Gladiators of WWII - The Paras And Commandos

This episode in the BBC documentary series "Gladiators of WW2" focuses on 'The Paras and commandos', a British elite units formed in 1940 following Churchill’s instruction to form a raiding force as a means of continuing the war against Nazi Germany and bring hope to the people in the Nazi occupied countries. The Commandos, initially 10 units, each of 500 men, recruited from every regiment and corps in the British Army. They were supremely fit, highly skilled, experts in unarmed combat and trained to use a variety of weapons. They operated behind enemy lines in intense danger. Any Commando taken prisoner was to be executed immediately, on Hitler's orders. From the Commandos came the Paras, a troop of men trained to use parachutes to drop them into enemy territory. Archive materials and interviews are used here to bring famous exploits back to life: Bruneval, Saint Nazaire, Dieppe, Pegasus Bright and Operation Market Garden. Narration by actor Robert Powell.