Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines - Historical Background

Historical Background

...no routine, no bureaucracy... only pure operations, whose success depends basically on oneself and on the men that have been chosen to carry out the task. This is revolutionary.

After the evacuation of most of the British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk, Lieutenant Colonel Dudley Clarke (Royal Artillery) put forward the idea of small units capable of penetrating the enemy's line and sabotaging communication, industrial and military targets. The proposal was approved by Winston Churchill.

In 1940 volunteers were called from Territorial Army Divisions who had been serving in Norway. Later, soldiers from Royal Marines Division and recruits from British Police Force were also accepted for the training. The name "Commando" was proposed by Dudley Clarke after the raiding and assault style of Boer Commando units of the Second Boer War.

Commandos were trained in physical fitness, survival, orienteering, close quarter combat, silent killing, signalling, amphibious and cliff assault, vehicle operation, weapons (including the use of captured enemy small arms) and demolition. The Commando Training Centre was located at Achnacarry near Spean Bridge in Scotland.

The area of activity were primarily Northwest Europe, Norway, Middle East, Italy and Burma. At first the missions were carried out on a smaller scale, inflicting little damage to the enemy but greatly boosting up the morale of allied forces. Later, as a result of many successful operations, for example Collar, Ambassador, Claymore, Archery, Anklet, Chariot or Longcloth, Adolf Hitler issued a secret order called Kommandobefehl stating that all commandos found in Europe and Africa should be killed immediately, even if in uniform or if they attempted to surrender.

The British Army Commandos were never regimented and were disbanded at the end of the war.