The Fighting Fourth

This story recounts the history of a special service unit from its very first day in 1940 to its disbandment five years later, showing how 500 volunteers, despite initial problems, prejudices and frustrations, were welded into one of the most feared fighting formations of World War II. The extraordinarily tough and unorthodox training undertaken by No 4 Commando prepared them for the successes of the Lofoten, Boulogne and Dieppe raids, for their protracted involvement on D-Day and for 83 days' action in the struggle for Normandy. Their last major operation was the storming and capture of the vital port of Flushing in November 1944. The author himself took part in the raids on the Lofoten Islands, Boulogne and Dieppe. A readable and authoritative history of the unit, this book is based on eyewitness accounts of 4 Commando's involvement in the three raids and the action in Normandy on and after D-Day; on official unit war diaries; and on a blending of published and unpublished sources. The text is supported by a selection of maps, line drawings and archive photographs.