"Special forces" is an umbrella term for distinct and specially selected, trained,
and equipped military units which employ unconventional tactics. A defence organisation
may sustain multiple special forces, and each special force may sustain multiple subunits,
each further specified in themselves. Special forces have existed for as long as warfare has,
though special forces as we perceive them today gained traction in the
Second World War. Following the war, with the effectiveness of modern special forces proven,
almost every country mustered some form of a modern special force.
In this video, however, we're going to summarise a couple of German, British,
and American special forces which operated in World War II.
The Germans actually employed quite a few special forces units throughout the war,
though we're going to look at just two units — the Brandenburgers and SS-Jäger-Bataillon 502.
Inspired by the use of the sadistic yet effective Freikorps Ebbinghaus in the invasion of Poland,
conceived the idea of a German unit versed in sabotage and infiltration for future
operations... like the war Hitler had just dragged the world into. By January 1940,
many members of Freikorps Ebbinghaus were re-designated under Baulehr-kompagnie 800,
known better as "the Brandenburgers." In its early years, the unit primarily accepted foreign
German nationals fluent in foreign languages. Their training went beyond that of conventional
infantry to include recon, hand-to-hand combat, marksmanship with German and enemy guns, swimming,
and more. Out in the field, the Brandenburgers' aims of "sabotage and infiltration" could be
extrapolated to messing with enemy communication and command by disrupting their comms,
issuing countermand, and redirecting convoys; mixing with enemy soldiers;
and generally gathering intel. The Brandenburgers operated in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa,
though what one of their subunits did in August 1942 epitomises what the unit was about.
Led by Brandenburger and Waffen-SS officer Adrian von Fölkersam, the unit dressed up
as Soviet NKVD operatives and drove deep into the USSR in Soviet trucks,
right through their front lines. En route to the Maikop oilfields, which they were to capture,
they bumped into a formation of Soviet soldiers fleeing the front and, instead of freaking out,
convinced the Soviets to rejoin the war and then tagged along at their side,
granting them unchecked movement throughout much of the USSR.
Another German special forces unit, Sonderlehrgang z.b.V. 'Oranienburg,'
was activated by SS-Obergruppenführer Hans Jüttner early in 1942, though by November 1943,
it fell under the command of scar-faced Otto Skorzeny and was renamed the "502nd SS Jäger
Battalion." The 502nd was made up of volunteers from the Luftwaffe and Heer and also the Waffen-SS
and was considered a rival to the Brandenburgers. While the 502nd got up to a whole lot more,
sixteen of its members were involved in the infamous Gran Sasso raid of September 1943,
in which they successfully broke Benito Mussolini out of Hotel Campo Imperatore.
Under the 2. Fallschirmjäger Division, which can be considered a special force in itself, the 502nd
descended on the mountain-bound hotel and its single railway station in gliders and raided
it with up to 100 men, overwhelming twice as many guards without firing a single round and freeing
the bald fascist in just ten minutes. Skorezny was promoted and awarded for this daring rescue.
While Britain may have inspired other nations to establish special forces,
it didn't invent special forces, despite the prominence of the British Commandos and SAS.
First formed as the "Special Service Brigade," the British Commandos were an initiative of Churchill,
who was after a small but hard-hitting force with which Britain could raid German-occupied
Europe. British Soldiers who volunteered for the Commandos underwent intense training regimes,
testing physical and mental fitness as well as a soldier's ability to perform under live
fire. Specific exercising included climbers and full-gear hikes over mountains and through rivers,
hand-to-hand combat, marksmanship, boat and canoe-handling, zip-lining, map-reading,
and more. British Commandos were generally issued lighter weapons than standard soldiers,
making use of SMGs like the Sten and the Thompson; pistols, often silenced; and,
yes, the legendary Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife. The Commandos served in every theatre,
disrupting Axis operations and paving the way for Allied offensives,
though their operation codenamed "Chariot" has been hailed as "the greatest raid of all time."
Basically, the Germans were holding a French dry dock at St Nazaire and using it to repair
their larger warships, so, in March 1942, the Commandos decided to take an old US-built Navy
destroyer and ram her into the dock gates loaded with delayed-action explosives,
which detonated later that day, rendering the dock almost useless until 1948. Before
the bombs went off, 611 Commandos spread into the dock and destroyed as much infrastructure
as they could, killing 360 Germans and taking 385 casualties themselves.
While the Commandos' success varied, it inspired the formation of many other special forces,
including the Special Air Service or SAS. The SAS was founded in 1941 by monobrowed Sir Archibald
David Stirling for recon and sabotage operations and raids. The unit was initially meant to operate
behind enemy lines in the North African Campaign, though it went on to operate all through Europe,
with Operation Archway being one of the force's most ambitious operations in the war.
Following the Normandy Landings, the SAS had their fingers in pies all through German-occupied
Europe, and in Operation Archway, two reinforced SAS squadrons supported the XVIII Airborne Corps'
parachute landing across the Rhine river, spearheading the operation in Jeep formations
and crossing the Rhine in amphibious LVT Buffalos. They then went on to support armoured
units elsewhere in Germany, using the speed of their Jeeps to their advantage. In one of such
operations, the 1st SAS squadron, supporting the 11th Armoured Division, liberated up to 60,000
prisoners from the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and hunted down the fleeing Nazis.
One such nation inspired by the Brit's use of special forces was the US, which mustered many
special units throughout the war, with varying success. The Marine Raiders, for instance, was
a bit of a flop, whereas the 1st Special Service Force was quite successful and straight-up cool.
Similarly to the US Army Rangers, the Marine Raiders were conceived as the
US counterpart to the British Commandos, and the 1st and 2nd Raider Battalions were
activated in February 1942, when amphibious raids on Japanese-held islands were in their
infancy. The Raiders recruited only the best standard Marine volunteers,
and these men were equipped with the very best gear. They received extra training,
specialising in rubber boat landings and guerilla warfare, though, overall, they were employed in
many of the same operations as standard Marines, who were already considered an elite force,
and this created tension and eventually led to the abandonment of the Raiders early in 1944.
The Raiders achieved a massive victory over the Japanese in the Battle of Edson's Ridge,
Guadalcanal in September 1942, basically, taking the brunt of a 6,000-man assault with
inferior numbers and coming out on top, though these types of operations weren't
really what the Raiders were created for. Their raid on Makin Island in August 1942
was "their type of operation," though it ended up a costly mess. Basically,
the Raiders used inflatable rubber boats to land on the Japanese-held island of Makin,
the Gilbert Islands, where they were tasked with destroying installations,
taking prisoners, gaining intel, and distracting the Japanese from other Allied landings. Though,
in reality, they ended up killing most of their would-be prisoners; gathering no useful intel; and
leaving some of their men, who were murdered by the Japanese, behind in a disastrous evacuation.
Now, the 1st Special Service Force was liquidated before the end of the war, in December 1944,
though it is an especially interesting unit, as it was made up of both Americans and Canadians
trained to operate behind enemy lines in winter conditions and mountainous terrain
specifically. The idea for such a force was proposed by the English inventor of
"the unorthodox" Geoffrey Pyke, who intended for the force to operate in German-occupied Norway,
taking out strategic targets like hydroelectric power plants, though this never eventuated,
and the 1st was employed elsewhere. The unit was trained in demolitions, parachuting,
rock climbing, and skiing and taught how to survive the cold, and they were also
afforded all sorts of non-standard equipment, including winter clothing and special rations.
The unit operated in Italy, including in the Battle of Anzio, in which it replaced
the Ranger Battalions decimated in Cisterna, and also in France, though the unit's skills
were employed to their fullest in the Battles of Monte La Difensa and Monte La Remetanea.
As these positions were their last on the Winter Line, the Germans had fortified them
heavily. Their artillery had so far been rebounding conventional Allied offensives,
though the 1st Special Service Force was anything but conventional, and they scaled
the treacherous mountains, toiling through the freezing rain to claim a position above
the German stronghold at Monte La Difensa. Even with the jump, an intense two-hour battle ensued,
and many Americans and Canadians lost their lives, though their daring assault forced their
enemy to retreat to La Rementanea, which the Allies captured thereafter. For these
and other exploits, the 1st Special Service Force earned the title "The Devil's Brigade."
Overall, it's difficult to pit these special forces against each other and decide which
was the most effective in World War II, as each unit had its own specialty. The British employed
special forces earlier in the war, so it's fair to say they were the more experienced Allied nation,
though the Germans had been using special forces before the war even started,
and the feats of such units, although they were on the "losing side," so to speak, are
nothing to scoff over either. As for the Marine Raiders, they were a great example of a special
force which wasn't "specialised" enough, which is not the same as saying they were poor soldiers.
Though what do you think? Are any of the special forces we covered
today clearly better than the others? Worse? What about the forces we didn't
include? What about the forces of other participating nations? Would you like to
see a second or even third part to this video? Let us know down in the comments.