Two weapons spring to mind when conjuring up an image of the Second World War commandos. The iconic Fairbairn and Sykes Fighting Knife popularly known as the ‘Commando Dagger’, and the Thompson Machine Carbine – the legendary ‘Tommy Gun’. However, …
Due to the irregular and specialised role of the new Commando units they were intentionally given a degree of flexibility in terms of administration, recruitment and training. Each Commando initially had a total war establishment of approximately 500 officers and …
Despite opposition from regular army authorities, the Chiefs of Staff instructed the five regional commands: Southern, Eastern, Western, London District and Household Division, and Scottish Command, to provide enough men for two Commandos per Command, with each Commando coming under …
On the darkest hour of 4 June 1940, Prime Minister Winston Churchill wrote to General Lord Ismay, Head of the Military Wing of the War Cabinet Secretariat, demanding, that under no circumstances would Britain resort to the defensive strategy that …
The Third Battle of Ypres, commonly known as the Battle of Passchendaele, was one of the bloodiest battles fought on the Western Front during the First World War. Ypres was at the centre of the Allied presence in Belgium for …
