The first No.2 Commando was formed on 22 June 1940 for a parachuting role at Cambrai Barracks, Perham Down, near Tidworth, Hants.

[6] The man initially selected as the overall commander of the force was Admiral Sir Roger Keyes himself a veteran of the landings at Galipoli and the Zeebrugge raid in the First World War.

[8] Commandos were all volunteers seconded from other British Army regiments and retained their own cap badges, with the exception of No 2 Commando who adopted the fighting knife as their cap badge, and remained on their regimental roll for pay purposes.

The Heavy Weapons Troop was made up of 3 inch Mortar and Vickers machine gun teams.

2 Commando was formed, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Augustus Charles Newman, from a new batch of volunteers.

The raid, commanded by Captain Graeme Black, MC, landed by submarine and succeeded in blowing up pipelines, turbines and tunnels, effectively destroying the generating station; the associated aluminium plant was shut down permanently.

[19] The intention of the raid was to destroy the dry dock which would force any large German warship in need of repairs, such as the Tirpitz, to return to home waters rather than seek safe haven along the Atlantic coast.

[23] Commando Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Newman and his surviving troops were captured trying to escape the town into open country, when they ran out of ammunition.

[15] The commando was sent to the Mediterranean Theatre as part of 2nd Special Service Brigade and in July 1943 landed at Catania during the Allied invasion of Sicily.

2 Commando had a quiet time in the Sicily campaign and their only noteworthy action was landing in advance of the British Eighth Army at Scaletta about 15 miles (24 km) south of Messina on 15 August.

2 Commando landed at Vietri sul Mare at 03:30 hours, their initial target was a German gun battery.

After the commandos scaled the cliffs they discovered the battery was undefended; they moved towards Vietri itself, and the town was secured two hours later.

2 Commando was next ordered to capture a German observation post outside of the town of La Molina which controlled a pass leading down to the Salerno beach-head.

41 (Royal Marine) Commandos, infiltrated the town and captured the post, taking 42 prisoners including a mortar squad.

[15] After a day's rest following the battle the commando moved to Mercatello, about three miles east of Salerno.

41 (RM) Commando, they were tasked by Brigade to "sweep the area and clean out the German forces".

They would remain in the area for the next six months and carried out a number of operations including raids on German garrisons, attacking shipping, making assaults on fixed positions and even helping in the construction of an airfield.

[15] Between 26 January and 4 February the commando attacked the German garrison near Milna on the island of Hvar four times.

On 2 June Lieutenant Colonel Jack Churchill, in command of both Royal Marine commandos and a group of Yugoslav Partisans in an assault on German fortifications, was captured after having been knocked unconscious.

[15] After the commando marched past Marshal Josip Broz Tito at an airfield they had helped construct on 23 June they returned to Italy.

[15] On their return from Yugoslavia the commando were based near Monopoli in Italy; they recruited new men and carried out parachute training.

2 Commando landed at Spilje in Albania; their objective was a German position near the village of Himare.

2 Commando raided Albania again; their objective this time was to capture the port town of Sarande.

With the capture of the town, the German garrison on Corfu was cut off and surrendered to the commandos in November.

Their task was to capture a spit of land which extended from Lake Comacchio to the Adriatic Sea, with possible further exploitation northwards.

All the Brigade objectives were achieved, with all the German forces south of Porto Garibaldi captured or destroyed.