In December, No. 9 (Army) Commando was in action on the lower reaches of the Garigliano, then these operations were followed by the Anzio landing involving both No. 9 and 43 RM Commandos. Initially they encountered light opposition, but a few days later it was a different story when their objective was the enemy positions on Mount Ornito and although they succeeded, No. 9, in particular, suffered heavy casualties.

Meanwhile to the east of mainland Italy No. 2 (Army) Commando, under the command of Lieut. Colonel ?Mad Jack? Churchill, was operating in the Adriatic, off the Dalmatian coast, where Churchill had established his HQ on the island of Vis. There his force was strengthened with the addition of not only 43 RM Commando, but also a number of Yugo-Slav partisans.

From Vis, Churchill carried out a series of raids on nearby islands, occupied by the Germans, with notable successful raids on Solta and Hvar but these successes received a serious set-back when a full scale assault on the island of Brac by No. 2 and 43 RM Commands, supported by the Heavy Weapons Troop of 40 RM Commando, resulted in substantial losses that included Lieut. Colonel ?Pops? Manners (40 RM) killed and the capture of Colonel Jack Churchill ? who awaiting the German counter-attack played his bagpipes in defiance!

Later Nos. 2 and 43 Commandos were operational in, and from, Albania, whilst No. 9 was in action in Greece for nearly five months in operations that extended from Athens (where the Commando took part in the liberation parade and Colonel Todd received the Freedom of the City) to Salonika in the north, whilst No. 43 fought in Yugoslavia from Dubrovnik.