page_title: No. 6 Commando
section_title: Ardennes offensive and the crossing of the Rhine
hierarchical_section_title: No. 6 Commando / History / Ardennes offensive and the crossing of the Rhine
caption_attribution_description: IWM caption&#160;: Crossing the Rhine 24 -31 March 1945&#160;: British commandos of the 1st Commando Brigade man two Vickers machine guns in the shattered outskirts of Wesel. The 1st Commandos had formed the spearhead of the British assault by making a surprise crossing in assault craft on the night of 23 - 24 March under a barrage of 1500 guns.
context_page_description: No. 6 Commando was a battalion-sized British Army commando unit of the Second World War. Although it was raised to conduct small-scale raids and harass garrisons along the coast of German-occupied France, it was mainly employed as a highly trained infantry assault unit.
  Formed in July 1940, No. 6 Commando's first involvement in operations came in late 1941 when it contributed small forces to raids in Norway. In April 1942 the whole unit was scheduled to take part in Operation Myrmidon, in France, but this raid was eventually cancelled. As a result, the first full-scale operation that No. 6 Commando took part in was Operation Torch, the Allied landings in Algeria in November 1942. Later, it joined the advance into Tunisia in 1943. On 6 June 1944, it participated in the D-Day landings in France as part of Operation Overlord, coming ashore with the 1st Special Service Brigade which was tasked with linking up with the troops from the 6th Airborne Division on the eastern flank of Sword.
  Following this, No.
context_section_description: It had been planned to send the brigade—which had been renamed the 1st Commando Brigade in late 1944—to India, however, the effect of the German Ardennes Offensive prevented this and in January 1945, still under the command of Brigadier Derek Mills-Roberts, they crossed the English Channel by sea and landed in the Netherlands from where they were deployed to Asten on the Maas. By the time they arrived the German advance had been largely halted and it was not until 23 January that the brigade was engaged in any large-scale operations. Under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Lewis, that night No. 6 Commando joined Operation Blackcock. Lewis had taken over from Courtenay-Coade after the latter had experienced complications from the head injury he had suffered in France earlier. As part of Blackcock, the unit advanced over the ice-covered Juliana Canal and took up positions at Maasbracht, in support of No. 45 (Royal Marine) Commando's advance on St. Joostburg.
  The following day, after the Royal Marines had met stiff resistance, No. 6 Commando attempted to advance from its position in an effort to relieve the pressure on them. This attack was well supported by artillery and a squadron of armour from the 8th Hussars, nevertheless, the commandos were stopped near an orchard close to the crossroads by a hastily formed, but well-led, force consisting of Luftwaffe aircrew and Fallschirmjäger. As the rest of the brigade advanced towards the town of Linne, attempts to cross the Montforterbeek Canal were frustrated by the defenders who managed to destroy all the bridges that crossed it. The ice over the canal was not thick enough to support the crossing of armour, so temporary bridges were brought up and erected by members of the Royal Engineers. Finally, after a number of attempts at forcing a crossing, an assault force from No. 3 Commando managed to enter Linne.
  After this the commandos came up against part of the Siegfried Line defences around Roermond. A short halt followed and during this time No. 6 Commando sent out a number of patrols mounted on the tanks of the 8th Hussars. In February, the snow thawed and the ground turned to mud which rendered the tanks useless and as a result the commandos carried out their patrols on foot.
  In early March, No. 6 Commando moved with the rest of the 1st Commando Brigade to Venray where they carried out rehearsals for Operation Plunder, the crossing of the Rhine. Over the course of two weeks training was undertaken at a creek near Wansum and on 23 March 1945 the assault took place, with the objective being the capture of the town of Wesel. No. 6 Commando went across in the second wave on board storm-boats crewed by engineers. They came under fire almost immediately and as a result of this, and several mechanical failures, a number of boats were sunk before they reached the landing site at Grav Islet, where the lead unit, No. 46 (Royal Marine) Commando had established a bridgehead. Ultimately the majority of the commandos made it to the form up point and No. 6 Commando passed through the marines' positions to lead the advance into the town from the north-east, marking the route as they went with white tape. Over the course of the next two days the commandos took control of the town and repelled a number of German counterattacks, before Wesel finally fell late on 25 March.
  After this the brigade continued to advance, moving through Ruddenburg and Greven before carrying out an attack on Osnabruck on 4 April 1945. On the night of 7/8 April they crossed the Weser River in assault boats and under the cover of darkness carried out a flanking manoeuvre on the Germans occupying the town of Leese, catching them by surprise.
  Their next task was the capture of the road bridge spanning the Aller river as part of the 11th Armoured Division's advance on the town of Essel. The 1st Commando Brigade carried out a preliminary move across the river over a railway bridge some distance away from their objective and after forcing their way across, they removed the explosives that had been placed on the brid
caption: Men from the 1st Commando Brigade fight on the outskirts of Wesel 1945.
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