A very brief history of No. 4 Commando.

Following the fall of France and the evacuation from Dunkirk, Britain stood alone with the enemy occupying most of Europe (and poised to complete their conquests with the invasion of the British Isles).

With the cards seemingly stacked against him, Winston Churchill took the bold and imaginative step to raise a force of special raiding troops to strike back at the enemy on his newly acquired home ground. Taking their names from the mobile guerrilla units of the Boer War, these new units were called Commandos. Their ranks were open to all serving soldiers and volunteers came from all the different regiments and service units in the British Army to join them. However, from the beginning Commando training was tough and demanding and anyone failing to attain the required standards was returned to his unit. No.4 Commando was formed in July 1940 from some of the successful volunteers.

In March 1941, No. 4, together with No. 3 Commando, was selected to take part in Operation Claymore against the Lofoten Islands, (Norwegian Territories within the Arctic Circle occupied by the Nazis). They arrived at the Lofoten Island in the early hours of 4th March. The Germans were totally unaware of the attack, and the troops were taken by surprise. The Fish Oil factories and military installations were destroyed and they then re-embarked and headed for home. They returned home with over 300 volunteers for the Norwegian forces, sixty Quislings and 200 German prisoners, all for the cost of one casualty; an officer who had accidentally shot himself in the thigh!

In April 1942, following the cancellation of further raids on Norwegian territory, Operation Abercromby took place. The mission involved the reconnaissance of Hardelot, Boulogne, with instructions to capture prisoners and inflict as much damage as possible to the defences - including the destruction of a searchlight battery. The operation was delayed twice due to poor weather conditions, but the landings finally took place on 21-22 April. 100 men from No.4 Commando and 50 form the Canadian Carlton and York regiment, under the overall command of Lord Lovat were selected. The operation did not go as smoothly as hoped; despite landing without opposition, the troops were caught by the very searchlight battery that they'd come to destroy whilst still in the sand dunes and found their way hampered wire entanglements. Caught in hail of machine-gun fire, with time running out, the attack was abandoned.

There was now a pause in UK based commando activity. The Dieppe raid being No.4 Commando's next major assault. On the 19 August 1942 No 4 Commando played an important part in the ill-fated raid on Dieppe, their target being the six 115mm guns of the coastal battery at Varengeville-sur-mer. There the Commando, again under the command of Lord Lovat, carried out a classic operation, completely destroying the guns and annihilating the garrison. No.4 Commando suffered 45 killed, wounded or missing from 265 commandos. Their assault was the only success of this sad day, which saw appalling casualties amongst the Canadian troops.

Following the disaster of the Dieppe raid, and the fact the Britain was now a junior partner to her new American allies, the nature of the commando's role changed. Small scale coastal raiding was given to smaller, specialised units - such as the S.O.E. - and the subsequent re-organisation turned them from raiders to assault infantry.

May 1943 saw No 4 Commando re-training for their new role. At Falmouth, Cornwall, the Commando took part in a cliff assault exercise "BRANDYBALL" on 7 June. The purpose of this exercise was to prove that a force of men could be landed by the navy on a shore so rocky and high that it would be undefended. The navy said that such a landing would be impossible. The Commando proved them wrong and observers from all the services, including General Sir Bernard Montgomery, were most impressed.

On D-Day, 6 June, No 4 Commando landed from HMS Princess Astrid and HMS Maid of Orleans on the Normandy beach head, with orders to link up with the British 6th Airborne division, who had dropped to capture the bridges over the Caen Canal and the River Orne at Benouville.

No 4 Commando captured the town of Ouistreham before following on to join the rest of the Brigade at the bridges and to form a bridgehead with the 6th Airborne Division over the River Orne in the area of Le Plein, Hauger/Amfreville/Breville/Ranville. There during the following weeks, they successfully held the line, repulsing many German counter attacks, but unfortunately casualties were high. On 26 August they were withdrawn from the fighting, having been continuously in action for a period of 83 days.

Subsequently No 4 Commando returned to England to reform, but in October was back in Europe at Den Haan, Belgium to join the 4th Special Service Brigade.

On 1 November 1944, this brigade attacked the island of Walcheren off the Dutch coast to open up the approaches to the port of Antwerp. No 4 Commando was given the daunting task of making a frontal attack on the port of Flushing. By 1600 hours the Commando had reached most of its objectives, and consolidated, continuing the battle the next day. This attack was so successful, with the commando capturing the greater part of the port; it was acclaimed as a classic example of Commando warfare.

No.4 Commando were made responsible for the Walcheren area and, after a period of rest and refitting at Ostend, spent the remainder of the war guarding the approach to Antwerp.

No.4 Commando returned to England, having served in Germany until after VE Day, where it was officially disbanded, (having only had a strength of 180 men since June 1945), on 1 March 1946.