An Introduction to Patreon Video 3: The Little Boat Wars...

An introduction to the Mediterranean war fought by the SBS, commandos, submarines, and small raiding craft rather than a technical survey of motor torpedo boats.

The improvised Independent Companies drew on a ship-borne Royal Marines role, but wartime demands left the Corps without enough manpower to provide them.

The same raiders passed through overlapping organisations and labels, making unit names less reliable than the people and operations they describe.

Roger Courtney's experience with a folding kayak helped turn a personal skill into the small clandestine unit that became the SBS's ancestor.

When arguments for his unit failed, Courtney used a folding boat to demonstrate how a raider could reach and mark a ship in harbour.

The SBS used HMS Triumph and folding boats to collect the detailed beach intelligence that an ambitious Rhodes raid would have required.

A tiny SBS party used Malta-based HMS Urge to sabotage a Sicilian railway, extending the submarine's striking power ashore before it returned to conventional combat.

Minor acts of sabotage could impose disproportionate uncertainty, making British raiders look like a wider internal security problem.

Courtney sought men who could recognise an overlooked route, act quietly, and leave before the enemy understood what had happened.

The battle of Crete shows why a lightly equipped raiding formation could not simply be used as a conventional front-line force.

Courtney's recall during a change at Combined Operations preceded joint airfield attacks that exposed both the value and the different methods of the SBS and SAS.

62 Commando used fast boats for larger raids such as Postmaster and Basalt before its surviving elements helped form Jellicoe's later maritime force.

A nominal establishment says little about how many raiders, berths, and boats are actually available after training injuries and operations.

After losses and reorganisation, the folding-boat section and 62 Commando became part of an SBS commanded by George Jellicoe.

Operation Angelo achieved its immediate purpose but inflicted losses severe enough to end the folding-boat section as an independent formation.

The raid on Symi shows how Jellicoe's SBS combined motor launches and local craft, while also inviting caution about claims of forces tied down.

Lassen's Victoria Cross is set against the deaths, captures, and personal guilt borne by a small pool of experienced maritime raiders.

Courtney's recruiting guidance valued the quiet, responsible operator who could protect a submarine and plan for every contingency.

Two men landing from a submarine could scout or sabotage discreetly, but airfield attacks demanded more people, more firepower, and a different extraction plan.

Postwar SBS identity rested on tasks requiring a very small elite group, leaving larger commando assaults to Royal Marines formations.