COMMANDO RAIDS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 05, Issue 80, 20 July 1942, Page 2

COMMANDO RAIDS

BRITISH MA.K;-R ! S l-'Tt>MI.I-:S Main" tommiiri'iO ; ah.ls ale •"■Li the Nazi-oceupJed coa'si: are never reported, a British at my major tok) the American society oi' Newspaper Editors at a meeting in New York when the Briton described the work of the war's most famous dare-devils. "Many raids take place about which the Germans nothing," Major R. V. Boyle said, "but merely because they are not broadcast either in Germany or England does not stop the stories and rumours spreading throughout the German troops in Fsanec. I would like to add that many mere small raids used to take place than ever appeared in the papers." Declaring that the commandos "have got to be tough—really lough" Major Boyle said the most important characteristic of the men was their ability to meet any situation, and if necessary, meet it alone. Of the personnel, 99 por cent come from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with others from Canada, Australia and New Zealand. '"These men," he said, "sleep where they stop. Each carries some food, but they often have to be out for long periods and so have to learn to fend for themselves. For that reason they are taught to kill, skin, cut up and cook animals they can catch. They have only a knife and a box of matches with which *o do it, "They certainly make the Germans jumpy. One night a party of Germans were riding their bicycles on their way to take over duty jin one of their concrete defence pests. They were laughing and talking as they free-wheeled down a hill with a bend, a burst of fire from a Tommy gun greeted them. Not one of them finished his ride. Now just imagine the* feelings of other German bicycle patrols and reliefs when the story spread around. And they certainly <lo spread around."

Area Not Limited! "They are not limited to the coast line of Europe," the major declared, "and though we have commandoes in the Middle East as well, there are unfortunately many other parts of the world which are now in enemy hands." Pointing to the importance of surprise in operations, Major Boyle gave this picture of a Norwegian raid designed to capture the military commander of the area: "The house in which he "lived was some miles out of the town. Having landed at night and cut the communications before the German knew we had even arrived, a party of men previously assigned to the task took a car and drove to the iiouse. They arrived at about 8.15 a.m., liquidated the guard in complete silence and walked to the <ront door am. .ang the bell. It was opened by a servant, who found himself facing an armoury of weapons. With a revolver in the small of his back, ho was made to lead them to the uoor of the German officer's study, •,, nere he was working. With delightful irony they knocked on Jk.-- door; he called 'Come in' and continued writing. When he rea sed that more than one person h;i -ome in, he looked up to find himself covered from every angle. j officer in charge of the party tod me that the look of amazement c ' that German's face was better than any theatre."