No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando was a commando unit of the British Army during the Second World War, recruited largely from non-British personnel from German-occupied Europe. This unit was used to help co-ordinate attacks with other allied forces.
The unit's origins were in a British volunteer unit proposed in August 1940 which recruited from Northern Command. A low number of recruits, however, meant that the unit was disbanded and the volunteers returned to their units. In July 1942, the unit was raised again as a multinational force, recruiting volunteers from German-occupied Europe and enemy aliens. It included volunteers from France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Poland and Yugoslavia, organised into independent sub-units known as "troops".
Units from No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando served in North-West Europe, the Mediterranean, Scandinavia and Burma, mostly in small numbers attached to other military formations. By the end of the war, No. 10 Commando had become the largest commando formation in the British Army.
Background
"Commando" units were first created in 1940, by order of the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, as small highly trained units which 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 specialised in spearheading amphibious landings.
The man selected as the overall commander of the force was Admiral Sir Roger Keyes, himself a veteran of the landings at Galipoli and the Zeebrugge raid of the First World War. By March 1941 there were 11 battalion-sized units now called commandos. Each commando would consist of around 390 men in a small headquarters and six "troops" of three officers and 62 men each.
The idea for a foreign commando unit came from a junior French naval officer, Philippe Kieffer, after he heard of the successful Lofoten raid. The idea was eventually put to the then Chief of Combined Operations, Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten who could see the value of a foreign commando unit but insisted it should include volunteers from all the occupied territories. It falls under the command of 1st Special Service Brigade.
Formation
No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Dudley Lister was formed on 2 July 1942. The men of the new commando were all foreigners except for the British headquarters. Headquarters consisted of a British Commanding Officer, second in command, adjutant, intelligence officer and NCO, medical officer and medical orderlies, signals officer and signals section, training officer, quartermaster, administration officer and drivers. The formation of No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando meant that by the end of the war it was the largest commando unit in the British Army. Like all British Commandos the men of No. 10 (Inter Allied) Commando went through the six-week intensive commando course at Achnacarry. 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. In May 1943 the commando moved to Eastbourne on the Sussex coast where they carried out specialist training which unusually for a non parachute unit included parachute training at No.1 Parachute Training School RAF, Ringway near Manchester (over 80% of the Polish troop were parachute qualified) and they also trained in mountain climbing and Arctic warfare. At the same time as the move to Eastbourne the commando got a new commanding officer when Lieutenant Colonel Peter Laycock took over command on 15 May.
No. 1 (French) Troop
No. 1 Troop was formed in April 1942 By Philppe Kieffer, from an intake of 40 Frenchmen, who were initially called 1re Compagnie de Fusiliers Marins (1st Company of Naval Rifles). Over time the Unit grew up to a second troop (see below, Troop 8) and a half Troop (K-GUN). The unit retained its links with the Free French Forces wearing FNFL insignia and headgear. Troop 1, Troop 8 and K-Gun were attached to No 4 Commando for Overlord opération and the Netherlands campaign.
No. 2 (Dutch) Troop
Free Dutch Forces
No. 2 Troop consisted of 62 men under command of Captain Mulders. The troop formed in June 1942 was always below establishment and never deployed as a complete independent unit. The men acted as liaison officers, guides and interpreters during operations Market Garden, Infatuate I and II.