Overview: Winston Churchill created the Commandos in summer 1940 as a means of striking at the coasts of Nazi Occupied Europe. Beginning as a mere raiding force, they became the spearhead of the Allied amphibious landings in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and Normandy. Out of the Commandos evolved Britain's airborne forces, whose feats ranged from the daring Bruneval raid of 1942 to the epic of Arnhem.