No. 44 (Royal Marine) Commando was a

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions a ...

size formation in the

British Commandos The Commando, Commandos, also known as the British Commandos, were formed during the World War II, Second World War in June 1940, following a request from Winston Churchill, for special forces that could carry out Raid (military), raids against ...

, formed during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. The Commando was assigned to the

3rd Special Service Brigade Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

and served in the Burma Campaign.

Background

The British Commandos were formed in 1940, by the order of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

the British

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

. He called for specially trained troops that would "develop a reign of terror down the enemy coast". At first they were a small force of volunteers who carried out small raids against enemy occupied territory, but by 1943 their role had changed into lightly equipped assault Infantry which specialised in spearheading amphibious landings. The man selected as the overall commander of the force was Admiral Sir

Roger Keyes Admiral of the Fleet Roger John Brownlow Keyes, 1st Baron Keyes, (4 October 1872 – 26 December 1945) was a British naval officer. As a junior officer he served in a corvette operating from Zanzibar on slavery suppression missions. Ea ...

himself a veteran of the landings at Galipoli and the

Zeebrugge raid The Zeebrugge Raid ( nl, Aanval op de haven van Zeebrugge; ) on 23 April 1918, was an attempt by the Royal Navy to block the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge. The British intended to sink obsolete ships in the canal entrance, to prevent Germ ...

in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Initially the Commandos were a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

formation the first

Royal Marine The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

Commando was formed in 1942. The Royal Marine Commandos like all British Commandos went through the six-week intensive commando course at

Achnacarry Achnacarry ( gd, Achadh na Cairidh) is a hamlet, private estate, and a castle in the Lochaber region of the Highlands, Scotland. It occupies a strategic position on an isthmus between Loch Lochy to the east, and Loch Arkaig to the west. Ac ...

. The course in the Scottish Highlands concentrated on fitness, speed marches, weapons training, map reading, climbing, small boat operations and demolitions both by day and by night. No. 44 (Royal Marine) Commando was formed on 1 August 1943, under command of Lieutenant Colonel F C Horton and consisted of seven

Troops A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Troo ...

just over 400 men. Each Troop consisted of three officers and 62 men in a small headquarters and two sections. In 1943 the commando formation was also standardised, into a small headquarters, five fighting Troops, a Heavy Weapons troop and a signals platoon. The fighting Troops consisted of 65 all ranks divided into two 30 man sections which in turn were divided into three ten man sub sections. The Heavy Weapons Troop was made up of 3 inch Mortar and

Vickers machine gun The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a water-cooled .303 British (7.7 mm) machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army. The gun was operated by a three-man crew but typically required more men to move and o ...

teams. No.44 (Royal Marine) Commando was raised in August 1943, from the 3rd Royal Marine Battalion under command of Lieutenant Colonel F C Horton. It served in the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

with the

. It took part in the Burma Campaign and was located in the

Arakan Arakan ( or ) is a historic coastal region in Southeast Asia. Its borders faced the Bay of Bengal to its west, the Indian subcontinent to its north and Burma proper to its east. The Arakan Mountains isolated the region and made it accessi ...

during the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

U-Go Offensive, before carrying out a number of raids along the Burmese coastline. During the 1944–45 third Arakan offensive it took part in the landings at

Myebon Myebon ( my, မြေပုံမြို့ Myebon Township) is a town of Mrauk-U District in Rakhine State, Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ eve ...

and the

battle of Hill 170 The Battle of Hill 170 was a battle between the British 3rd Commando Brigade and the Japanese 54th Division during the Second World War. The battle was fought in January 1945, as part of the Burma Campaign. The 3rd Commando Brigade were giv ...

. It was then withdrawn to India to prepare for the invasion of Malaya Operation Zipper. The war ended before the operation began and the commando was diverted to reoccupy

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

Operations

Second World War

Early Commando units were all from the

but by February 1942, the Royal Marines were asked to organise Commando units of their own, and 6,000 men volunteered. In November 1943 No. 44 (Royal Marine) Commando was assigned to the

and sailed for the Far East and saw action against the

in the Burma Campaign.Haining, p.48 The other units in the brigade were

No. 1 Commando The No. 1 Commando was a unit of the British Commandos and part of the British Army during the Second World War. It was raised in 1940 from the ranks of the existing independent companies. Operationally they carried out a series of small scale cros ...

, No. 5 Commando and No. 42 (Royal Marine) Commando.Haining, p.46 No. 44 and No.5 Commandos arrived in the theatre together as No. 1 and No. 42 were delayed in Ceylon by transportation problems. The commando spent some time at Cox's Bazar acclimatising before becoming operational. On 5 March 1944 No. 44 set up their base at Nhila on the

Teknaf Teknaf ( bn, টেকনাফ ''Ṭeknaf'') is an upazila of Cox's Bazar District in the Division of Chittagong, Bangladesh. It forms the southernmost point in mainland Bangladesh (St. Martin's Island is the southernmost point). The name of the ...

peninsula. Later the same month No. 44 took part in their first operations against the Japanese. These were two missions codenamed Operation Screwdriver. Their first operation 11 March was a landing from the sea at Alethangyaw their objective was to capture the town for the rest of the brigade to pass through into the surrounding hills to engage the enemy. The landing was met in force by machine gun emplacements and sniper fire and for the next 48 hours the Commando had a series of running battles with the Japanese and carried out a reconnaissance of the surrounding hills. The mission claimed 40–50 Japanese dead for the loss of four commandos missing believed dead. Their second mission was crossing the

Naf River The Naf River ( bn, নাফ নদী ''Naf Nodi'' ; my, နတ်မြစ် ; rki, ) is an international river marking the border of southeastern Bangladesh and northwestern Myanmar. Geography The Naf River's average depth is , and ma ...

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

on 21 March with the objective of raiding Nahkaungdo, Lambaguna and Hinthaya. The operation, during which the unit chaplain, the Revd Harold Manger RNVR, was killed in action, was a success: following a number of small

skirmishes Skirmishers are light infantry or light cavalry soldiers deployed as a vanguard, flank guard or rearguard to screen a tactical position or a larger body of friendly troops from enemy advances. They are usually deployed in a skirmish line, an i ...

the Japanese were forced to bring up reinforcements and the Commando was withdrawn.

1945

On 3 January No. 44 were involved in a full scale amphibious landing with the rest of the brigade and a tank squadron in Operation Lightning at

Akyab Sittwe (; ; formerly Akyab) is the capital of Rakhine State, Myanmar (Burma). Sittwe, pronounced ''sait-tway'' in the Rakhine language, is located on an estuarial island created at the confluence of the Kaladan, Mayu, and Lay Mro rivers emp ...

. The landings started at 12:30 hours and were completed by 13:50 hours. When they reached the town of Akyab they discovered the Japanese had withdrawn and there was no trace on the island of the supposed garrison of three battalions. By the end of the month they were involved in the

this was one of the most intense battles of the whole Burma campaign. In March 1945 the Commando was withdrawn back to India for to prepare for Operation Zipper, the planned invasion of Malaya. The war ended before the Zipper landing could take place and No. 44 was sent to liberate

instead.

Legacy

No. 44 (Royal Marine) Commando was renumbered

40 Commando 40 Commando RM is a battalion-sized formation of the British Royal Marines and subordinate unit within 3 Commando Brigade, the principal Commando formation, under the Operational Command of Commander in Chief Fleet. Their barracks are at Norton ...

when the

2nd Commando Brigade The 2nd Special Service Brigade was formed in late 1943 in the Middle East and saw service in Italy, the Adriatic, the landings at Anzio and took part in operations in Yugoslavia.Army Commandos 1940–45 By Mike Chappell, p 31 On 6 December 1944 th ...

and its commando units including the then No. 40 (Royal Marine) Commando were disbanded. After the Second World War all the British Army Commandos were disbanded and the commando role was taken over by the Royal Marines. However the present day Parachute Regiment, Special Air Service and

Special Boat Service The Special Boat Service (SBS) is the special forces unit of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. The SBS can trace its origins back to the Second World War when the Army Special Boat Section was formed in 1940. After the Second World War, the Roya ...

can all trace their origins to the Commandos.

Battle honours

The following

Battle honour A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In European military t ...

s were awarded to the British Commandos during the Second World War.Moreman, p.94 * Adriatic * Alethangyaw *

Aller Aller may refer to: Places Rivers * Aller (Germany), a major river in North Germany *Aller (Asturian river), a river in Asturias, Spain *River Aller, a small river on Exmoor in Somerset, England Inhabited places in the United Kingdom *Aller, Devo ...

Anzio Anzio (, also , ) is a town and ''comune'' on the coast of the Lazio region of Italy, about south of Rome. Well known for its seaside harbour setting, it is a fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine Islands ...

* Argenta Gap * Burma 1943–45 *

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

Dieppe Dieppe (; Norman: ''Dgieppe'') is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to N ...

* Dives Crossing * Djebel Choucha *

Flushing Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushin ...

* Greece 1944–45 * Italy 1943–45 *

Kangaw The Battle of Hill 170 was a battle between the British 3rd Commando Brigade and the Japanese 54th Division during the Second World War. The battle was fought in January 1945, as part of the Burma Campaign. The 3rd Commando Brigade were give ...

* Landing at Porto San Venere *

Landing in Sicily Landing is the last part of a flight, where a flying animal, aircraft, or spacecraft returns to the ground. When the flying object returns to water, the process is called alighting, although it is commonly called "landing", "touchdown" or ...

* Leese * Litani *

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

* Middle East 1941, 1942, 1944 * Monte Ornito *

Normandy Landing The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

* North Africa 1941–43 * North-West Europe 1942, 1944–1945 * Norway 1941 * Pursuit to Messina *

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

* St. Nazaire * Salerno * Sedjenane 1 *

Sicily 1943 (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

* Steamroller Farm * Syria 1941 *

Termoli Termoli ( Molisano: ''Térmëlë'') is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south Adriatic coast of Italy, in the province of Campobasso, region of Molise. It has a population of around 32,000, having expanded quickly after World War II, ...

* Vaagso *

Valli di Comacchio The Valli di Comacchio, meaning "fish basins of Comacchio", are a series of contiguous brackish lagoons situated to the south of Comacchio, close to the Adriatic coast of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. They lie within the comuni of ...

* Westkapelle

References

Notes Bibliography * * * * * * * * {{RM Commandos Royal Marine formations and units Military units and formations established in 1943 44 1943 establishments in the United Kingdom Military units and formations in Burma in World War II