British Commando WWII Patch Army Royal Marines Title Woven

British Commando WWII Patch Royal Marines Title Patch 1944 Woven Cashs Tape 17mm by 106mm five eighth inch by four and one eighth inches.  

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By 1943 the Commandos started to move away from smaller raiding operations and were formed into four Special Service Brigades to spearhead future Allied landing operations under Headquarters Special Services Group. Of the remaining 20 Commando units 17 were used in the formation of the four Special Service Brigades with 12 14 and 62 Commandos left out of the brigade structure to concentrate on smaller scale raids. The
increased tempo of operations together with a shortage of volunteers and the need to provide replacements for casualties forced the separate Commandos to disbandment by the end of 1943. The small scale raiding role was then given to the two French troops of No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando in 4 Commando Brigade. In December 1944 the four Special Service brigades were re-designated Commando Brigades.

1 Special Service Brigade formed in the UK in November 1943 commanded by Lord Lovat and comprised 3 4 6 Army and 45 RM Commandos and
landed in Normandy on D-Day and saw action penetrating the Siegfried line crossing the rivers Rhine Weser Aller and Elbe ending up on the Baltic coast with some elements reinforcing 4 Brigade before returning to the UK to be disbanded in early 1946.

2 Special Service Brigade formed in Italy on 23 October 1943 comprised 2 & 9 Army and 40 & 43 RM Commandos and served in Italy the Dalmatian Islands Albania and Greece. The Brigade returned to the UK in June 1945 with 43 RM Commando absorbing 40 RM commando to become Royal Marine Commando of 2 Commando Brigade and 2 and 9 Army Commandos amalgamating to become the Army Commando of
2 Commando Brigade prior to disbanding in September 1945.

3 Special Service Brigade formed on 1 September 1943 at Dorchester comprised 1 & 5 Army Commandos and 42 & 44 RM Commandos moving first to Egypt and then to India in February 1944 for operations in the Far East locating to Hong Kong 12 September 1945. The Brigade lost 1 & 5 Army Commando and added 45 RM Commando in October 1946 and returned to the UK in 1971 and remains operational taking part in most combat operations since including Falklands Islands Northern Ireland Balkans Iraq and Afghanistan.

4 Special Service Brigade formed in the UK in September 1943 with 10 (Inter–Allied) Commando 41 46 &47 RM Commandos with HQ staff from 101 RM Brigade. The Brigade activated 48 RM Commando in February 1944 and saw action in France and NW Europe from June 1944 and replaced 46 RM Commando with 4 Army Commando in October 1944 while planning for the Walcheren landings. During the winter of 1944–5 Commandos were sometimes detached to other commands, as when 41 and 48 RM Commando were under command of 116 RM Brigade while the remainder of 4 Brigade formed a mobile reserve of 47 RM Commando and elements of 10 (I–A) Commando. In late May 1945 the Brigade moved to Minden Germany where it was reinforced by drafts from 1 Commando Brigade in preparation for service in the Far East but returned to the UK and was disbanded in December 1945.

This patch dates from 1944.