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Page
created 15 July 2000. Corrected and updated
14.07.2006
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Commando Forces
[Army] |
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United
Kingdom
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| How to find information about individuals who served in this corps |
| 1940.04 | Special
Infantry Companies ten coys formed in UK (each coy consisting of 21 officers and 268 ORs), and soon redesignated as ‘Independent Companies’ |
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| 1940.06 | Commandos twelve commandos formed in UK (each cdo consisting of 500 men in ten troops) |
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| 1940.10 | Special Service
Battalions five bns formed by grouping the companies and commandos(each bn consisting of two 500-man coys) under HQ Special Service Brigade, reporting to Combined Operations HQ |
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| 1941.10 | Commandos re-formed by break up of SS Battalions |
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| 1943 | Brigade reorganised into four brigades under Special Service Group | |
| 1944 | SS
Group redesignated Commando Group SS Brigades redesignated Commando Brigades |
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| 1946 | all remaining Army Commandos disbanded; Commando role continued by Royal Marines (with artillery, engineer, and other support provided by commando-trained Army units) | |
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Combined Operations | |||
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516 Combined Operations Squadron, Dundonald, by Phillip C Jones (Combined Operations) | |||
| HQ and Depot: | ||||
| Holding Wing, Special Training Centre established at Spean Bridge, Inverness-shire 1940?; redesignated 10 Dec. 1941 as The Commando Depot; redesignated 10 Dec. 1943 as Commando Basic Training Centre. | ||||
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Training Units in Inverary (Combined Operations) | |||
| Units: | ||||
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No.
1 Commando [1940-1945]
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No.
1/5 Commando [1945-1946]
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| No 2 Commando [June 1940-Oct. 1940] | ||||
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No
2 Commando [Oct. 1940-1946]
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No.
3 Commando [1940-1946]
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No.
4 Commando [1940-1946]
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No.
5 Commando [1940-1945]
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No.
6 Commando [1940-1945]
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No.
7 Commando [1940-1941]
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No.
8 Commando [1940-1941]
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No.
9 Commando [1940-1946]
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No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando [1940, 1942-1943] |
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No.
11 (Scottish) Commando [1940-1941]
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No.
12 (Irish and Welsh) Commando [1940-1943]
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No.
14 Commando [1942-1943]
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No.
30 Commando [1941-1945]
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No. 40-48 Commando: see Royal
Marines
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No.
50 (Middle East) Commando [1940-1941]
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No.
51 (Middle East) Commando [1940-1941]
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No.
52 (Middle East) Commando [1940-1941]
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No. 62 Commando [1941-1942]
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Middle
East Commando [1941-1942]
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| Army Commando [1945-1946] | ||||
| No. 1 Special Service Battalion [1940-1941] | ||||
| No. 2 Special Service Battalion [1940-1941] | ||||
| No. 3 Special Service Battalion [1940-1941] | ||||
| No. 4 Special Service Battalion [1940-1941] | ||||
| No. 5 Special Service Battalion [1940-1941] | ||||
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1st
Parachute Battalion [1940-1942]
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2nd
Parachute Battalion [1941-1942]
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3rd
Parachute Battalion [1941-1942]
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4th Parachute Battalion [1942-1942]
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No.
11 Special Air Service Battalion [1940-1941]
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The Second World War1: Vaagso2, Norway 19412, St. Nazaire2, Dieppe2, Normandy Landing, Dives Crossing, Flushing, Westkapelle, Rhine, Leese, Aller, North-West Europe 1942 '44-45, Litani, Syria 1941, Steamroller Farm, Sedjenane I, Djebel Choucha2, North Africa 1941-43, Landing in Sicily, Pursuit to Messina, Sicily 1943, Landing at Porto San Venere, Termoli, Salerno, Monte Ornito, Anzio, Valli de Commacchio, Argenta Gap, Italy 1943-45, Greece 1944-45, Crete, Madagascar, Adriatic, Middle East 1941 '42 '44, Alethangyaw2, Myebon, Kangaw, Burma 1943-45 1. awarded 1959 to The Commando
Association, which was formed in 1956 to be custodian of the battle
honours for the disbanded 1940-1946 Army commandos; battle honours
were awarded for all commando operations, even when only Royal
Marines commandos were present, but the latter were not awarded
battle honours in accordance with Royal Marine regulations and tradition;
Association disbanded 18 Sep. 2005. |
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[no external sites have been found] | |
| Motto: | |
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| Nicknames: | |
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| Anniversaries: | |
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| Freedoms: | Lochaber (Commando Association, 18 Nov. 1993) | |
| Marches: | |
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| Musicians: | |
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| Mascot: | |
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| Miscellaneous Tradition Links: | ||
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[none] |
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Commando Association [disbanded 2005] | |
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Easy Company, No. 4 Commando (Victory in Europe Re-enactment Association) |
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No 4 Commando Re-Enactment | |
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No 10 (IA) Commando | |
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Re-enactment group No.10 Commando (Vereniging Historische Militaria, Netherlands) | |
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Combined Operations Museum, Inverary, Scotland (Simonides listing) | |
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Commando Monument, Spean Bridge, Inverness, Scotland (Scotland Gazeteer) | |
| Regimental Journal: | ||
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| Full Histories: | ||
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Cocks, A. E. (Albert Edward). Churchill's secret army 1939-45. Lewes : Book Guild, 1992. ISBN: 0863326595 | |
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Saunders, Hilary Aidan St. George. The green beret : the story of the Commandos 1940-1945. London : M. Joseph, 1949. | |
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Saunders, Hilary Aidan St. George. The green beret : the story of the Commandos 1940-1945. [new ed.] London : New English Library, 1968. [paperback ed.: New English Library, Year: 1971. ISBN: 0450010074. | |
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Saunders, Hilary Aidan St. George. The green beret : the story of the Commandos 1940-1945. [new ed.] London : White Lion Publishers, 1972. ISBN: 0856178330 | |
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Kennett, John ; Saunders, Hilary Aidan St. George. The green beret : the story of the Commandos 1940-1945. [abridged juvenile ed.] London, Blackie, 1970. (The Kennett library, modern series) ISBN: 0216890977 | |
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Ladd, James D. Inside the commandos : a pictorial history from World War Two to the present. London : Arms and Armour, 1984. 0853686602 [simultaneously published in American ed..: Annapolis, Md. : Naval Institute Press, 1984. ISBN: 0870219030] | |
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Ladd, James D. Commandos and rangers of World War II. London : Macdonald and Jane's, 1978. ISBN: 0356084329 [published simultaneously in U.S.: New York : St. Martin's Press, 1978. ISBN: 0312151675] | |
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Ladd, James D. Commandos and rangers of World War II. Newton Abbot : David and Charles ; New York : Distributed in the U.S. by Sterling Pub. Co., 1989. (Battle standards) ISBN: 0715394495 (pbk) | |
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Neillands, Robin. The raiders : the army commandos, 1940-1946. London : Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1989. ISBN: 0297794264 [Paperback ed. : London : Fontana, 1990. ISBN: 0006374972] | |
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Foxall, Raymond. The amateur commandos. London : Hale, 1980. ISBN: 0709183224 | |
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Reynolds, David. Commando : the illustrated history of Britain's green berets. Stroud : Sutton, 2001. ISBN: 0750922095 | |
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Harclerode, Peter ; Reynolds, David. Commando : the illustrated history of Britain's Green Berets from Dieppe to Afghanistan. Stroud : Sutton, Edition: [Rev. ed.] 2003. ISBN: 0750931647 | |
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Parker, John. Commandos : the inside story of Britain's most elite fighting force. London : Headline, 2000. ISBN: 0747270082 | |
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Parker, John. Commandos : the inside story of Britain's most elite fighting force. London : Headline, 2001. ISBN: 074726645X | |
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Messenger, Charles. The Commandos. London : Kimber, 1985. ISBN: 0718305531 | |
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Messenger, Charles. The Commandos. London : Grafton, 1991. ISBN: 0586210342 (pbk) | |
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Harclerode, Peter ; Reynolds, David. Commando : the illustrated history of Britain's Green Berets from Dieppe to Afghanistan. Stroud : Sutton, Edition: [Rev. ed.] 2003. ISBN: 0750931647 | |
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Wynter, H. W. Special forces in the Desert war, 1940-1943 : history of commandos and special service troops in the Middle East and North Africa (January 1941 to April 1943). Kew, Richmond, Surrey : Public Record Office, 2001. ISBN: 1903365295. Note: "This publication reproduces two documents, The history of the Long Range Desert Group (June 1940 to March 1943) and The history of commandos and special service troops in the Middle East and North Africa (January 1941 to April 1943). These histories [were] written by Brigadier H.W. Wynter"--P. | |
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Dunstan, Simon. Commandos : Britain's green berets. Hersham : Ian Allan, 2003. (Spearhead ; 11) ISBN: 0711029776 | |
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Thompson, Leroy. British commandos in action. Carrollton, Tex. : Squadron/Signal Publications, 1987. (Combat troops in action ; no. 8) ISBN: 089747192X (pbk.) | |
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Cook, Graeme. Commandos in action. London, Hart-Davis MacGibbon Ltd, 1973. ISBN: 0246105402 [American ed.: New York : Taplinger Pub. Co. 1974. ISBN: 0800817494] | |
| Unit Histories: | ||
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McDougall, M. Swiftly they struck : the story of No. 4 Commando. [s.l. : s.n.], 1954. | |
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Dunning, James. The fighting Fourth : No. 4 Commando at war, 1940-45. Stroud: Sutton, 2003. ISBN: 0750930950 | |
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Dear, Ian. Ten Commando, 1942-1945. London : Cooper, 1987. ISBN: 0850521211 | |
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Dear, Ian. Ten Commando, 1942-1945. [1st US ed.] New York : St. Martin's Press, 1987. ISBN: 0312034385 | |
| Special Topics: | ||
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Chappell, Mike. Army Commandos, 1940-1945. London : Osprey, 1996. (Osprey military elite series ; 64) ISBN: 1855325799 (pbk) | |
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Chappell, Mike. Army Commandos, 1940-1945. [new ed.] London : Osprey, 2001. (Osprey military elite series ; 64) ISBN: 1841762539 | |
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Walsh, R. R. ; (R. Raymond); Walsh, Jean M. Roll of honour of the Commandos : 1939 to 1945 : Commando 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-11(Scottish) and 11(RM). Blackburn : T.H.C.L. Books, 1999. ISBN: 0948494816 | |
