Layforce was an ad hoc military formation of the British Army consisting of a number of commando units during the Second World War.

Formed in February 1941 under the command of Colonel Robert Laycock, after whom the force was named, it consisted of approximately 2,000 men and served in the Middle Eastern theatre of operations.

In February 1941, a force of commandos under Colonel Robert Laycock were sent to the Middle East to carry out raids in the eastern Mediterranean.

[1][2] Laycock held the rank of a colonel (rather than brigadier) on the staff, because his command was not formally and organisationally a full brigade, with all its supporting elements; although, with a strength of over 2,000 men, it was equivalent.

[1] At the time that Layforce was raised, the British were largely in the ascendency in the theatre, having defeated the Italians; and it was felt that the commandos could be employed in the capture of the Greek island of Rhodes as part of Operation Cordite.

[2] There was still a role for commando-style operations; and, arguably, a series of successful small-scale raids at vital points in the German rear areas might have forced Rommel to divert some of his offensive capability to defend his lines of communications.

[8] Following the invasions of the Balkans, a large part of the British forces in North Africa were deployed to Greece in an attempt to turn back the German advance.

Layforce was not sent, although the three infantry assault ships brought with them from the United Kingdom and which were invaluable in carrying out amphibious operations were taken from them due to a lack of resources in the theatre.

[9] The British loss of air superiority severely hampered their ability to carry out landing operations, while the deployment of forces to Greece meant that the commandos became the only troops in general reserve; and as the strategic situation worsened it became increasingly difficult to employ them in the manner for which it had been intended, as they were called upon to reinforce the rest of the army elsewhere.

[9] In early April Laycock received orders to begin carrying out raids on the Afrika Korps' lines of communication along the North African coast.

A number of naval support elements were attached, including three Royal Australian Navy destroyers (Stuart, Voyager, and Waterhen) and the anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Coventry.

[10] Due to concerns about the force being attacked from the air, it was decided that the raid would take place under the cover of darkness; and, as a result, additional assets in the form of the submarine HMS Triumph and a detachment from the Folboat Troop (later known as the Special Boat Section) under Roger Courtney were tasked with providing navigational assistance by marking both the anchorage and landing beach.

Problems with the release gear for the assault craft meant that some of the commando parties were late getting ashore, and another landed at the wrong beach.

[7] On the way back, an officer was shot when he failed to respond correctly when challenged by a sentry; while 67 men, not knowing that there were no assault craft at their beach due to the earlier error, were left behind and later captured.

A decision was made to deploy the commandos from Layforce to the island to carry out raids on the German lines of communications with a view to either turning back the invasion or enabling an evacuation to take place.

11 (Scottish) Commando) had been sent to reinforce the garrison on Cyprus in case of a German invasion there), departed Alexandria and attempted to land on Crete.

Elsewhere that same day, however, Laycock's headquarters was ambushed; and in a rather confused action he and his brigade major, Freddie Graham, commandeered a tank in which they returned to the main body.

[17] By 31 May the evacuation was drawing to a close and the commandos, running low on ammunition, rations and water, fell back towards Sphakia too.

Nevertheless, the detachment pressed on and, under the command of the Regimental Sergeant Major, they succeeded in securing one of the barracks buildings near the redoubt that formed the key to defence of the position.

[27] While this was going on, the right detachment under Keyes, having found itself on the wrong side of the river, made contact with the Australian 2/16th Battalion to the south which brought up a boat with which they could make a crossing.

Despite being outnumbered, and short on ammunition and food, they held their position long enough for the Australians to cross the river and continue with their advance to Beirut.

The position, which was known as the Twin Pimples, consisted of two small hills that sat close together and from where the Italians were able to observe the Allied lines.

[32] The operational difficulties that had been exposed during the Bardia raid, the changing strategic imperatives of the situation in the Middle East, and the failure of the high command to fully embrace the commando concept had largely served to make the force ineffective.

[32][33] Many of the men went back to their previous regiments following the decision, while others chose to remain in the Middle East and subsequently joined other special forces units that were raised later.

3 Troop of Middle East Commando was involved in Operation Flipper, an attempt to raid Erwin Rommel's headquarters in Libya and kill the German commander.

[37] The raid was part of a larger operation involving Stirling's L Detachment and the SBS to penetrate behind the German lines and cause disruption in the rear areas in order to assist in the general offensive.

[38][39] Although the Middle East Commando remained in existence after this—largely in an effort to placate Churchill—its personnel were mainly absorbed into larger formations.