Commando raids were made by the Western Allies during much of the Second World War against the Atlantic Wall. The raids were conducted by the armed forces of Britain, the Commonwealth and a small number of men from the occupied territories serving with No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando during the Second World War. All the operations took place between the Arctic Circle in Norway and the France–Spain border, along what was known as the Atlantic Wall.
The raiding forces were mostly provided by the British Commandos, but the two largest raids, Operation Gauntlet and Operation Jubilee, drew heavily on Canadian troops. The size of the raiding force depended on the objective. The smallest raid was two men from No. 6 Commando in Operation J V. The largest raid involved over 10,500 men in Operation Jubilee. Most of the raids were scheduled to only last overnight, but some, like Operation Gauntlet, were conducted over a number of days.
Commando raids during the Second World War became so effective that by October 1942 Adolf Hitler issued the Commando Order, which required the execution of all commandos captured.
The 57 raids were all between 1940 and 1944 and were mostly against targets in France, which saw 36 raids. There were 12 raids in Norway, seven in the Channel Islands and one each in Belgium and the Netherlands. The raids met with a mixture of fortunes. Operation Chariot—the raid against dock installations at Saint-Nazaire—has since been called the greatest raid of all. Others, like Operation Aquatint and Operation Musketoon, resulted in the capture or death of most of the commandos involved.
The raids ended in mid-1944 on the orders of Major-General Robert Laycock, the chief of Combined Operations Headquarters. He suggested that they were no longer as effective and only resulted in the Germans strengthening their beach defences, which could be detrimental to Allied plans.
See main article: British Commandos. The Commandos were formed after the British Expeditionary Force was evacuated from Dunkirk in 1940. Prime Minister Winston Churchill called for a force to be assembled and equipped to inflict casualties on the Germans and bolster British morale. Churchill told the joint Chiefs of Staff to propose measures for an offensive against German-occupied Europe, and stated, "they must be prepared with specially trained troops of the hunter class who can develop a reign of terror down the enemy coast."
One staff officer, Lieutenant Colonel Dudley Clarke, had already submitted such a proposal to General Sir John Dill, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff. Dill, aware of Churchill's intentions, approved Clarke's proposal. Three weeks later the first commando raid took place. The raiders failed to gather any intelligence or damage any German equipment; their only success was in killing two German sentries.
In 1940 the call went out for volunteers from among the serving Army soldiers within certain formations still in Britain, and men of the disbanding Divisional Independent Companies originally raised from Territorial Army Divisions who had seen service in Norway. In November 1940 the new army units were organised into a Special Service Brigade under Brigadier J. C. Haydon, with four Special Service Battalions. By the autumn of 1940 more than 2,000 men had volunteered for commando training.
There were 19 British Army Commandos formed in the United Kingdom and the Middle East. The No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando was formed from volunteers from the occupied territories and enemy aliens. In February 1942 the Royal Marines were asked to organise commando units of their own; 6,000 men volunteered, forming nine commandos. In 1943 the Royal Naval Commandos and the Royal Air Force Commandos were formed from volunteers from the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force.[1] [2]
Also in 1943, the commandos started to move away from smaller raiding operations. They were being formed into brigades of assault infantry to spearhead the future Allied landing operations. Of the remaining 20 Commandos, 17 were used in the formation of the four Special Service brigades. The three remaining units, No. 12, No. 14 and No. 62 Commandos, were left to carry out smaller-scale raids. A shortage of volunteers and the need to provide replacements for casualties forced the disbandment of these three commando units by the end of 1943. No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando was left for the task of small scale raiding. No. 10 was the largest commando and was formed from volunteers belonging to the occupied territories. It could now provide both parachute and canoe trained sub units.
The Commandos came under the operational control of the Combined Operations Headquarters. The man initially selected as the commander was Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Keyes, a veteran of the Gallipoli Campaign and the Zeebrugge Raid in World War I. Keyes resigned in October 1941 and was replaced by Admiral Louis Mountbatten. The final Commander of Combined Operations was Major General Robert Laycock, who took over from Mountbatten in October 1943.
| No. | Date | Codename | Unit | Numbers taking part | Location | Objective | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24/25 June 1940 | Operation Collar | Boulogne Le Touquet France | Reconnaissance and capture prisoners | The mission was only a propaganda victory; two Germans were killed for no loss and all the commandos returned safely. | |||
| 2 | 14/15 July 1940 | Operation Ambassador | No. 11 Independent Company | Guernsey Channel Islands | Capture prisoners attack airfield | Only 40 landed, the raid was a failure due to a series of mishaps, poor fortune and the haste with which it was planned and implemented. It resulted in no immediate military gains. | ||
| 3 | 4 March 1941 | Operation Claymore | No. 4 Commando | Lofoten Islands Norway | Destroy industry | About 800,000 gallons of fish oil, kerosene and paraffin were set on fire; the factories were destroyed and they captured 228 prisoners of war. | ||
| 4 | 27/28 July 1941 | Operation Chess | Ambleteuse France | Reconnaissance and capture prisoners | The Commandos remained ashore for one hour; no prisoners were taken and there were no casualties. | |||
| 5 | 24 August– 2 September 1941 | Operation Gauntlet | Spitsbergen Norway | Destroy industry | Coal mining facilities were destroyed.[3] | |||
| 6 | 30/31 August 1941 | Operation Acid Drop | Neufchâtel-Hardelot Merlimont France | Reconnaissance and capture prisoners | The Commandos spent 30 minutes ashore but did not encounter any Germans. | |||
| 7 | 27/28 September 1941 | Operation Chopper | St Aubin France | Reconnaissance and capture prisoners | Two commandos were killed and had to be left behind. | |||
| 8 | 27/28 September 1941 | Operation Deep Cut | St Vaast France | Reconnaissance and capture prisoners | Commandos encountered and opened fire on a German Bicycle patrol; the Germans returned fire and wounded two men.[4] | |||
| 9 | 12/13 November 1941 | Operation Astrakan | Houlgate France | Beach reconnaissance | The Commandos did not encounter any Germans, but did gather information on the suitability of the beach for use by Landing craft. | |||
| 10 | 22/23 November 1941 | Operation Sunstar | Houlgate France | Gun battery | A partial success, the operation encountered difficulties and did not succeed in destroying the battery or taking any prisoners; they did obtain documents and other information.[5] | |||
| 11 | 26–28 December 1941 | Operation Anklet | Florø Norway | Capture prisoners and destroy radio stations | Two radio stations were destroyed and a number of ships sunk or captured and prisoners taken. Anklet is often mistaken as a diversionary raid for Archery, but it was the other way around. | |||
| 12 | 27 December 1941 | Operation Archery | No. 3 Commando No. 4 Commando No. 6 Commando | Vågsøy Norway | German shipping harbour installations and personnel | Four fish oil factories and stores were destroyed and German prisoners taken with a loss of 17 killed and 53 wounded. | ||
| 13 | 17/18 January 1942 | Operation Curlew | St Laurent France | Reconnaissance of beach defences | The mission failed and the landing party had to be rescued by the navy. | |||
| 14 | 27/28 February 1942 | Operation Biting | [6] | [7] | Bruneval France | Capture Radar equipment | This was a successful raid that led to the expansion of the British airborne forces and the creation of the Parachute Regiment. | |
| 15 | 27/28 March 1942 | Operation Chariot | detachments from No's. 1, 3, 4, 5, 9 and 12 Commandos | 600 | Saint-Nazaire France | Harbour installations | Chariot has since been called the greatest raid of all time. | |
| 16 | 5 April 1942 | Operation Myrmidon | No. 6 Commando | Ardour Estuary France | Harbour installations | The transport ships encountered a sandbar that they were unable to pass. That together with bad weather caused the raid to be called off. | ||
| 17 | 11/12 April 1942 | Operation JV | Boulogne-sur-Mer France | Shipping | The two men planted a limpet mine on a tanker and escaped unseen. | |||
| 18 | 21/22 April 1942 | Operation Abercrombie | Detachment from the Carleton and York Regiment | Neufchâtel-Hardelot France | Capture prisoners destroy searchlight battery | One commando was wounded but their objectives were not achieved. | ||
| 19 | 3/4 June 1942 | Operation Bristle | St Cecile France | German Radar site | The raid was a success but the transports were intercepted on the way home and casualties taken. | |||
| 20 | 14/15 August 1942 | Operation Barricade | Pointe de Saire France | Radar and anti-aircraft site | Three Germans were killed and six wounded without loss to the commandos, but their objective was not achieved. | |||
| 21 | 19 August 1942 | Operation Jubilee | No. 3 Commando No. 4 Commando | Dieppe France | Reconnaissance in force | The raid was a failure. The casualties included 3,367 Canadians and 275 British commandos. The Royal Navy lost one destroyer and 33 landing craft, suffering 550 dead and wounded. The RAF lost 106 aircraft to the Luftwaffe's 48. The German army had 591 casualties.[8] | ||
| 22 | 2/3 September 1942 | Operation Dryad | Le Casquets Channel islands | Reconnaissance and capture prisoners | Seven prisoners were captured. Several codebooks were found and taken back for analysis. | |||
| 23 | 7/8 September 1942 | Operation Branford | Burhou Channel islands | Reconnaissance | The raid was to locate a suitable gun position to support an attack upon Alderney, and was uneventful. | |||
| 24 | 12/13 September 1942 | Operation Aquatint | St Honerine France | Reconnaissance and capture prisoners | All who landed were either killed or captured.[9] | |||
| 25 | 20/21 September 1942 | Operation Musketoon | Glomfjord Norway | Industrial site | The raid was a success, but most of the commandos were captured trying to cross into Sweden. They became the first victims of the Commando Order.[10] | |||
| 26 | 3/4 October 1942 | Operation Basalt | No. 62 Commando | Sark Channel islands | Reconnaissance and capture prisoners | Four Germans were killed and one taken prisoner. The prisoners had been bound and it resulted in Germany ordering 1,376 Allied POW's be manacled | ||
| 27 | 11/12 November 1942 | Operation Fahrenheit | No. 62 Commando | Plouézec France | Reconnaissance and capture prisoners | This was a raid on a signals station; after killing at least two Germans the commandos withdrew. | ||
| 28 | 15/16 November 1942 | Operation Batman | No. 62 Commando | Cherbourg France | Objective not known[11] | The raid had to be cancelled, as they were unable to land in the high seas on the rocky shoreline. | ||
| 29 | 19/20 November 1942 | Operation Freshman | Telemark Norway | Industrial site | All Royal Engineers involved were killed either when their gliders crashed on the way to their landing zone or survived the crash but were executed by the Germans. | |||
| 30 | 22–29 November 1942 | unknown | Bergen Norway | Reconnaissance and capture prisoners | There were three attempts at this operation. The first one turned back after being spotted by German aircraft, the second did gather some intelligence from Norwegian fishermen before turning back and the third was abandoned due to bad weather. | |||
| 31 | 11/12 December 1942 | Operation Frankton | boom patrol detachment | Bordeaux France | Shipping | Commandos successfully breached the harbour, but only two of the 12 involved survived. In 1955 the events of Frankton were made into the film The Cockleshell Heroes. | ||
| 32 | 23/24 January 1943 | Operation Cartoon | No. 12 Commando | Stord Norway | Industrial site | The mission successfully destroyed a Pyrite mine. | ||
| 33 | 24 February– 1 March 1943 | Operation Crackers | No. 12 Commando No. 30 Commando | Sognefjord Norway | Capture prisoners | Bad weather stopped the raid but they set up an observation post which gathered much information. | ||
| 34 | 27/28 January 1943 | Operation Huckaback | Herm Channel islands | Capture prisoners and check Herm was suitable for artillery | Successful, the raiders did not find any signs of the German occupation, left propaganda leaflets | |||
| 35 | 14/15 February 1943 | Operation Brandy | No. 12 Commando | Florø Norway | Shipping | The raid attacked two German ships and laid mines in the harbour. A Motor Torpedo Boat ran aground and had to be abandoned. | ||
| 36 | 19 March 1943 | Operation Roundabout | No. 12 Commando | Stad Norway | Reconnaissance and capture prisoners | The raid was aborted after running into a German patrol. | ||
| 37 | 3/4 April 1943 | Operation Pussyfoot | Herm Channel islands | Capture prisoners | Failed to land due to thick fog | |||
| 38 | 29 April 1943 | Operation Checkmate | Haugesund Norway | Shipping | The raiders successfully planted mines, but all the commandos involved were captured and executed.[12] | |||
| 39 | 3/4 July 1943 | Operation Forfar Easy | Onival France | Reconnaissance and capture prisoners | They managed to scale the cliffs but were unable to breach the barbed wire on top. | |||
| 40 | 5/6 July 1943 | Operation Forfar Dog | Biville France | Reconnaissance and capture prisoners | The Motor Torpedo Boat came under fire as the commandos were put ashore. | |||
| 41 | 3–5 August 1943 | Operation Forfar Beer | Életot France | Reconnaissance and capture prisoners | The Commando's transport ships were discovered en route by German patrol ship. | |||
| 42 | 3/4 August 1943 | Operation Forfar Love | Dunkirk France | Reconnaissance of pier | The two canoes were forced to withdraw when picked up by searchlight. | |||
| 43 | 1–4 September 1943 | Operation Forfar | No. 12 Commando | St Valery France | Reconnaissance of searchlight battery and capture prisoners | The raid was a partial success. The team was successfully parachuted in but their ship was swamped when leaving, with the loss of all equipment. | ||
| 44 | 3/4 September 1943 | Operation Pound | Ushant France | Reconnaissance and capture prisoners | Two Germans were believed to have been killed but they were unable to identify their unit. | |||
| 45 | 24/25 December 1943 | Operation Hardtack 11 | Gravelines France | Reconnaissance and capture prisoners | The Motor Torpedo Boat transporting them diverted to attack a convoy and their dory sank with the death of one man. The other six reached the shore and joined the French Resistance. | |||
| 46 | 25/26 December 1943 | Operation Hardtack 13 | Special Boat Squadron | Bénouville France | Reconnaissance and capture prisoners | The raid was a successful reconnaissance but they did not capture any prisoners. | ||
| 47 | 25/26 December 1943 | Operation Hardtack 28 | Jersey Channel islands | Capture prisoners | After climbing the cliffs the commandos spoke to some locals, but running out of time, returning a mine was set off wounding two men. All men evacuated. | |||
| 48 | 26/27 December 1943 | Operation Hardtack 4 | Biville France | Reconnaissance and capture prisoners | The Commandos were forced to withdraw by German patrol activity. | |||
| 49 | 26/27 December 1943 | Operation Hardtack 5 | Onival France | Reconnaissance and capture prisoners | One commando was injured by an anti-personnel mine on landing; the rest spend four and a half hours ashore but did not see any Germans, just unoccupied strong points. | |||
| 50 | 26/27 December 1943 | Operation Hardtack 7 | No. 12 Commando | Sark Channel Islands | Reconnaissance and capture prisoners | On the first attempt the commandos had to return to England when they were unable to scale the cliffs from where they landed, the second attempt on 27/28 December was abandoned when the commandos entered a minefield with two men killed and most others wounded. | ||
| 51 | 26/27 December 1943 | Operation Hardtack 21 | Quinéville France | Reconnaissance and capture prisoners | The raid gathered information on the defensive obstacles on what would become Utah Beach. | |||
| 52 | 27/28 December 1943 | Operation Hardtack 23 | Ostend Belgium | Reconnaissance and capture prisoners | The raid was called off after their Motor Torpedo Boat transport ran aground. | |||
| 53 | 24/25 December 1943 | Operation Hardtack 36 | Wassenaar Netherlands | Reconnaissance and capture prisoners | All the commandos involved were killed after landing. | |||
| 54 | 15/16 May 1944 | Operation Tarbrush 5 | Dunkirk France | Beach reconnaissance | The raid was a successful examination of beach obstacles.[13] [14] | |||
| 55 | 15/16 May 1944 | Operation Tarbrush 8 | Quend France | Beach reconnaissance | The raid was a successful examination of beach obstacles; a teller mine was brought back for examination. | |||
| 56 | 16/17 May 1944 | Operation Tarbrush 3 | Bray-Dunes France | Beach reconnaissance | The Commandos were unable to land in rough seas. | |||
| 57 | 17/18 May 1944 | Operation Tarbrush 10 | Onival France | Beach reconnaissance | A navigation error meant the commandos were landed in the wrong place and captured. | |||
| 58 | 24/25 August 1944 | Operation Rumford | Île d'Yeu France | Capture German held island | This was a successful landing, but the Germans had already evacuated the island. |
