Green beret

The green beret was the official headdress of the British Commandos of the Second World War. It is still worn by members of the Royal Marines after passing the Commando Course and personnel from other units of the Royal Navy, Army and RAF who serve within 3 Commando Brigade and who have passed the All Arms Commando Course.

There are certain other military organizations which also wear the green beret because they have regimental or unit histories that have a connection with the British Commandos of the Second World War. These include the Australian, French and Dutch commandos. It is the norm in the armed forces of the Commonwealth Nations, where most regiments wear hats or cap badges which reflect regimental battle honours and traditions.

Origins

Initially those who joined the British Commandos kept their parent regimental headdress and cap badges. In 1941, No. 1 Commando had no fewer than 79 different cap badges and many different forms of headdress.[1] "Thus a motley collection of caps, Tam o' Shanters, bonnets, forage caps, caps 'fore and aft', berets, peaked KD caps, etc., appeared on the Commando parades," says Captain Oakley, "the forest being a veritable RSM’s nightmare!"[2]

No. 2 Commando and No. 9 Commando faced with the same problem had adopted the Tam o' Shanter, but, as a traditional Scottish headdress, this was not considered suitable for what was a British unit. After some discussion it was agreed that if No. 1 Commando was to adopt a uniformed headdress then the beret, which had been worn by the Tank Regiment since the First World War (and had recently been adopted by the Parachute Regiment), would meet the requirements: it had no British regional affinity, it was difficult to wear improperly, and it could be easily stowed away without damage (when for example tin hats were in use).[2]

Having decided on the headdress, the next question to be resolved was the colour. The shoulder insignia of No. 1 Commando had been designed by the Richmond Herald at the College of Arms. It incorporated three colours in its design of a green salamander going through fire: red, yellow and green. Green was chosen as the most suitable.[2] A Scottish firm of tam-o-shanter makers in Irvine (Ayrshire) was chosen to design and manufacture the beret.[3]

Once the design was agreed, Brigadier Robert Laycock was approached by No. 1 Commando to seek his permission to wear it. He had been pondering on what the commandos should use for their headdress, and welcomed the green beret as a chance to introduce it as standard for all commando formations, with No. 1 Commando being the first to don them.[2]

The proposal that the commandos should start wearing green beret as their official headdress was submitted to the Chief of Combined Operations and forwarded by Lord Mountbatten to the Under-Secretary of State for War. Approval was granted and in October 1942 the first green berets were issued to the Royal Marines.[1]

Australian commandos

Australian Commando berets are known as being "Sherwood Green" in colour. The corps badge on the beret is a black background and a gold combat dagger with the motto "Foras Admonitio" meaning "Without Warning" across the dagger.[4] The green beret is only awarded to a soldier upon becoming qualified as a Commando in either of the below regiments.

Belgian paracommandos

Consisting of two battalions within the light brigade, only the 2nd Commando Battalion inherited the green beret along with other traditions from the 4th Troop of No.10 Commando.[5] It should be noted that these paracommandos are the only "green berets" that are no longer a special operations force, but are considered to be elite. However, the Belgian special forces usually only recruits from paracommandos.

Dutch commandos

The Special Forces of the Netherlands consist mainly of the KCT (Korps Commando Troepen). Their motto is "Nunc aut Nunquam" which is Latin for "Now or Never". The roots of the KCT go back to World War II. Under the name No. 2 (Dutch) Troop, the first Dutch commandos were trained in Achnacarry, Scotland, as part of No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando. The unit was formed on March 22, 1942, the birthday of the present KCT.

Members of the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps also receive upon completion of the Commando Course a green beret, but with the gold anchor on a red background.

Finnish Coastal Jaegers

Coastal Jaegers of the Finnish Navy use a green beret of a color distinct from the standard Army beret issued to everyone serving in the Army, the Coastal Jaegers' green beret has to be earned during an exercise called the "Beret march" during which the trainees are pushed to their limits using a combination of sleep deprivation and a series of exhausting tasks. The beret can be lost as a form of non-judicial punishment.

French commandos

Commandos Marine beret

The Commandos Marine are an elite special operations unit of the French Navy. Formed from Fusiliers Marins during the Second World War in Britain, they wear the same green berets, pulled right, as the British Commandos. They are called bérets verts (green berets).

Irish Army Ranger Wing

The Irish Army Ranger Wing (ARW) is the special operations force of the Irish Defence Forces. Since 1991 ARW personnel wear the Green beret.

Malaysian Army Grup Gerak Khas

The Malaysian Army Grup Gerak Khas (GGK) is one of the special forces unit of the Malaysian Armed Forces. It consists of a counter-terrorism regiment and two commando regiments. GGK was trained by 40 Commando, Royal Marines during its establishment in 1965. The green beret together with light blue lanyard and the Fairbairn-Sykes knife are being bestowed by the 40 Commando to the GGK.

Royal Marine Commandos

Royal Marine (2012)

In the United Kingdom all Royal Marines who have passed the Commando Course wear the green beret. Personnel from the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force volunteering for service with 3 Commando Brigade undertake the All Arms Commando Course, completion of which allows individuals to wear the headdress. Commando-qualified Royal Marines always wear the green beret, with the Globe and Laurel cap badge and commando-qualified personnel from other armed services wear the beret, with their own cap badge, when serving with commando units unless otherwise authorised.[6] The Special Boat Service (SBS) also wear the green Commando beret but with their own unique cap badge consisting of a sword with two blue waved lines with the words "by strength and guile"

The Commando Badge of a Fairbairn-Sykes [7] fighting knife on a triangular patch/badge is worn on the sleeve in perpetuity by all those who have passed the course.[8]

United States Army Special Forces

U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers wearing their green berets.
A Special Forces detachment receive instruction aboard a U.S. Naval ship in 1956, wearing green berets prior to their approved wear in 1961.

In the U.S. armed forces, the green beret may be worn only by soldiers awarded the Special Forces Tab, signifying they have been qualified as Special Forces (SF) soldiers. The Special Forces beret is officially designated "beret, man's, wool, rifle green, army shade 297."

U.S. Special Forces wear the green beret as a distinction of excellence and uniqueness within the Army.

The 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) had many OSS World War II veterans in their ranks when it was formed in 1952. They began to unofficially wear a berets of varying colour while training. The color green became favored because it was reminiscent of the World War II British Commando-type beret.[9] The 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) deployed to Bad Tolz, Germany in September 1953. The remaining cadre at Fort Bragg formed the 77th Special Forces Group. Members of the 77th SFG began searching through their collections of berets and settled on the Rifle Green colour of the British Rifle Regiments (as opposed to the Lovat Green of the Commandos) from Captain Mike de la Pena's collection. Captain Frank Dallas had the new beret designed and produced in small numbers for the members of the Special Forces.[10]

Their new headdress was first worn at a retirement parade at Fort Bragg on 12 June 1955 for Lieutenant General Joseph P. Cleland, the now-former commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps. Onlookers thought that the commandos were a foreign delegation from NATO.[11]

In 1956 General Paul D. Adams, the post commander at Fort Bragg, banned its wear, even though it was worn surreptitiously when deployed overseas. This was reversed on 25 September 1961 by Department of the Army Message 578636, which designated the green beret as the exclusive headdress of the Army Special Forces.[9]

When visiting the Special Forces at Fort Bragg on 12 October 1961, President John F. Kennedy asked Brigadier General William P. Yarborough to make sure that the men under his command wore green berets for the visit. Later that day, Kennedy sent a memorandum which included the line: "I am sure that the green beret will be a mark of distinction in the trying times ahead".[12] By America's entry into the Vietnam War, the green beret had become a symbol of excellence throughout the US Army. On April 11, 1962 in a White House memorandum to the United States Army, President Kennedy reiterated his view: "The green beret is a symbol of excellence, a badge of courage, a mark of distinction in the fight for freedom".[12] To no avail, both Yarborough and Edson Raff had previously petitioned the Pentagon to allow wearing of the green beret. The President, however, did not fail them.[12]

In addition to being the headdress of the United States Army Special Forces, "Green Berets" is also a well known nickname of the organization.

Notes

  1. 1 2 RM staff.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Oakley.
  3. ↑ There is a dependency in the sources. The Royal Marines Museum write "tam-oshanter makers in Irvine (Ayrshire)" while Oakley writes "Luckily there was a factory close by at Ardrossan specialising in the manufacture of Scottish bonnets, etc." (RM staff, Oakley)
  4. ↑ waggers (24 February 2012). "Beret". 4 RAR Associations of Australia. Archived from the original on 24 February 2012.
  5. ↑ "Composante Terre". Belgian Defence (in French). Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  6. ↑ "DEFENCE SUPPLY CHAIN MANUAL JSP 336 (3rd Edition)". Part 3, Pamphlet 15 Section 5: Headdress. Archived from the original on 2007-06-11.
  7. ↑ The Fairbairn-Sykes Commando Dagger by Leroy Thompson and Knives of War: An International Guide to Military Knives from World War I to the Present by Gordon Hughes, Barry Jenkins, and Robert A. Buerlein
  8. ↑ JSP 336 3rd EDITION, VOLUME 12, PART 3 - CLOTHING, PAMPHLET NO 15 - BADGES, EMBELLISHMENTS AND HEADDRESS, ANNEX B Archived 2007-06-09 at the Wayback Machine.
  9. 1 2 "A Short History of the Use of Berets in the U.S. Army". Archived from the original on 24 June 2001.
  10. ↑ "History: Special Forces Green Beret". Special Forces Search Engine. Retrieved 8 March 2007.
  11. ↑ P.32, "Inside the Green Berets" by Charles Simpson III
  12. 1 2 3 LeFavor, Paul (2013). US Army Special Forces Small Unit Tactics Handbook. Blacksmith Publishing. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-9895513-0-4.

References

  • Oakley, Captain Derek. "The Origin of the Green Beret". St Nazaire Society website. Archived from the original on 11 October 2011. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  • RM staff. "A Short History of the Royal Marines: The Crest, Colours, Beret, Nicknames and Prayers of the Royal Marines". Royal Marines Museum. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
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