Going back in time and to the campaign in North West Europe, the next major operation involving the Commandos, after the break out from Normandy, was the amphibious assault on the island of Walcheren, off the coast of Holland, the capture of which was essential to the opening up of Antwerp as the major Allied supply port for the final push into Germany.
The major role for the assault landings was allotted to 4 SS Bde, which had previously consisted of four RM Commandos but for this operation No. 4 (Army), whose task was to capture the port of Flushing, replaced 46 RM Commando. The three RM Commandos, with detachments from the Belgian and Norwegian Commandos from No. 10, were to land in the Westkapelle area, and had a range of sophisticated armoured amphibious vehicles in addition to the conventional landing craft.
No. 4 Commando, after a daring pre-dawn landing and nearly two days of bitter street fighting, succeeded in capturing the port and most of the town before being relieved by the 52nd Infantry Division. They were thus enabled to rejoin the rest of the Brigade, who without air or artillery support, had made a daylight assault landing at Westkapelle, in the face of heavy enemy fire from the formidable gun emplacements built into the sand dune dykes. For three days, without any room for manoeuvre due to the deliberate flooding of the island by the Germans, the RM Commandos frontally attacked and, one by one, captured the heavily defended strong points sited along the crest of the dykes, before successfully linking up with their comrades of No. 4 who had advanced from Flushing.
After eight days of continuous action, the whole island was captured and the enemy surrendered with many prisoners. Although during that time the Bde suffered a total of almost five hundred casualties they had the satisfaction of knowing that the port of Antwerp was opened and supplies were being offloaded by the end of the month.
In December 1944, the Special Service Group and its four SS Brigades were all renamed to become Commando Group and Brigade, but the allotted numbers of the Commandos remained the same.
About the same time there were plans to send 1 Cdo Bde to the Far East in the New Year, but due to the German counter offensive in the Ardennes over the New Year and in January, plus the appreciation that the Commandos could provide invaluable support in the foreseen river crossings in the eventual push into Germany, the plans for the move to the Far East were cancelled and instead the Brigade returned to Europe.
On arrival its first task was to hold a stretch of the river Maas, and it was during this period of operations that Lance Corporal H. Harden, a medical orderly of the RAMC, with 45 RM Commando, won the Victoria Cross. Subsequently, the Brigade's next large-scale operation was the crossing of the river Rhine at Wesel. Intensive training and detailed planning were the keys to the remarkable success of this Commando operation on 23rd March, which incurred less than 100 casualties.
The next water obstacle to be tackled by the Brigade was the river Weser, where it was employed to reinforce and exploit a small bridgehead already established. This operation was followed by the passage of the river Aller, which resulted in some heavy fighting in the woods beyond. A serious situation was averted by a spirited counter attack by No. 6: "the hunting horns sounded and led by Lieut. Colonel A. C. Lewis, the Commando charged forward through the trees at a fast double and with bayonets fixed" - possibly one of the last bayonet charges of the War.
By 19th April, 1 Cdo Bde had reached Lunenburg and prepared for its final operation, the crossing of the Elbe and the subsequent advance to Neustadt, where on 4th May, Brigadier Mills-Roberts took the surrender of Field Marshal Milch with all of the German troops under his command. It was a fitting climax to the Brigade's trail of successes, which it had blazed over the previous six weeks. With it came the end of the War in Europe and 'VE Day'.