Early service In 1927, at the age of 18, Durnford-Slater attended the
Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and in February 1929 he graduated and was commissioned as a
second lieutenant in the
Royal Regiment of Artillery. He was also awarded a prize for his performance in the final French exam. Following this he was posted to India until 1935 when he returned to Britain having served six years overseas. He had enjoyed his time in the subcontinent, finding that he liked the military lifestyle, however, upon his return he found that garrison life in Britain was very different from what he had experienced overseas and for a time he considered resigning his commission and returning to civilian life.
Second World War At the outbreak of the war Durnford-Slater, by then a
captain, was serving as the
adjutant of an anti-aircraft unit in the south-west of England. Initially his unit was the only one in the area and for a time it seemed that there was a possibility for some action, however, they were soon reinforced by other batteries and Durnford-Slater began to think about pursuing other options within the service. Shortly afterwards he was given a
brevet promotion to
lieutenant colonel and given orders to begin raising and recruiting
No. 3 Commando. and Durnford-Slater is considered to be the first British commando of the war. His appointment came through on 28 June and based in
Plymouth, he immediately began the process of recruiting officers for the new unit, drawing personnel from the Southern Command region. Within a fortnight Durnford-Slater led a group of 40 men from the unit's 'H' Troop on a probing raid on the German-occupied island of
Guernsey, as part of
Operation Ambassador. The raid was largely unsuccessful, and indeed momentarily threatened to derail the further employment of the Commandos, however, the lessons learnt from the operation did help in the development of many aspects of the concept which Durnford-Slater set about implementing almost immediately. In October 1940, No. 3 Commando moved up to the Combined Training Centre that had been established at
Inverary in Scotland in order to begin training for possible operations in the Mediterranean. At this time, the Commando units were reorganised and Durnford-Slater reverted to the rank of major as No. 3 Commando was amalgamated with
No. 8 (Guards) Commando to form the 4th Special Service Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel
Robert Laycock. As part of this organisation, Durnford-Slater had command of 'A' Special Service Company, which was essentially still No. 3 Commando, albeit with a different name.
Raids in Norway In March 1941, however, he returned to the role of a lieutenant colonel commanding a full Commando when the battalion organisation was dropped. For his part in the raid, he was
Mentioned in Despatches. Following the Claymore raid there was a period of lull in the Commando operations, and while No. 3 Commando was based at
Largs, in an effort to find something for his men to do, Durnford-Slater and a number of his officers began planning an unofficial raid on the German embassy in
Dublin as they believed that the embassy was transmitting information on the location of
Allied convoy movements in the Atlantic. Before this raid could be carried out, however, Durnford-Slater was called to London for a meeting with Admiral
Louis Mountbatten who had taken over command of Combined Operations to begin planning for another raid in Norway. This raid, known as
Operation Archery, took place over the course of 26–28 December 1941 and consisted of a diversionary raid on the Lofoten Islands, followed by an attack on the port of Vaagso and the island of Maaloy by a combined naval and commando force. The Commandos, drawn mainly from No. 3 Commando as well as elements from
No. 2,
4 and 6, with Durnford-Slater in tactical command of the raiders ashore around Vaagso, reporting directly to Brigadier Joseph (Charles) Haydon who had overall operational command of the ground forces for the operation. The raid proved to be a success, and for his part Durnford-Slater later received the
Distinguished Service Order. The recommendation, written by Haydon, credits Durnford-Slater's "personal courage, complete coolness & quick grasp of the situation" with inspiring the confidence of the men and ensuring all objectives were achieved. It further describes how, when the attack was in danger of stalling, after the leading troops "lost five out of six officers, & nearly 40% of their effective [strength]" he took personal command to restore the situation, and under heavy fire had both his
orderlies wounded beside him. A period of lull followed for Durnford-Slater and his men which enabled him to rebuild the unit after the losses they had suffered at Dieppe. In January 1943, however, the unit received orders to move to
Gibraltar where Durnford-Slater had his men carry out a number of reconnaissance operations across the border into Spain in order to gather intelligence before they were subsequently sent to North Africa to prepare for
Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. During the invasion, Durnford-Slater personally led No. 3 Commando's assault on an Italian battery north-west of
Cassibile on 10 July 1943, before launching another seaborne assault on 13–15 July, this time around
Agnone, to capture the Ponte dei Malati, a bridge spanning the Leonardo River to the north of
Lentini and behind the front line as part of the advance on
Catania. For his leadership in these operations, he was awarded a
Bar to his DSO. The recommendation describes how they had to hold the bridge for 18 hours until relief arrived, in the face of German counterattacks supported by tanks and heavy mortars. According to the recommendation for the award, "Durnford-Slater displayed the greatest courage, determination & tenacity. His complete disregard for personal safety proved an inspiration to his men". In August and September 1943 he commanded them during Operation Baytown, as the Allies commenced their
invasion of Italy. In early October he led the detachment in Operation Devon, where they were employed to spearhead the assault on
Termoli, on the east coast of Italy, about 120 miles north of
Bari. In the end the port was captured largely as a result of Durnford-Slater's commandos. The town was taken despite intelligence failures, it was expected that they would face only administrative units of the German 1st Parachute Division, but in fact 26th Panzer Division were in the area, being rested following the fighting at Salerno; and problems during the landing, some landing craft of 40 Commando and the SRS grounding fifty yards offshore in six feet of water, leading to the loss of all their radios as the men waded ashore. Their success meant 8th Army was able to move forward instead of fighting for the line of the
Biferno River, whose mouth was at Termoli. The capture of port closer to the front line also enabled the Allies to shorten their supply lines, and opened a road from Naples to the east coast. In November 1943, a divisional-sized headquarters unit, known as the Special Service Group took command of all Allied commando forces, which at the time included four independent brigades spread throughout the United Kingdom, Italy and the Far East, and upon his arrival in London, Durnford-Slater was promoted to
brigadier and became deputy commander underneath Major General
Robert Sturges, Royal Marines. In this role Durnford-Slater was charged with looking after the interests of the Army Commandos and co-ordinate the Group's planning for
Operation Overlord. Prior to the invasion, he set up a planning headquarters with the staff from the
2nd Army in Ashley Gardens in order to ensure that the Group's plans were consistent with those of the main force. On D-Day, he went to France with the headquarters before returning to the United Kingdom in September 1944 when the majority of the commando units were withdrawn from France for rest. For the rest of the war, he alternated between time at the front in France and then Germany and in the United Kingdom, carrying out varied administration, logistics and planning tasks. When the war finally came to an end, however, he was in Lubeck inspecting the
1st Commando Brigade, to which No. 3 Commando, his first command, was attached. ==Later life==