Ford, K: D-Day Commando

48 Royal Marine Commando began its life in March 1944 and was disbanded in the UK less than two years later in January 1946. In its short but active life it always seemed to be in the thick of the fighting. In fact, a history of 48 RM Commando is a history of the last year of the war in Europe. It participated in the D-Day invasion and landed on Juno Beach on June 6th, 1944, fought as infantry in the bloody battles for Normandy, helped clear the Channel ports, undertook a second amphibious landing during the Walcheren campaign, raided across the Maas in Holland and then took part in the army of occupation in Germany. During the whole of this period it was in almost continuous contact with the enemy. It is surprising, then, that the story of 48 RM Commando has not been made available to a wider audience. Apart from a small booklet written by one of its veterans and published in 1946, it has never been the subject of a complete history of its own. Based on eyewitness accounts, official unit war diaries and published and unpublished sources and supported by a selection of maps, line drawings and archive photographs, this is a gripping and authoritative history of an elite formation.