X Troop, 10 Inter Allied Commando any information?

hallsworth_1 · Post by **hallsworth_1** » Wed Dec 17, 2003 1:50 pm

Hello all new member here, i am attempting to write a number of historical novels and while researching stumbled upon this site and it looks like it will become a major part of me research.

I am wondering whether anyone would have any knowledge or know where i can find any details about a British Army unit known as 10 Inter Allied Commando in particular No. 3 or X Troop of that unit. This unit was a commando troop made up of germans, hungarians and other displaced people from germany who wished to fight for the allies, it was mainly made up of people of the jewish faith but not exclusivly.

I appreciate any help you may be able to send my way, thank you very much in advance.

Simon Hallsworth

Dan Behr · Post by **Dan Behr** » Tue Jan 13, 2004 6:26 am

Hi,

I believe they were part of the North African Commandos , possibly Layforce ?

I have only seen short passages mentioning them & I have a feeling that the film Raid on Rommel had George Peppard as one of the German Jews fighting for the British.

Dan

hallsworth_1 · Post by **hallsworth_1** » Tue Jan 13, 2004 7:07 am

I am not sure but i believe the unit you have in mind is SIG the Special Interrogation Group, X troop to my knowledge served in northern europe only mainly seconded to other units

wwiibuff · Post by **wwiibuff** » Fri Feb 13, 2004 6:35 am

Try Ten Commando, 1942-1945 by IAn Dearpublished by St. Martin's. I have seen brief references of this unit elsewhere but this has the most in depth info. Needless to say there is not a lot available about such a unit. Good Luck.

sid guttridge · Post by **sid guttridge** » Sat Feb 14, 2004 5:26 am

Hi Simon,

You could try going to the Public Records Office (now the National Archives) at Kew in London for primary documents.

The Imperial War Museum Reading Room will have anything that has been published on the unit.

Another possibility would be to contact the Special Forces Club in London. They may still have members who served in the unit.

I had not noted that the Inter-Allied Commando was predominantly Jewish. I have only ever checked out the small Yugoslav component, who I am pretty sure were not.

Cheers,

Sid.

Liam · Post by **Liam** » Sat Feb 14, 2004 6:06 am

No10 Commando was certainly not a specifically a Jewish unit, but No3 troop were of that unit were, as opposed to the others who were identified by nation (French, Dutch, Belgian, Yugoslav, Norwegian, Polish). I believe that the majority of the Jews were German or Austrian. It's unlikely that much new information will be released on this lot for many years to come, for all the difference it would make. Damn this British Governmental attitude to secrecy!

sid guttridge · Post by **sid guttridge** » Mon Feb 16, 2004 3:43 am

Hi Liam,

Is there any indication that there is more information on this unit that is still embargoed by the British Government?

At the PRO the files that are still closed are entered under the subject heading but are marked as not available. The ministry concerned is indicated.

Is this the case with 10th (Inter-Allied) Commando files?

If a file is closed it is possible to apply for it to be opened. I have got one on Romanian and Hungarian reinforcements sent to the Eastern Front in 1944-45 opened without a problem.

Cheers,

Sid.

Liam · Post by **Liam** » Mon Feb 16, 2004 11:26 am

Hm. That's certainly worth investigating the next time i'm down Kew way. I would imagine if No.10 Commando members were involved in especially clandestine activities during (and after) the war then we may not see the records for a very long time indeed. This one may run and run as they say.

sid guttridge · Post by **sid guttridge** » Tue Feb 17, 2004 2:58 am

Hi Liam,

If there is no evidence of anything at all, surely there is nothing to run and run?

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

Cheers,

Sid

Liam · Post by **Liam** » Tue Feb 17, 2004 12:22 pm

True, very true. Mind you, wherever the Official Secrets Act is involved, i'll always reserve judgement - and I'm a signatory!

sid guttridge · Post by **sid guttridge** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 3:12 am

Hi Liam,

I am a great believer in the Cock-Up Theory of History, rather than the Conspiracy Theory.

I think that the necessity periodically to whittle down the billions of pages of bumf that government produces annually results in the loss of a lot of material of historical importance. (For example, the entire medical records of every British casualty of WWI apparently existed until about 15 years ago, when some bureaucrat was obliged to clear shelf space to receive more recent files. Within a couple of years of the destruction of all bar a few thousand of these files, the medical world realised that they were the largest body of medical evidence from the period anywhere and of great use to modern medicine. Too late.) By comparison, the number of documents specifically and deliberately destroyed in order to modify the historical record is probably very small and probably occurs before they even reach storage.

Similarly, inertia probably causes most retained files to be held back until somebody actually asks for them, (as in the case of the file I mentioned getting released earlier), rather than a desire to withold information for any particular enduring reason.

Cheers,

Sid.