commando unit of the British Army during the Second World War. The unit was formed around a small group of commandos under the command of the Special Operations Executive (SOE). ...

and No. 14 (Arctic) Commando.

History

No. 14 (Arctic) Commando was formed in late 1942, for action in the Arctic especially against

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 ...

and Luftwaffe bases in Norway used to attack Arctic Convoys. No 14 Commando was formed at the request of the Chief of Combined Operation

to meet the demand for further raids in Norway. Under the command of

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

E.A.M Wedderburn No. 14 Commando comprised two troops. No. 1 (Boating) Troop of nine officers and 18 men who specialized in small boat operations and No. 2 Troop of six officers and 22 men who specialized in cross-country skiing. The Commando contained British, Canadians and Norwegians and included polar explorers including Sir Peter Scott,

David Haig-Thomas David Haig-Thomas (1 December 1908 – 6 June 1944) was a British ornithologist, wildlife photographer, explorer and rower who competed for Great Britain in the 1932 Summer Olympics. He was an army commando during the Second World War, and was ...

Andrew Croft Colonel Noel Andrew Cotton Croft, (30 November 1906 – 26 June 1998) was a member of the Special Operations Executive in World War II, with operations in Norway and Corsica, as well as military attaché to Sweden. He was also an Arctic expl ...

, August Courtauld and some men from the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve. They specialised in using canoes and kayaks for

limpet mine A limpet mine is a type of naval mine attached to a target by magnets. It is so named because of its superficial similarity to the shape of the limpet, a type of sea snail that clings tightly to rocks or other hard surfaces. A swimmer or diver m ...

attacks in Arctic waters. At times it supplied men for the ''ad hoc'' formations Northforce and Timberforce. In 1943, No. 5 (Norwegian) Troop, No. 10 (Inter-Allied), No. 12 and No. 14 (Arctic) Commandos raided the Norwegian coast from their base in

Lerwick Lerwick (; non, Leirvik; nrn, Larvik) is the main town and port of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland. Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick had a population of about 7,000 residents in 2010. Centred off the north coast of the Scottish mainland ...

in the

Shetland Islands Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

. In April seven men of No. 14 (Arctic) Commando took part in Operation Checkmate a raid on German shipping near

Haugesund Haugesund () is a municipality on the North Sea in Rogaland county, Norway. While the population is greater in the neighboring Karmøy municipality, the main commercial and economic centre of the Haugaland region in northern Rogaland and southern ...

. They managed to sink one minesweeper using limpet mines, but were captured and eventually taken to Sachsenhausen and Belsen Concentration Camps where they were executed. No. 14 (Arctic) Commando was disbanded late 1943 to supply reinforcements to other commando formations.

Legacy

All the army commandos were disbanded after the Second World War and the commando role was taken over by the Royal Marines. However the present day Parachute Regiment,

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terro ...

and Special Boat Service can all trace their origins to the commandos.

Battle honours

The following Battle honours 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 * Aller * Anzio *

Argenta Gap The Battle of the Argenta Gap was an engagement which formed part of the Allied spring 1945 offensive during the Italian campaign in the final stages of the Second World War. It took place in northern Italy from 12 to 19 April 1945 between tr ...

* Burma 1943–45 * Crete * Dieppe * Dives Crossing * Djebel Choucha * Flushing * Greece 1944–45 * Italy 1943–45 *

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 giv ...

* Landing at Porto San Venere * Landing in Sicily *

Leese Leese may refer to: People * The Leese family, an English aristocratic family * Arnold Leese, a late British fascist politician * Joseph Leese, a late British politician * Oliver Leese Lieutenant-General Sir Oliver William Hargreaves Leese, 3rd ...

* Litani * Madagascar * Middle East 1941, 1942, 1944 *

Monte Ornito Monte may refer to: Places Argentina * Argentine Monte, an ecoregion * Monte Desert * Monte Partido, a ''partido'' in Buenos Aires Province Italy * Monte Bregagno * Monte Cassino * Montecorvino (disambiguation) * Montefalcione Portugal * Monte ...

* Myebon *

Normandy Landing 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 ...

* North Africa 1941–43 * North-West Europe 1942, 1944–1945 * Norway 1941 * Pursuit to Messina * Rhine *

St. Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean. T ...

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 * 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 * Vaagso * Valli di Comacchio * Westkapelle

References

Notes Bibliography * * * * * * * * {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 14 Military units and formations established in 1942 Military units and formations disestablished in 1943 Commando, No. 14 1942 establishments in the United Kingdom 1943 disestablishments in the United Kingdom