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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
At the end of January 1941 No 7 Commando along with Nos 8 and 11 (Scottish) Commando sailed to the Middle East as part of Force ‘Z’, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Bob Laycock. On 19 April 1941 No.7 …
The invasion of Sicily in July 1943 was based on two Allied armies landing on the island. The US 7th Army were tasked to land on the south-west at Gela, with the British 8th Army on the south-east at Pachino …
