Commando

In the Press

"The quality of the interviewees makes this a cut above your usual WWII documentary fare."
Time Out

"…interviews with some lively veterans ('I could still kill you with a single blow' claims one) make this four-part touching story a real treat."
The Independent on Sunday

"Combining tense reconstructions with vivid, emotive interviews, this documentary conveys the pure adrenaline and the sadness of lost friends."
The Sunday Times

"A wonderful documentary about a group of men who volunteered for a genuine survival reality show...oral history at its best."
The Times

The Film

This series tells the story of the elite force created in the Second World War to combat the enemy by any means necessary. Misfits and buccaneers, who operated outside conventional military rules, the Commandos were the Britain’s secret weapon in the fight against Nazi Germany.

Britain's well-founded fear of defeat at the beginning of the Second World War led to the creation of an elite force to combat the enemy by any means necessary – the Commandos. The only prerequisites to joining were independence, imagination and a sense of adventure.

Inevitably, these criteria gave rise to a collection of misfits and buccaneers who operated outside conventional military rules and who were characterised by their unequivocal acceptance that one day, they would die for their country. Amazingly effective and spine-chillingly brutal, Commandos were widely seen as the 'cream of the crop'.

Descending from the air was considered by the British 'a funny way to go to war' until June 1940 when Churchill declared the need for 5000 parachute troops. Initial fatal accidents led to eventual success and praise in the official German army report. Parachutes were here to stay.



Credits
4 x 50'
Distributed by Channel Four International