Campaign: D-Day: Overlord by Warlord Games

Author:Warlord Games
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781472838957
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2019-07-19T16:00:00+00:00

THE FIRST SPECIAL SERVICE BRIGADE

The 1st Special Service Brigade was made up of some of the most battle-hardened commandos of the war. Over the four years prior to D-Day the green-bereted Army Commandos had created a storied legacy with operations like the St Nazaire Raid, the Norwegian raids on the Lofoten Islands and Vaagso, and in their support of the Allied operations in the Mediterranean, Western Europe, and the Far East. The 1st Special Service Brigade would add another chapter to their story on D-Day.

In November 1943, the commandos saw a restructuring of their organisation. Prior to this restructuring the various commandos of around 400 men fought independently under the command of a Special Service Brigade Headquarters. The commandos would now be brought together into brigade units of four commandos under the command of the Headquarters, Special Services Group, led by a Major General. Each commando now had a HQ group, five fighting troops, and one heavy weapons troop to provide fire support. There was a total of four of these ‘Special Service’ Brigades, 1st through 4th. The 1st and 4th Brigades were assigned pivotal roles in the D-Day landings while the 2nd and 3rd Special Service Brigades saw service in Italy and the Far East respectively. Eventually the brigades were renamed Commando Brigades due to the stigma and confusion their abbreviated name (SS Brigade) caused.

The First Special Service Brigade had some of the most experienced men in the British army, including its commander, Lord Lovat, who had won the Distinguished Service Order at Dieppe. It was made up of No 3, 4, and 6 Commandos and 45 Royal Marine Commando. Commandos 3, 4, and 6 were some of the founding commando units formed in June 1940.

Many of the commandos who became legends during the war were original members of No.3 Commando. The eccentric Jack Churchill, John Dunford-Slater, and Peter Young all joined No. 3 Commando in 1940. Before D-Day the commando had seen action in the early raids along the French coast, the Lofoten Island and Vaagso raids in Norway, and the Dieppe raid. After being transferred to North Africa in April 1943 No. 3 Commando took part in the tough fighting in Sicily and Italy including the hard-fought battle of Termoli. Not long after Termoli, No. 3 Commando was sent to England to form up with the newly established First Special Service Brigade and prepare for the invasion of Normandy.

No.4 Commando first saw action in February 1941 during the Lofoten Island raids in Norway. In the following August they took part in the Dieppe raid under Lord Lovat’s command. In a raid full of disasters No. 4 Commando achieved their objective with relatively light losses. In April 1944, two months before the invasion, two French troops from No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando led by Major Philippe Kieffer were attached to No. 4 Commando.

After taking part in a few small-scale early war raids, No. 6 Commando had its first large scale operation in November 1942, landing with American troops in Algeria in Operation Torch.

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