Commando

In military science, the term commando can refer to an individual, a military unit or a raiding style of military operation. In certain contexts, the term "commando" is synonymous with elite light infantry or special forces. However, they should be distinguished from special forces units which specialize in counter-terrorism and/or extended, long range, ground-level reconnaissance missions behind enemy lines (such as the British Special Boat Service and Special Air Service).

Originally a commando was a type of military unit. The current common usage to mean one man arose during and after WWII from people misunderstanding unexplained newspaper descriptions of the deeds of "the commandos".

History

The French Navy commando Jaubert storm the Alcyon in a mock assault

The word "commando" comes from the Afrikaans word kommando, which in turn comes from the Portuguese term, comando (command). In conflicts with southern African peoples (such as the Xhosa and the Zulu during and after the Great Trek), Afrikaner communities formed commandos amongst themselves. Additionally, communities and farmsteads provided self-equipped, mounted men whenever a commando was mustered (a form of mobilization similar to the original Texas Rangers.)

By the time of the Second Boer War against the United Kingdom, the Afrikaner commandos fought one of the classic guerrilla campaigns. The initial phases of the war were fought conventionally, but in the final phase, 8,000 Afrikaner commandos occupied the attention of the 450,000 British Army personnel- ten times as many British soldiers as during the first phases of the war. During the court martial of Breaker Morant, the commando strategy of the Boer resistance- clearly a concept both new and startling to British military thought- was cited as mitigation for the summary execution by Morant and his comrades as prisoners of war.

World War II

Europe and the Mediterranean

Otto Skorzeny

In December 1939, following the success of German infiltration and sabotage operations in the Polish campaign, the German Office for Foreign and Counter-Intelligence (OKW Amt Ausland/Abwehr) formed the Brandenburger Regiment (known officially as the 800th Special Purpose Training and Construction Company). The Brandenburgers conducted a mixture of covert and conventional operations but became increasingly involved in ordinary infantry actions and were eventually converted to a Panzer-Grenadier Division, suffering heavy losses in Russia. Otto Skorzeny (most famed for his rescue of Benito Mussolini) conducted many special operations for Adolf Hitler, but no Commando organization was developed from this, and Skorzeny essentially remained a Waffen-SS Sturmbannführer (Major).

Italy's Commandos of World War I, the Arditi, were not reformed in World War II, and their most renowned Commandos became the Decima Flottiglia MAS who, from mid-1940, were responsible for the sinking and damage of a considerable tonnage of Allied ships in the Mediterranean. After the surrender of Italy in 1943, those fighting with Germany retained the original name, and those fighting with the Allies dubbed themselves the Mariassalto.

In 1940, the British Army also formed "independent companies". These units were reformed as battalion sized "commandos", thereby reviving the word. It was intended that the British Army Commandos would be small, highly mobile raiding and reconnaissance forces. Commandos were not intended to remain in field operations for more than 36 hours and carried all they needed. Army Commandos were all volunteers selected from existing soldiers still in Britain.

The Royal Navy also controlled Royal Navy Beach Parties, based on teams formed to control the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940[1]. These were later known simply as RN Commandos, and they initially did not see action until they successfully for for control of the landing beaches (as in the disastrous Dieppe Raid of August 19, 1942). The RN Commandos, including Commando "W" from the Royal Canadian Navy, saw action on D-Day.

The British military intelligence organization Special Operations Executive (SOE) also formed commando units from British personnel and Europeans from Nazi-occupied countries. Perhaps the best-known SOE unit was Norwegian Independent Company 1, which — among other operations — destroyed the Nazi heavy water (nuclear) research facility in Norway, in 1941.

In mid-1942 the US Army formed the Rangers, in Northern Ireland, under Bill Darby. The Rangers were designed along the similar lines to the British Army commandos, who supervised their training. The first sizeable Ranger action took place in August 1942 at the Dieppe Raid, where 50 Rangers were dispersed among the British Commandos. The first full Ranger action took place during the invasion of North West Africa (Operation Torch) in November 1942. The Rangers distinguished themselves during the D-Day invasion at Normandy.

In 1942, the British Royal Navy's nine Royal Marines infantry battalions were reorganized as commandos, numbered from 40 to 48.They joined the British Army Commandos in combined Commando Brigades. The Royal Marine Commandos, unlike the Army Commandos, were retained after the end of the war.

A joint Canadian-American Commando unit, the 1st Special Service Force, nicknamed the Devil's Brigade, was formed in 1942 under the command of Colonel Robert Frederick. The unit initially saw service in the Pacific, in August 1943 at Kiska in the Aleutians campaign. However most of its operations occurred during the Italian campaign and in southern France. its most famous raid, which was documented in the film Devil's Brigade, was the battle of Monte la Difensa. In 1945, the unit was disbanded; the Canadian members were sent to the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion as replacements, and the American members were sent to either the 101st Airborne Division or the 82nd Airborne Division as replacements.

The Pacific and Asia

Following the British example, the Australian Army formed commando units, known as Australian independent companies in the early stages of World War II. They first saw action in early 1942 during the Japanese assault on New Ireland, and at the Timorese campaign. The 2/1st Independent Company was wiped out on New Ireland, but on Timor, the 2/2nd Ind Coy formed the heart of an Allied force which engaged Japanese forces in a guerrilla campaign. The Japanese commander on the island drew parallels with the Boer War, and decided that it would take a numerical advantage of 10:1 in order to defeat the Allies. The campaign occupied the attention of an entire Japanese division for almost a year. The independent companies were later renamed commando squadrons, and they saw widespread action in the South West Pacific Area, especially in New Guinea and Borneo.

During 1941, the United States Marine Corps formed commando battalions, inspired by both the British commandos and the tactics used by Chinese Communist forces, from whom they acquired the war cry "gung-ho". The USMC commandos were known collectively as Marine Raiders. The Raiders initially saw action at the Battle of Tulagi and the Battle of Makin, as well as the Battle of Guadalcanal, the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, and other parts of the Pacific Ocean Areas. In February 1944 the four Raider battalions were converted to regular marine units.

Z Force, an Australian-British-New Zealand combined operations commando unit, formed by Special Operations Australia, also carried out many raiding and reconnaissance operations in the South West Pacific theatre, most notably Operation Jaywick, in which they destroyed tonnes of Japanese shipping at Singapore Harbour. An attempt to replicate this success, with Operation Rimau, resulted in the death of almost all those involved. However Z Force and other SOA units continued operations until the war's end.

Weapons of the modern commando Jaubert are clearly visible

After 1945

Britain now maintains one brigade of Commandos (3 Commando Brigade) as part of the Royal Marines; this includes three Royal Marines Light Infantry Commandos (battalions), one Army Royal Artillery Commando Regiment, two Army Royal Engineers Commando Squadrons, and a Commando Logistic Regiment consisting of both Royal Marines and soldiers.

The word "commando" originally meant a unit like a regiment. It got its present usual popular meaning of "one man" by people misunderstanding unexplained newspaper and radio news reports of the deeds of "the commandos".

Canadian commando forces were disbanded and recreated at various times in the post-war years, and by 1979, there were three Units, with No 3 Commando established as an airborne unit. This resulted in a ceiling of about 750 members in all ranks, organized into three smaller company-sized commandos. The three infantry commandos took shape around the three regimental affiliations: No 1 Commando with the Royal 22e Régiment, No 2 Commando with Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, and No 3 Commando with The Royal Canadian Regiment. The Airborne wing was disbanded after allegations of wrongdoing in Somalia in 1992-93. Later, parliamentary investigations would question why such an elite commando unit was sent on a peacekeeping mission. (The Canadian Joint Task Force Two, or JTF2, is also sometimes referred to as a "commando" unit, but it is technically a specialist counter-terrorist unit.)

In Australia, Commandos were previously part of 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. This has recently changed, and a full battalion (4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment) of Commandos has been raised. One company of 4th Battalion is responsible for Counter-Terrorism operations and response in the eastern region of Australia and is officially known as Tactical Assault Group - East (TAG-E). This company mirrors its sister unit (the original Tactical Assault Group) in the West (TAG-W), which is part of the Australian Special Air Service Regiment (SASR). Commandos from 4RAR have recently been deployed to several theatres of war including Iraq and Afghanistan where they continue to perform their jobs successfully alongside the Special Air Service Regiment.

Other points

William B. Cushing, a daring young U.S. Navy officer during the U.S. Civil War, was anachronistically called "Lincoln's commando" by his biographers.

Trivia

The terms "going commando" or simply "commando" are often used in the United States to refer to wearing no underwear under the pants (trousers). The term originated with American soldiers who preferred not to wear underwear in field conditions because of its tendency to retain sweat, and the additional laundry burden. The terms are analogous to the Scottish military term "regimental" referring to wearing no underwear under the kilt.

External links

* SpecEncyclopaedia.com - The Commandos of the World
* Israeli Special Forces at isayeret.com
* SpecencycloForum - Specialised Forces Forum
* Royal Engineers Museum - Commando Sappers

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Commando: Encyclopedia BETA

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