Combined Operations: The Official Story Of The Commandos

by Hilary Saint George Saunders, Louis Mountbatten (Contributor)

Text extracted from opening pages of book: COMBINED OPERATIONS The Official Story of the COMMANDOS with a forward by Vice-Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, Chief of Combined Operations 1943 NEW YORK THE MACMILLAN COMPANY Copyright, 1943,

By The Controller of His Britannic Majesty's Stationery Office All rights reserved. Printed and bound in the USA by Kingsport Press,Inc., Kingsport, Tennessee.

London, April(by Cable) This record contains some account of combined operations in general, and of the exploits of the Command which bears that name. The term Combined Operations is vague and does not convey more than a general meaning; but their scope is definite and precise. A combined operation is a landing operation in which, owing to actual or expected opposition, it is essential that the fighting services take part together, in order to strike the enemy with the maximum effect, at the chosen point and at the chosen moment. To help the services to do this a Combined Operations Command was formed, whose primary function is to train officers and men of the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines, the Army and the Royal Air Force in the conduct of amphibious war fare. It is also the task of this Command to plan and execute all kinds oi raids, small or large. Amphibious operations are a complex form of warfare. On the material side they entail technical study, the production of new machines of war, special types of assault craft, both large and small, and the use of these and other new devices. On the human side they demand the creation of sailor-soldiers, soldier-sailors, and airmen-soldiers, who must cooperate with imaginative understanding of each others methods and problems. The Combined Operations Command is concerned with both of these aspects and with many others. The Command has its own forces, of which the Commandos and landing-craft crews form a part. But many other units pass through it: combined training centres: not only British and Dominion, but also United States troops and those of our other allies the Fighting French Norwegians, Czechs, Poles, Dutch, and Belgians. United States Naval Marine, Army, and Air Corps officers form part of the Combined Operations headquarters, and United States Rangers operate side by side with British Commandos. We cannot win this war by bombing and blockade alone: it can be won only when our armies have taken physical possession. If we look at the map we find that there is no place where United States or British troops can land to fight the enemy without the probability o severe opposition. They can only be taken there in force by a seaborne expedition with air support. They cannot land unless, in fact, combined operations are carried out. Amphibious warfare, therefore, will play an even greater part in the coming year than it has in the past. The story of this series of operations has been accurately set down, but it is not complete since, for security reasons, some of our most successful raids cannot yet be mentioned at all, whilst some details of others must remain untold until the war is won.

Genres: History, Military Fiction

200 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1943

Reviews

[Dan McCarthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great account of the missions of the UK commandos during the early war. It was written in 1943, so it runs into issues if you want a complete account of actions (still classified, actors are still in POW camps, etc.) Put it is a good account of the readily accessable information at the time.

[Professor · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book's jacket claims it was written by Evelyn Waugh, but I'm guessing that is another wartime exaggeration. Combined Operations is an odd introduction to Britain's Commando units actions in the Second World War. Written during the war, it at time gets extremely specific, but at others is maddeningly vague. There is a fair amount of assumption that you, the reader, will already know X or Y figure or event, and the book is merely filling in the details. Every action, even failed ones, are presented as successes of one kind or another, even disasters like Dieppe, which is in keeping with the propaganda this is. What is interesting is seeing the particular way the British spin the events and the war itself-their soldiers are cheery and jokey in the face of it all, and there are of course many jabs at the Germans and Italians. Even though the accounts are suspect, the basic tactics of the commandos and the events are interesting to read about. Still, I am sure that are better, more complete, and more recent works on this subject.