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Commandos at Dieppe – Smash and Grab

Commandos at Dieppe – Smash and Grab

Operation Jubilee, the raid on the German-occupied French port of Dieppe was one of the most controversial and costly operations of the Second World War. A combined force of nearly six thousand Canadian, British and other Allied troops took part …

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No.4 Commando’s attack at Riva Bella – D-Day

No.4 Commando’s attack at Riva Bella – D-Day

No.4 Commando landed in two waves from HMS Princess Astrid and the SS Maid of Orleans and touched down on Queen Red Beach at La Breche, a mile to the west of Ouistreham.  The original plan for the British landings …

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Commando Special Training Centre, Lochailort

Commando Special Training Centre, Lochailort

From May 1940, the War Office started the process of requisitioning properties in the Scottish Highlands for unspecified military purposes. One of which was Inverailort House, the home of the Cameron-Head family. Situated close to the shores of Loch Ailort …

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Paddy Mayne – Legend of the SAS

Paddy Mayne – Legend of the SAS

Blair ‘Paddy’ Mayne was one of the most outstanding soldiers and leaders of the Second World War. A qualified solicitor and Irish Universities heavyweight boxing champion, the Ulsterman had played international rugby for both Ireland and the British Lions before …

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Commando Canoeists: Operation JV – The Raid on Boulogne Harbour

Commando Canoeists: Operation JV – The Raid on Boulogne Harbour

Eight months before the attack on the French port of Bordeaux by the men later immortalised as the Cockleshell Heroes, a less well known, equally daring, and arguably more successful raid was carried out by two canoeists from No. 6 …

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Scottish Commando Raid at Litani River

Scottish Commando Raid at Litani River

No.11 (Scottish) Commando was raised in Galashiels in the summer of 1940, under the command of Lt. Col. Dick Pedder, from volunteers from the Scottish Command. From Galashiels they completed a 100-mile march to Ayr before commencing arduous commando training …

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SBS Raid on Kastelli Airfield

SBS Raid on Kastelli Airfield

David Stirling’s capture saw the SAS reorganize into two squadrons – the Special Raiding Squadron (SRS) and Special Boat Squadron (SBS). The indomitable Paddy Mayne commanded the SRS, while George Jellicoe took over the SBS. Jellicoe was the son of …

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No. 2 Commando – Britain’s first Special Air Service

No. 2 Commando – Britain’s first Special Air Service

It is relatively unknown that the men of No.2 Commando were Britain’s first airborne troops and the unit was the first to be designated as the Special Air Service (SAS). In June 1940 Prime Minister Winston Churchill called for a …

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No. 3 Commando – Operation Ambassador – A Fiasco on Guernsey

No. 3 Commando – Operation Ambassador – A Fiasco on Guernsey

Two days after Germany landed troops on Guernsey, Winston Churchill wrote to General Ismay on the 2nd of July 1940: ‘If it be true that a few hundred German troops have been landed on Jersey or Guernsey by troop-carriers, plans …

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IAN McHARG WRITES ABOUT THE TOUGH TRAINING, DARING RAIDS, AND INDOMITABLE FIGHTING SPIRIT OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR COMMANDOS AND OTHER WARTIME SPECIAL FORCES.

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