Oxford and Cambridge Club Military History Group 2016 Newsletter Number 49 1 Contents Commando Evening 29 November 2016 Page 3 Book Reviews Page 9 The SAS and LRDG Roll of Honour When Shall Their Glory Fade? The Stories of the Thirty-Eight Battle Honours of the Army Commandos All Behind You, Winston: Churchill's Great Coalition 1940-45 2 Editor There is a waiting list for the next presentation on October 12 Wednesday given by Robert Chase (member) Napoleon's disastrous Russian Campaign I am looking for speakers for the 6 June 2017. This is of course the anniversary of D Day and I would like to have speakers covering what was going on behind the lines, SOE, SAS, and Airborne etc. The Commando evening will be first class. There are a number of places still available and it would be satisfying to continue the tradition of the sell out when we occupy the Princess Louise Room. Just consider the panel. The leader of the Commandos in the Falkland’s War and subsequent author of a number of military works along with a very famous military historian who has written on the Commandos. Commandos 1940 -1946 Promises to be one of the best MHG gatherings Delay booking at your peril – there are only 16 of 50 places left Discussion panel to include General Julian Thompson Royal Marines and military historian Charles Messenger chaired by member Richard Mead. November Tuesday 29 2016 The evening will start at 1800 for an 1830 presentation by Richard Mead. Supper at 1930 then a discussion chaired by Richard from 2045 to 2130. The MHG have taken the Marlborough Room on the basis that there will be a high demand for places with 34 of the 50 sold. If you are not quick off the mark you will be disappointed. Guests are encouraged. 3 Richard’s presentation: The Evolution of the Commandos from 1940 to 1946 On 3 June 1940, as the evacuation from Dunkirk was drawing to a close, Churchill wrote to the CIGS, General Sir John Dill, demanding the creation of a new type of unit to carry out raids on the enemy coastline. Named ‘Commandos’ by Colonel Dudley Clarke, who was given the responsibility for raising twelve such units, each of 500 men, they were formed entirely of volunteers from the Home Commands under conditions of service markedly different from those of the rest of the British Army. The first eighteen months were difficult ones, with the raids on the Lofoten Islands and Vaagso in Norway being rare successes for the UK-based Commandos, whilst those in the Middle East experienced disaster on Crete and serious losses in Syria. 1942 saw an improvement, with the dramatic raid on St Nazaire being followed by the only successful actions during the Dieppe Raid. The latter showed that the Commandos were well suited to carry out operations in support of conventional troops and, from then on, Commandos were employed in every major landing, beginning in Operation Torch in North Africa and continuing through Sicily, Salerno, Anzio and elsewhere, before reaching a climax in Normandy on D-Day. In the meantime, raiding continued under more specialised units. With the War Office opposed to the Commandos from the start, it proved difficult to replace losses and the Admiralty was approached to raise new Commandos from the 4 Royal Marines. The first such RM Commando was formed by volunteers, but in 1943 it was decided to convert the Royal Marine Division into Commandos and, from then on, they played a vital role with the Army Commandos in every theatre of the War, not only in Europe and the Mediterranean, but also in South-East Asia. After the War the continuing hostility of the War Office and the push to cut military spending forced the disbandment of the Army Commandos, but it was decided to retain three RM Commandos within 3 Commando Brigade which, now much expanded, exists to this day and has seen action in many operations, from Suez and the Falklands to the Gulf War and Afghanistan. The talk will go into detail on the history of the Commandos from their original formation until the disbandment of the Army Commandos in 1945/6. Richard Mead’s soon to be published latest book: The Commando General: The Life of Major General Sir Robert Laycock KCMG CB DSO Pen & Sword Military ISBN 1473854075 / 9781473854079 Format Hardback Published 30/11/2016 RICHARD MEAD was born in 1947 in In June 1940 Bob Laycock was a 33 year- Shanghai. Educated at Marlborough College old captain bound for a staff job in the and Pembroke College, Cambridge, Richard Middle East. One month later he was a qualified as a Chartered Accountant and lieutenant colonel and CO of 8 Commando, was successively an investment banker and one of the first to be formed on Churchill’s a partner in a Big Four accountancy firm, order. before working as an independent corporate In 1941 Laycock was sent to the adviser and non-executive chairman or Mediterranean, where Layforce experienced director of a large number of public and disappointment and disaster. Lacking private companies. He retired in 2014. reinforcements, it was disbanded and, after Richard has always been interested in leading the abortive Rommel Raid, Laycock military history, with a focus on the Second was recalled to command the Special Service World War. His first book, Churchill’s Lions; Brigade, the umbrella formation for the A Biographical Guide to the Key British Commandos. Generals of World War II, was published In 1943 Laycock led his brigade in in 2007. He has subsequently built himself the invasion of Sicily and the landings a reputation as a military biographer with at Salerno, before being brought back General ‘Boy’: The Life of Lieutenant to take over Combined Operations as General Sir Frederick Browning and The Last Mountbatten’s successor and the youngest Great Cavalryman: The Life of General Sir major-general in the British Army. He Richard McCreery. These two books and his attended most of the major Allied most recent publication, The Men Behind conferences for the rest of the War. Monty, which was shortlisted for the British Laycock resigned from the Army in 1947, Army Military Book of the Year 2016, are all but returned to public service as Governor in print with Pen & Sword. of Malta from 1954 to 1959. He was later to become Colonel of the SAS, an appropriate appointment for one who had originally recruited David Stirling into 8 Commando. This long overdue and deeply researched biography reveals the leadership qualities Jacket design: Jon Wilkinson and character of a legendary soldier. For a complete list of current titles ring or write to: PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED 47 Church Street, Barnsley South Yorkshire S70 2AS uk £19.99 · us $34.99 E-mail: [email protected] Tel: 01226 734222 Or visit our website at: Scan the QR www.pen-and-sword.co.uk code foR moRe uk £19.99 titleS fRom OVER 5000 TITLES AVAILABLE. Pen & SwoRd us $34.99 www.pen-and-sword.co.uk www.pen-and-sword.co.uk COMMANDO GENERAL jckt.indd 1 27/06/2016 09:04 Commando General Author Richard Mead 5 Summary of the book: In June 1940 Bob Laycock was 33 years old, a captain in the Royal Horse Guards and waiting for a passage to the Middle East as a chemical warfare specialist. One month later he was a lieutenant colonel and CO of 8 Commando, one of the first to be formed on Churchill’s express order, his appointment coming partly on the back of his qualification as a Finnish Able Seaman, following a voyage on a windjammer around the Cape of Good Hope. This was the start of a meteoric rise, which would see him, in October 1943, as the youngest major general in the British Army and the successor to Lord Louis Mountbatten as Chief of Combined Operations. In command of Layforce in 1941, Laycock was sent to the Mediterranean, where his formation experienced disappointment at Bardia, disaster on Crete and a costly success in Syria. Forbidden to recruit locally Layforce was disbanded. Having led the abortive Rommel Raid, from which he emerged after 41 days on the run, Laycock himself was recalled to command the Special Service Brigade, the umbrella formation for all the Commandos. In 1943 Laycock led his brigade on active service in the invasion of Sicily and the landings at Salerno, before being brought back to take over Combined Operations HQ, with oversight of all the Commandos, including those recently formed by the Royal Marines; at the age of 36, he was the youngest British general of the War.’ In addition to continuing Mountbatten’s work, he attended most of the major Allied conferences for the rest of the War. In the first year of peace, he was instrumental in the decision to retain 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines, although the original Army Commandos were disbanded. Laycock resigned from the Army in 1947, but returned to public service as Governor of Malta from 1954 to 1959. He was later to become Colonel of the SAS, an appropriate appointment for one who had originally recruited David Stirling and Jock Lewes into 8 Commando. The Foreword is by Major General Julian Thompson, who famously led 3 Commando Brigade in the Falklands in 1982 Major General J H A Thompson Panel member 6 Major General Julian H A Thompson CB OBE served in the Royal Marines for 34 years in the Near Middle East, the Far East, Europe and Northern Ireland.