commando ww2

I have a lot of airfix ones to paint so what i do is download as many images as i can  to paint better . I prefer king and  country style 
British Commando operations during the Second World War were very dangerous , the British Commandos  were a force formed by the United Kingdom during the Second World War, following an order from the British Prime minister Winston Churchill in June 1940 for a force that could carry out raids against German occupied Europe.
Commandos were all volunteers for special service and originally came from the British Army but volunteers would eventually come from all branches of the United Kingdoms armed forces and foreign volunteers from countries occupied by the Germans.These volunteers formed over 30 individual units and four assault brigades.

1941
The first Commando raid was Operation Collar 23 June 1940. The raid was not carried out by a Commando unit, but by one of their predecessors No.11 Independent Company. Under the command of Major Ronnie Tod it was an offensive reconnaissance on the French coast south of Boulogne-sur-Mer and Le Touquet.
The operation was a limited success and the only British injury was a bullet graze to Lieutenant Colonel Dudley Clarke (Clarke was there as an observer), while at least two German soldiers were killed.
 A second and similarly inconsequential attack, Operation Ambassador, was launched on the German occupied island of Guernsey on the night of 14 July 1940, by men drawn from H Troop of No. 3 Commando under command of John Durnford-Slater and No. 11 Independent Company. One unit landed on the wrong island, another disembarked from its launch into water that came over their heads.
Intelligence had indicated that there was a large German barracks on the island but the Commandos only discovered empty buildings. On their return to the beach they discovered that heavy seas had forced their launch off shore and they then had to swim out to sea to get picked up.

 a force of Commandos under Colonel Robert Laycock were sent to the Middle East to carry out raids in the eastern Mediterranean. This force became known as 'Layforce' after their commander and initially they were drawn from 'A' Troop from No. 3 Commando, No. 7 Commando, No. 8 (Guards) Commando, and No. 11 (Scottish) Commando.

The next raid of any consequence from the United Kingdom was Operation Claymore in March 1941, by No. 3 and No. 4 Commandos. This was the first large scale raid from the United Kingdom during the war. Their objective was the undefended Norwegian Lofoten Islands. They successfully destroyed the fish-oil factories, petrol dumps, and 11 ships, capturing 216 Germans, encryption equipment and codebooks.

In April Layforce received orders to begin carrying out a raids on the Afrika Korps lines of communication along the North African coast.
 On 12 April they carried out a preliminary move to Alexandria and three days later they received orders to carry out a raid on Bardia and another on Bomba.The attacks had to be abandoned, however, due to high seas which would have made disembarking and re-embarking too dangerous.[The appearance of the Commandos behind their lines forced the Germans to divert the main part of an armoured brigade from where they had previously been undertaking offensive action around Sollum, in order to defend against further raids.

Layforce less No. 11 (Scottish) Commando was next involved in the Battle of Crete in May. They were deployed 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.
 By 31 May the evacuation from Crete was drawing to a close and the Commandos, running low on ammunition, rations and water, fell back towards Sphakia. Laycock and some of his headquarters, including his intelligence officer Evelyn Waugh managed to get out on the last ship to depart, however the vast majority of the Commandos were left behind. Of the 800 Commandos that had been sent to Crete, by the end of the operation about 600 were listed as killed, missing or wounded and only 23 officers and 156 others managed to get off the island.

In June the Allies invaded Vichy French controlled Syria and Lebanon, Operation Exporter. As a part of this operation, No. 11 (Scottish) Commando were tasked with seizing a crossing over the Litani River. The action cost the Commando over 120 casualties, which equated to nearly a quarter of their strength.

By July the operations that Layforce had undertaken had severely reduced their strength and in the circumstances reinforcements were unlikely.
 The operational difficulties that had been exposed during the Bardia raid, combined with the strategic imperatives that had developed as the situation in the Middle East had evolved, and the overarching inability of the high command to fully embrace the commando concept had largely served to make the force ineffective and as a result the decision was made to disband Layforce.On the airfix pieces try and get the finish below 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 the Special Air Service and the Special Boat Squadron.

The Commandos would serve in all the theatres of war from the Arctic circle, to Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific. Their operations ranged from small groups of men landing from the sea or by parachute to a brigade of assault troops spearheading the Allied invasions of Europe and Asia.

After the Second World War most of the Commands were disbanded leaving just the Royal Marine 3 Commando Brigade but their legacy is the present day Royal Marine Commandos, the Parachute Regiment, Special Air Service and the Special Boat Service who can all trace their origins to the Commandos. Their legacy also extends to mainland Europe, the French Naval commandos, the Dutch Korps Commandotroepen and the Belgian Paracommando Brigade can all trace their origins to men who volunteered to serve with the British Commandos.