No. 6 Commando | |
---|---|
Active | 1940–1946 |
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | British Army |
Type | British Commando |
Role | Special Forces |
Size | 470–535 men all ranks |
Part of | 1st Special Service Brigade |
Engagements | Second World War |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Derek Mills-Roberts |
Insignia | |
Combined Operations Shoulder Patch |
No. 6 Commando was a battalion-sized British Army commando unit of the Second World War. Although it was raised to conduct small-scale raids and harass garrisons along the coast of German-occupied France, it was mainly employed as a highly trained infantry assault unit.
Formed in July 1940, No. 6 Commando's first involvement in operations came in late 1941 when it contributed small forces to raids in Norway. In April 1942 the whole unit was scheduled to take part in Operation Myrmidon, in France, but this raid was eventually cancelled. As a result, the first full-scale operation that No. 6 Commando took part in was Operation Torch, the Allied landings in Algeria in November 1942. Later, it joined the advance into Tunisia in 1943. On 6 June 1944, it participated in the D-Day landings in France as part of Operation Overlord, coming ashore with the 1st Special Service Brigade which was tasked with linking up with the troops from the 6th Airborne Division on the eastern flank of Sword.
Following this, No. 6 Commando were used in the defence of the beachhead and the subsequent operations to break out from Normandy before being withdrawn with the rest of the brigade back to the United Kingdom in September 1944. In January 1945, they took part in the Allied counterattack during the Ardennes Offensive before joining the advance into Germany as part of Operation Plunder. With the end of hostilities, the unit was disbanded in 1946.