The 2nd Special Service Brigade was formed in late 1943 in the Middle East and saw service in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, the Adriatic, the landings at Anzio and took part in operations in

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

.Army Commandos 1940–45 By Mike Chappell, p 31 On 6 December 1944 the Brigade was renamed 2nd Commando Brigade, removing the title ''Special Service'' and its association with the

Schutzstaffel The ''Schutzstaffel'' (; ; SS; also stylised with SS runes as ''ᛋᛋ'') was a major paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II. It beg ...

Italian Campaign

The brigade as a formation, was not involved in Operation Husky, the

Allied invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as the Battle of Sicily and Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allies of World War II, Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis p ...

, but 40 RM Commando was involved in the assault landings as Army Troops. In

Operation Shingle The Battle of Anzio was a battle of the Italian Campaign (World War II), Italian Campaign of World War II that commenced January 22, 1944. The battle began with the Allies of World War II, Allied amphibious landing known as Operation Shingle, an ...

, the assault at Anzio, No. 9 (Army) Commando and No. 43 (Royal Marine) Commando were the only units involved. The whole brigade was involved in the final offensive of the Italian Campaign. In 1945 the brigade was involved in the Lake Comacchio battle, Operation Roast, where

Corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...

Thomas Peck Hunter of 43 Commando was posthumously awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

for conspicuous Gallantry in single-handedly clearing a farmstead housing three Spandau machine guns after charging across 200 metres of open ground firing his Bren gun from the hip, then moving to an exposed position to draw fire away from his comrades by engaging further Spandaus entrenched on the far side of the canal. After Operation Roast the brigade was involved in the follow-up actions until the German surrender. The brigade remained in the area on security duties until it was disbanded in 1946

Formation

*Brigadier Ronnie Tod ** No. 2 Commando ** No. 9 Commando ** No 40 Royal Marine Commando ** No 43 Royal Marine Commando By the

Battle of Monte Cassino The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome, was a series of four military assaults by the Allies of World War II, Allies against Nazi Germany, German forces in Kingdom of Italy, Italy during the Italian Campaign (World War ...

the order was: * Brigadier T. B. L. Churchill ** No. 9 Commando ** No. 10 (Inter Allied) Commando ** No 40 Royal Marine Commando ** No 43 Royal Marine Commando

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 Military operation, operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In ...

s were awarded to British Commandos during the Second World War.Moreman, p.94 * Adriatic * Alethangyaw * Aller * Anzio * Argenta Gap * Burma 1943–45 *

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

Dieppe Dieppe (; ; or Old Norse ) is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department, Normandy, northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newhaven in England ...

* Dives Crossing * Djebel Choucha * Flushing * Greece 1944–45 * Italy 1943–45 * Kangaw * Landing at Porto San Venere * Landing in Sicily * Leese * Litani *

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

* Middle East 1941, 1942, 1944 * Monte Ornito * Myebon * Normandy Landing * North Africa 1941–43 * North-West Europe 1942, 1944–1945 * Norway 1941 * Pursuit to Messina *

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

* St. Nazaire *

Salerno Salerno (, ; ; ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Campania, southwestern Italy, and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after Naples. It is located ...

* Sedjenane 1 * Sicily 1943 * Steamroller Farm * Syria 1941 * Termoli * Vaagso * Valli di Comacchio * Westkapelle

References

{{British Commando units of the Second World War, state=collapsed Special service brigades of the British Army 1943 establishments in the United Kingdom Military units and formations established in 1943 Military units and formations disestablished in 1946

Italian Campaign

Formation

Battle honours

See also

References