Combined Operations: The Official Story of the Commandos Book

Text extracted from opening pages of book: COMBINED OPERATIONS The Official Story of the COMMANDOS WITH A FOREWORD 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 AIX RIGHTS RESERVED PRINTED AND BOUND IN THE U. S. A. BY KINGSPORT PRESS, INC., KINGSPORT, TENN. FOREWORD London, April n ( 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 com bined 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 ma terial 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 musi cooperate with imaginative understanding of each other's 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 Oper ations headquarters, and United States Rangers operate side by side wit! British Commandos. . We cannot win this war by bombing and blockade alone: it can b< v VI FOKEWORD 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 expedi tion with air support. They cannot land unless, in fact, combined opera tions 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 suc cessful raids cannot yet be mentioned at all, whilst some details of others must remain untold until the war is won. PREFACE m This record contains some account of combined operations in general and also of the exploits of the Command bearing that name. Its growth, considerable in 1942, will be still greater in 1943. The story is not com plete. Much must remain unsaid, for the war is not yet won and every thing cannot therefore be told while there are enemies as well as friends to read it. When it was decided to write the story, the Chief of Com bined Operations gave but one order: Bearing considerations of security in mind, see to it that the account is accurate and truthf uL That order has been obeyed. The term combined operations is vague and does not convey more than a general meaning. Yet their scope is precise and definite. A combined operation is one in which two or more o the Fighting Services co-operate in order to strike the enemy with the maximum of effect at a chosen placeRead More