Operation "Montana"

Briefing: Word has reached SHAEF from the leading member of the Gennan Resistance in the OKH-codenamed "Amber"-that 150 Allied officers are being held by the Wehrmacht a few miles from the front lines. Under pressure from Himmler, the OKW has …

CCGM

Briefing: Word has reached SHAEF from the leading member of the Gennan Resistance in the OKH-codenamed "Amber"-that 150 Allied officers are being held by the Wehrmacht a few miles from the front lines. Under pressure from Himmler, the OKW has agreed to tum these POWs over to the SS tomorrow at 1800 hours. Once in the clutches of the Sicherheitdienst, it is doubtful that these prisoners will ever be seen again. SHAEF has ordered that an operation be mounted at once to free these officers. Even with such shon notice, Brigade HQ has assured the Prime Minister that the mission can be accomplished by the commandos. Your Commando has been volunteered for the effon. Sometime in the next 24 hours, your force is to burst through a thinly-held sector of the enemy line near Gravelin, racing eastward ten miles. There the Allied officers are beina held in a temporary camp in an open pasture. The commandos are to overwhelm the guards, avoiding losses among the POWs, and then escon the freed officers back to the Allied lines. The mission calls for flexibility and verve, attributes your men have displayed magnificently in the past-although not always with success. SHABF expects not to be disappointed this time.

Gravelin, Germany

The Commandos formed 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. Churchill stated in a minute to General Ismay on 6 June 1940: "Enterprises must be prepared, with specially-trained troops of the hunter class, who can develop a reign of terror down these coasts, first of all on the "butcher and bolt" policy..." 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 Kingdom's armed forces and foreign volunteers from countries occupied by the Germans. These volunteers formed over 30 individual units and four assault brigades. 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.

Wikipedia: British Commando operations during the Second World War

German

British