In July 1942, the unit was raised again as a multinational force, recruiting volunteers from German-occupied Europe and enemy aliens.

It included volunteers from France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Poland and Yugoslavia, organised into independent sub-units known as "troops".

10 (Inter-Allied) Commando served in North-West Europe, the Mediterranean, Scandinavia and Burma, mostly in small numbers attached to other military formations.

[3] The man selected as the overall commander of the force was Admiral Sir Roger Keyes, himself a veteran of the Gallipoli Campaign and the Zeebrugge raid of the First World War.

[5] The idea for a foreign commando unit came from a junior French naval officer, Philippe Kieffer, after he heard of the successful Lofoten raid.

The idea was eventually put to the then Chief of Combined Operations, Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten who could see the value of a foreign commando unit but insisted it should include volunteers from all the occupied territories.

The course in the Scottish Highlands concentrated on fitness, speed marches, weapons training, map reading, climbing, small boat operations and demolitions both by day and by night.

1 Troop was formed in April 1942 by Philippe Kieffer, from an intake of 40 Frenchmen, who were initially called 1re Compagnie de Fusiliers Marins (1st Company of Naval Rifles).

The men acted as liaison officers, guides and interpreters during operations Market Garden, Infatuate I and II.

29 June 1942, the graduates left Achnacarry and moved on to RAF Dundonald at Troon on the Scottish west coast for commando air support and assault troop training.

A total of 130 men served in X Troop; they never fought as a complete unit but provided valuable service to other formations as interpreters and interrogators.

[16][a] Leasor had heard the story about the unit from Colonel Sir Ronald Wingate and had it confirmed by Admiral Earl Mountbatten of Burma, who suggested that he write the book.

Many of the members of the troop were still alive at the time of writing and so the author was able to carry out interviews with them and others involved, as acknowledged in the book.

He is chosen for a secret and dangerous part in the deception plans to persuade the Germans that the D-Day invasion would take place near Calais and not in Normandy.

His secret mission saw him dropped in France, pursued by both the Resistance and the Germans, and eventually briefing in person first Rommel and then Hitler before escaping to return to British forces.

[citation needed] Three members of this troop wrote books on its history: Ian Dear's Ten Commando, 1942-1945 (1987), Peter Masters' Striking Back: A Jewish Commando's War against the Nazis (1997) and Peter Leighton-Langer's X steht für unbekannt: Deutsche und Österreicher in den britischen Streitkräften im Zweiten Weltkrieg (1999) and The Kings Most Loyal Enemy Aliens (2006).

4 Troop was formed on 7 August 1942, by seven officers and 100 men from the 1st Independent Belgian Brigade under the command of Captain Georges Danloy.

[10] The troop commander, Captain Charles Trepel, was killed in action with five of his men in a recce on the Dutch coasts on 28 February 1944.

10 (Inter-Allied) Commando were usually attached to other units who used their knowledge of the area of operations and the language to their advantage as interpreters and interrogators.

4 Commando, to act as interpreters, gather information, and also to persuade Frenchmen to return with them and enlist in the Free French forces.

Montaillaur was executed under the Commando Order issued by Adolf Hitler, but Cesar managed to persuade the Germans he was a French Canadian and eventually escaped and returned to England.

[26] Notably the Poles captured a German-occupied village alone when the 2/6th Battalion Queen's Regiment failed to reach a rendezvous on time.

[11] The French troops of 185 men in total landed on the left flank of Sword Beach during the second wave, of these only 144 managed to reach the assembly point half a mile inland.

When they reached the casino the lightly armed French commandos were unable to break into the fortified building and called upon a Centaur IV from the Royal Marines Armoured Support Group to assist and soon captured the position.

(This assault on the casino was featured in the film The Longest Day, although the shooting location for Ouistreham was at the nearby village of Port-en-Bessin.)

10 (Inter-Allied) Commando elements had crossed the River Orne and were dug in guarding the left flank of the 6th Airborne Division.

2 Dutch Troop returned to Europe their first mission on the European mainland was Operation Market Garden 17 September 1944.

Another five were assigned to 52nd (Lowland) Division, which was to have been flown into the area when Deelen Airport was captured, eventually they ended up in the Staff of 1st British Airborne Corps.

4 Troop had returned to England in June and were selected to capture the French island of Yeu only to find during a reconnaissance that the Germans had already left.

They moved to the European mainland and were attached to the 4th Commando Brigade for the amphibious assault on the island of Walcheren (Operation Infatuate).