The 4th Special Service Brigade was a brigade-sized formation of the British Commandos formed during the Second World War in March 1944 from battalion-sized units of the Royal Marines.

The Brigade was part of the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944 during Operation Overlord; it subsequently participated in the Battle of the Scheldt and the assault of the Walcheren Islands.

As the Commando came ashore under moderate fire, it lost several men including their Regimental Sergeant Major, the Naval Forward Observation Officer and the second-in-command.

From its assembly area, it marched down the coastal road toward Lion-sur-Mer joined by three Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers (AVRE)s. As P and Y troops approached the town, a well-concealed German PaK 38 gun ambushed the tanks, knocking all three out and stalling the assault.

The second Centaur began to move into position, but struck a mine while approaching the wall, forcing the crew to bail out and join the commandos.

B Troop raced across the intersection to a house opposite only to discover that it had been fortified, with the windows and doors facing the strongpoint filled with concrete.

The German Panzer grenadiers reached the 716th Infantry Division's positions only to find that they were still manned and situated between the two units of the 4th Special Service Brigade.

A Sherman tank of the Royal Marines Armoured Support Group then appeared and opened fire on the wall and allowed the commandos to launch an assault.

Advancing behind the Sherman, covered by its guns, the commandos seized the interior of the strongpoint and spent the rest of the day silencing the remaining pockets of resistance around Langrune.

Their task was to go inland then turn right (west) and make a twelve-mile (19.3 km) march through enemy territory to attack Port en Bessin from the rear.

This small harbour, on the British far right, was well sheltered in the chalk cliffs and significant in that it was to be a prime means of supplies being brought in, including fuel by underwater pipe-line from tankers moored offshore.

[6] Unable to locate Phillips, the second-in-command, Major P.M. Donnell led his men off the beach and turned inland to avoid engaging the enemy.

The arrival of two French civilians, a replacement Forward Observation Officer and a Gendarme named Gouget, assisted the planned assault.

The two civilians identified the German positions and the artillery officer repaired the unit's wireless set, allowing him to contact the navy ships off-shore.

By 1600 hours the city was hit by RAF Hawker Typhoon air strikes and the Royal Artillery bombarded the area with smoke in preparation for the commando's assault.

[6] With the Flak ships silenced, B and Heavy weapons troops made their way up the eastern feature and assaulted the German blockhouse, forcing the defenders to surrender.

For the next week, the commandos continued to harass the strongpoint with occasional mortar fire, Typhoon strikes and volleys from two attached Royal Marine Support Group (RMASG) Centaurs.

Under their new commander, Lt. Col Palmer, 41 Commando and forty-four armoured engineering vehicles attacked from the north while other tanks created a diversion from the southwest.

The two hundred and twenty seven remaining Luftwaffe force surrendered and the last of the 4th Special Service Brigade's D-Day objectives was finally achieved.

Following the capture of Pont-Audemer, the 6th Airborne and 1st Special Service Brigade were relieved by the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division and returned to England.

Leaving behind the 4th Special Service Brigade, which remained in the area for several weeks, clearing pockets of resistance between the Seine and Valmont, they then took up the role of garrison troops in and around the shattered city of Le Havre before finally moving up to positions near Dunkirk where they probed the German lines with small raids.

Allied bombers breached the dykes on 3 October at Westkapelle, Flushing and Veere, flooding the island, leaving only a few dry areas around its perimeter and greatly restricting the Germans' freedom of movement.