No. 4 Commando
No. 4 Commando was a battalion-sized Commando unit of the British Army during the Second World War formed in 1940. Although it was intended to conduct small-scale raids and harass enemy garrisons along the coast of German-occupied France, the unit was mainly employed as a highly trained infantry assault unit.
The unit's first operation was the successful raid on the Lofoten Islands on 4 March 1941. However, their next two planned operations were both cancelled and it was not until 22 April 1942 that No. 4 Commando took part in another raid on the French coastal town of Hardelot. On 22 August 1942, No. 4 Commando was one of three Commando units selected for the Dieppe raid. Under the command of Lord Lovat, the unit landed on the right flank of the main landings and successfully silenced a German gun battery. This was the only complete success of the operation, which was eventually aborted, after less than 10 hours, following heavy Allied losses.
As part of the 1st Special Service Brigade, No. 4 Commando took part in the Normandy landings in June 1944. Landing on Sword Beach 30 minutes before the rest of the brigade, their first objectives were to capture a German strong point and gun battery in Ouistreham. After the unit neutralised these positions they rejoined the brigade, reinforcing the 6th Airborne Division at the Orne bridges. Before the invasion, the brigade had been informed that they would stay in France for only a few days. No. 4 Commando remained there for a further 82 days, protecting the beachhead's left flank. During that period, the unit endured over 50% casualties. Finally withdrawn to Britain in September 1944, they were reassigned to the 4th Special Service Brigade for the assault on Walcheren island. At the end of the war No. 4 Commando became part of the British Army of the Rhine, but together with all of the British Army's Commando units was disbanded in 1946.
Background
The British Commandos were organised for special service in June 1940. After the Dunkirk evacuation, the prime minister of the United Kingdom, 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 and on 23 June 1940, the first commando raid took place.The request for volunteers for special service was initially restricted to serving Army soldiers within certain formations still in Britain, and from men of the disbanding divisional Independent Companies originally raised from Territorial Army divisions who had served in the Norwegian Campaign.
By November 1940, more than 2,000 men had volunteered and were organised into four battalions in a Special Service Brigade, under the command of Brigadier J. C. Haydon. The Brigade quickly expanded to 12 battalions, which were renamed commandos. Each commando had a lieutenant colonel as the commanding officer and numbered around 450 men. Technically these men were only on secondment to the commandos; they retained their regimental cap badges and remained on the regimental roll for pay. The new force of commandos came under the operational control of the Combined Operations Headquarters.
Formation
No. 4 Commando was formed in Weymouth on 21 July 1940, when the first intake of 500 volunteers arrived. The unique nature of the commandos immediately became apparent when every man was held responsible for finding his own quarters. As commandos were expected to be fighting troops, they had no administrative personnel, such as clerks and cooks for example. To assist them with living 'off camp', with no cook house all ranks were given a daily allowance and a ration card, the allowance being 67 pence for officers and of 34 pence for other ranks. This arrangement meant that commandos lived on civilian rations, while the rest of the armed forces had the more plentiful military scale of rations.Lieutenant Colonel C.P.D Legard, 5RIDG and the Regimental Sergeant Major W. Morris held their first parade on 22 July 1940, at Weymouth Pavilion. The volunteers were informed of the intended role for the commandos and that training would be "tough and demanding and any who could not measure up to the standard required would be returned to their parent unit without any leave of appeal".
Training started immediately and concentrated on physical fitness, weapons training, movement across country including cliff climbing, obstacle crossing and raiding operations. Weapons training was limited by the lack of anything other than the personal weapons that each man had brought with him. Machine guns or anything heavier were not available at the time. In August 1940, some officers and non-commissioned officers were sent to Achnacarry in the Scottish Highlands on a commando course. These men were then responsible for teaching the rest of the unit.
No. 4 Commando remained at Weymouth until 13 October 1940, when it boarded trains for Scotland. Arriving on the River Clyde at 06:00 the next day, they were sent on board HMS Glengyle, an Infantry landing ship. Glengyle sailed on 18 October for Inveraray, to conduct training for the first time with Assault Landing Craft. The move to Scotland became permanent and No. 4 Commando were based at Ayr.
While all this was going on, a decision was made to concentrate the commandos and Independent Companies into five large 1,000 man battalions, each of two companies. No. 4 Commando was renamed the No. 1 Company of the 3rd Special Service Battalion, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Dudley Lister. No. 2 Company was formed by the re-designation of No. 7 Commando. This new formation proved to be too large and unwieldy in practice. Within three months, the Special Service Battalions were disbanded and the original commando units reformed but on a smaller scale with six troops instead of the original ten. Each troop would comprise three officers and 62 other ranks; this number was set so each troop would fit into two Assault Landing Craft. The new formation also meant that two complete Commando units could be carried in the 'Glen' type landing ship and one unit in the 'Dutch' type landing ship.
Operational history
Lofoten Islands
On 20 February 1941, No. 4 Commando were informed they would be going to Troon in Scotland for an exercise. The next day the unit boarded HMS Queen Emma, but on 22 February 1941, after they anchored at Scapa Flow, their real objective was divulged. Together with No. 3 Commando they were to conduct Operation Claymore, a raid on the Lofoten Islands. Claymore's main objective was to stop the manufacture of fish oil and its exportation to Germany, where it was used in making explosives.Extra training commenced on board ship, including how the men were to get to their boat stations to disembark. Each troop also rehearsed its own part in the mission. Lectures were given in escape and evasion and troop commanders and NCO's were given small silk maps of Norway to help with any escape attempt. Another item of escape equipment issued was a pair of trouser fly buttons that, when placed one on top of the other, became a small compass.
Claymore took place on 4 March 1941. The Germans were caught unprepared and the landings were unopposed. Within an hour No. 4 Commando had taken all its objectives. The raid was a success: 11 fish oil factories and storage tanks were destroyed, 10 ships sunk, 225 prisoners taken with an unknown number of German sailors killed on the sunken ships. An added bonus were the 315 Norwegian volunteers brought back to join the Free Norwegian Forces.