![]() ![]() The beach parties were armed with a Lewis gun, three Lanchester submachine guns, rifles and pistols but were expected to be able to use any weapons they encountered. On operations where the beach needed to be cleared the Beach Party would be attached to a Beach Company (five officers and 142 men) within a Beach Group that included an Army infantry battalion and other troops-the battalion commander being the Beach Group Commander. īy 1943, the official Beach Commando structure was a Principal Beachmaster (who was also the deputy Senior Naval Officer Landing) with a Deputy Principal Beach Master and one ordinary seaman and three Beach Parties each of one Beach Master, two Assistant Beach Masters, two petty officers, two leading seaman, six able seamen and 14 ordinary seamen-a total of 11 officers, 6 petty officers and 67 other ratings. When first raised in 1942 the structure of a section was two officers (Beach Master and Assistant Beach Master), a petty officer and seventeen other ratings of varying rank. Composition Įach commando was commanded by an officer of the rank of lieutenant commander or commander and divided into three numbered sections ("parties"). Each unit was roughly equivalent in size to a company. Of note, 'W' Commando was largely formed from personnel drawn from the Royal Canadian Navy. In the end 22 Royal Naval Commando units were raised, designated 'A' through to 'W' (although there was no 'I' Commando), each with its own distinctively coloured lanyard worn on the left shoulder when wearing general British army battledress. The success of these parties led to the decision to form the Royal Naval Commandos and over the course of 1942–43 personnel were selected and training undertaken at HMS Armadillo at Ardentinny and then later at the commando school at Achnacarry in Scotland. During this operation specially-trained Royal Navy beach parties were landed along with the first wave of assault troops in order to organise the beachheads and control the landings. ![]() The first Royal Naval Commandos were formed from these beach parties shortly after Operation Ironclad, the initial Allied landings on Madagascar to capture the Vichy French-held port of Diego Suarez in early May 1942. In 1941 the Naval Beach Parties, which were the forerunners to the Royal Naval Commandos, were raised. Operations included the landings at Diego Suarez on Madagascar, Operation Torch (North Africa), Operation Neptune (Normandy landings), the Screwdriver operations in Burma, Operation Market-Garden, Invasion of Elba (codename Operation Brassard) and the assault on Walcheren.Įarly Allied amphibious operations during the war were hampered by poor organisation and control of the landing beaches. ![]() Royal Naval Commando parties took part in all Allied amphibious landings from early 1942 to the end of the war, when they were disbanded. The Beach Commando's principal duty was "the quick and safe turnaround of all boats on the beaches" The first units were raised in 1942 and by the end of the war, 22 company-sized units had been raised to carry out various tasks associated with establishing, maintaining and controlling beachheads during amphibious operations. The Royal Naval Commandos, also known as RN Beachhead Commandos, were a commando formation of the Royal Navy which served during the Second World War. ![]()
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