46 Commando

No. 46 (Royal Marine) Commando
Cap badge of the Royal Marines.
Active	1 August 1943 – 31 January 1946
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Marines
Type	Commando
Role	Coastal raiding force Assault Infantry
Size	Battalion
Part of	4th Special Service Brigade
Nickname(s)	Four Six
Motto(s)	Per Mare Per Terram (By Sea By Land) (Latin)
March	Quick – A Life on the Ocean Wave Slow – Preobrajensky
Commanders
Notable commanders	Campbell Hardy
Insignia
Combined Operations Shoulder Patch

No. 46 (Royal Marine) Commando was a battalion size formation of the Royal Marines, part of the British Commandos, formed in August 1943 during the Second World War. The Commando was assigned to the 4th Special Service Brigade and served in North-west Europe and took part in the D-Day landings, as well as operations around Ostend and Antwerp, before being disbanded after the war in January 1946.

The British Commandos were formed in 1940, by the order of Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister. He called for specially trained troops that would "develop a reign of terror down the enemy coast". At first they were a small force of volunteers who carried out small raids against enemy occupied territory, but by 1943 their role had changed into lightly equipped assault infantry which specialised in spearheading amphibious landings.

The man 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. Initially the Commandos were a British Army formation, the first Royal Marines Commando was formed in 1942. The Royal Marine Commandos, like all British Army Commandos, went through the six-week intensive commando course at Achnacarry. The course in the Scottish Highlands concentrated on fitness, speed marches, weapons training, map reading, climbing, small boat operations and demolitions both by day and by night.

...
Wikipedia