For his “great gallantry, skill and devotion to duty” during the St. Nazaire Raid in March 1942, Sergeant Tommy Durrant of No. 1 Commando and the Royal Engineers was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. Having been ordered to withdraw from
Stood first on the left is Lieutenant George Herbert DCM MM of No. 3 Commando. Herbert, who was awarded the Military Medal for gallantry at Dunkirk, was one of the most courageous soldiers of the Second World War. On his
No.11 (Scottish) Commando was raised in Galashiels in the summer of 1940, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Dick Pedder, from volunteers from the Scottish Command. From Galashiels they completed a 100-mile march to Ayr before commencing arduous commando training
The venerable Lord Lovat briefs his fellow commando officers prior to Operation Abercrombie, the raid on Hardelot, near the Channel port of Boulogne in April 1942. The intention of the raid was to ‘make a reconnaissance of the beaches and
Lance Corporal Eric Harden of the Royal Army Medical Corps attached to the Royal Marines, posthumously received Britain’s highest award for valour in the presence of the enemy, after giving his life to save his wounded comrades. Victoria Cross recipient
Recipient of the Military Medal (MM), Johnny Dowling of No. 3 Commando, was a fighting man. He learned to box at the famous St. Malachy’s Boxing Club in Liverpool, and after spending three seasons in the city’s tough boxing booths,
Commando come fighter pilot, Eric Garland MC and Bar, had a remarkable war. In a period full of incredible achievements by extraordinary people, the actions of Eric Garland were of the highest order. During the withdrawal from Dunkirk in June
Often overshadowed by the Heroes of Telemark – the Special Operations Executive’s (SOE) raid on the heavy water plant at Vermork – Operation Musketoon was an equally daring raid on a Norwegian industrial target that was vital to the Nazi
Lieutenant Denis O’Flaherty, Royal Artillery, of 6 Troop, No. 3 Commando is helped by his fellow commandos during the raid on Vaagso, Norway, in December 1941. During the previous hours the commandos had been engaged in fierce fighting on the
Bill Millin was the commando piper of Lord Lovat’s 1st Special Service Brigade. The following is his personal account of landing on Sword Beach on D-Day: ‘I went along to the Hamble River, aboard the landing craft with twenty-one others,
