Product Description

The Royal Naval Commandos had one of the most dangerous and important tasks of any unit in World War II they were first onto the invasion beaches and they were the last to leave. Formed in 1941 as the Royal Naval Beach Parties, many lost their lives in the Dieppe raid. Organised into units from A Commando to the all-Canadian W Commando, after Dieppe they became fully fledged fighting Commandos with their legendary Fairbairn Sykes knives. Under their officers who were designated Beachmasters, the Royal Naval Commandos led the way in on the beaches as part of the Allied landings in Madagascar, North Africa, Pantelleria, Sicily, Salerno, the Volturno River, Anzio, Arakan, Normandy, Elba, Walcheren and Commachio. Their work on the beaches was crucial to the success of the Allied invasions. The story of the Commandos covers their beginnings early in the war and their training, both at their base, HMS Armadillo at Ardentinny in Scotland, and the famous Achnacarry Commando training school, to the invasions they spearheaded. After the war the Royal Naval Commandos were disbanded and their wartime role was given to the Royal Marines. The personal accounts of the Commandos contained in this book will ensure that their legacy is not forgotten. Beachhead Assault includes a foreword by Man and Boy author Tony Parsons, whose father was a Royal Naval Commando who fought at Elba. As he writes, Every page of this book is covered with tales of an almost suicidal courage. It also contains a preface by Ken Oakley, Chairman of the Royal Naval Commando Association.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #771925 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Review
Every page of Beachhead Assault has a tale of almost suicidal courage. The motto of the Royal Naval Commandos was First in, last out . They were the first men to land on invasion beaches, and the last to leave. They are the only true heroes I have ever met. I wrote a short foreword for David Lee s book, and read it with tears in my eyes because it brought back memories of my old man, and all the conversations we never had. But it will touch the heart and stir the soul of anyone who was raised by the generation who fought in World War Two the generation who gave us our freedom, and who were prepared to pay the ultimate sacrifice. All the parents and grandparents who we never found the words to truly talk to. But more than anything, Beachhead Assault is a fitting monument to the forgotten heroes of the Royal Naval Commandos. --Tony Parsons in the Daily Mirror

Each tale is told by the participants in a brilliantly linked series of anecdotes that leaves you gasping at the almost nonchalant, offhand accounts of extraordinary courage and dangers . . . This is a page-turner of a book and David Lee has done a fantastic job in bringing together the stories of these extraordinary men. He clearly recognised that their voice is the one to be heard and carefully restricted his guiding hand: the result is exceptional. If you only buy one book this year buy this one. --Journal of Naval Engineering

Lee has amassed an impressive collection of first-hand accounts . . . Compelling reading and very successful in communicating the immense bravery shown by a group of gallant and determined men . . . The accounts are fascinating and have an important place in such a work. David Lee clearly and rightly admires these wonderful men and their deeds. --Colonel Mark Noble in Naval Review

Customer Reviews

Personal accounts - up close!
Meet some of the Naval Commandos who were there! If you have read "Up Close and Personal" (also by David Lee) - if not you ought to - you would recognize and appreciate the writing style. The book is almost literally based upon the personal accounts of the commandos themselves. Their accounts are cleverly woven into the hectic history of a part of the armed forces that I hardly knew existed. Okay, I remember the burly, bearded beach master with a shillelagh and a dog on a leash from The Longest Day but that's about it!
You may well argue though, that it is the oddest things these veterans remember about their trials and hardships on and near the invasion beaches around the world! Anyway these often peculiar memories ad honesty and personality to the ordinary sailors of that time - sailors who were not so ordinary after all; that is Royal Naval Commandos! Surely left in the shadows of their Marine and Army brothers in arms, these sailors played a vital but subtle part in almost every allied beachhead assault through WW2. I admit that the Normandy landings are my personal favourites of which I can't get enough; D-Day is the most thoroughly described operation in the book though. Visiting the landing beaches this summer, I found only one mention of the Naval Commandos! In spite of being a tiny coq in the gigantic machinery of the allied invasion forces they have been given too little credit for their efforts, sacrifice and importance, but in "Beachhead Assault" David Lee tries his best to set the record straight!
David Lee has established himself as a serious military historian with an expressed admiration for and attention to the British fighting men of WW2 that we owe so much ...

FANTASTIC
What an excellent read. This often untold story of the RN Commandos leaves little out. I read it in a few hours its unputdownable. First hand accounts sit aside historical detail in each paragraph. A must for all.