page_title: 4th Special Service Brigade
section_title: Juno Beach (48 Commando)
hierarchical_section_title: 4th Special Service Brigade / Normandy / Juno Beach (48 Commando)
context_page_description: The 4th Special Service Brigade was a brigade-sized formation of the British Commandos formed during the Second World War in March 1944 from battalion-sized units of the Royal Marines. Due to the success of the British Army Commandos’ operations in Norway, the Channel Islands, St. Nazaire, and the Middle East, the Admiralty dissolved the Royal Marines Division in late 1942 and reorganized its amphibious assault infantry into eight additional Commando units.
  The Brigade invaded Normandy on 6 June 1944 during Operation Overlord; it subsequently participated in the Battle of the Scheldt and the assault of the Walcheren Islands. On 6 December the same year, the Brigade was renamed 4th Commando Brigade, removing the hated title Special Service and its association with the German SS.
context_section_description: 48 Commando were to land at Nan Red sector of Juno Beach with the objective of assaulting the strongpoint at Langrune-sur-Mer and then to link-up with 41 Commando, sealing the breach between the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and the British 3rd Infantry Divisions. On their approach to the shore, two of their ships struck underwater obstacles and sank. Weighed down by their equipment, many of the marines drowned in the surf. Those that did get ashore faced intense German small arms fire. The combined effect of these two situations was that only fifty percent of the Commando got off the beach unscathed. 
  Once off the beach, 48 Commando advanced to their objective, the heavily defended guns at Langrune. As they approached, the destroyer HMS Vigilant bombarded the position, with little effect due to the heavy fortifications. The commandos found the strong-point protected by snipers, mines, machine guns and a 4-foot-thick (1.2 m) concrete wall.
  They were then joined by two Centaur Support Tanks from the 1st Royal Marine Support Regiment. The first of these tanks moved toward the wall firing its 95mm howitzer and obliterated a machine-gun bunker that had been covering the crossroads. The second Centaur began to move into position, but struck a mine while approaching the wall, forcing the crew to bail out and join the commandos. With the Centaurs out of ammunition or disabled, the attack faltered. B Troop raced across the intersection to a house opposite only to discover that it had been fortified, with the windows and doors facing the strongpoint filled with concrete. The commandos had no choice but to bring down the wall. They set a charge at its base, but the fortification was too strong.
  The commandos then received news that the 21st Panzer Division’s counter-attack had already stopped the British advance on Caen and was pushing on toward Lion-sur-Mer. The commandos were ordered to cease the assault and take up defensive positions. The German Panzer grenadiers reached the 716th Infantry Division's positions only to find that they were still manned and situated between the two units of the 4th Special Service Brigade.
  The next event was the glider assault landing of the 6th Airlanding Brigade of the 6th Airborne Division to the east. Seeing the gliders landing, the German commander feared he would be outflanked and ordered his force to withdraw towards Caen. Had he pushed onward and attacked the commandos, Sword would have been isolated and the entire eastern flank of the Allied invasion may have collapsed.
  In the morning the commandos were joined by a pair of Canadian M10 tank destroyers, which fired anti-tank rounds at the wall; for the next hour the M10s peppered the wall with solid shot and the fortification began to disintegrate. A Sherman tank of the Royal Marines Armoured Support Group then appeared and opened fire on the wall and allowed the commandos to launch an assault. Advancing behind the Sherman, covered by its guns, the commandos seized the interior of the strongpoint and spent the rest of the day silencing the remaining pockets of resistance around Langrune.
caption: Canadian infantry wait in ditches, as 48 RM Commando take cover from mortar fire on the roadside near St Aubin sur Mer
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