Editing Commando (section)

== Boer name origin and adoption by Britain ==
{{Main|Boer Commando}}

[[File:Afrikaner Commandos2.JPG|thumb|upright|left|The first appearance and use of the term "commando" was taken from the [[Afrikaner]] guerilla units known as "Kommandos" in [[Republic of South Africa|South Africa]] during the [[Second Boer War]] of 1899–1902]] 

After the [[Dutch Cape Colony]] was established in 1652, the word was used to describe bands of militia. The first "Commando Law" was instated by the original [[Dutch East India Company]] chartered settlements, and similar laws were maintained through the independent [[Boer]] [[Orange Free State]] and [[South African Republic]].  The law compelled [[Burgher (Boer republics)|burghers]] to equip themselves with horses and firearms when required in defense. The implementation of these laws was called the "Commando System".  A group of mounted [[militia]]men was organized in a unit known as a ''commando'' and headed by a [[commandant]], who was normally elected from inside the unit.<ref name="Dobbie" /> Men called up to serve were said to be "on commando".<ref>"On Commando", Dietlof Van Warmelo, Methuen, 1902</ref> British experience with this system led to the widespread adoption of the word "[[commandeer]]" into English in the 1880s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mw4.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/commandeer |title=Commandeer – Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary |publisher=Mw4.merriam-webster.com |access-date=2012-04-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303202836/http://mw4.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/commandeer |archive-date=2012-03-03 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

During the [[Great Trek]], conflicts with [[Southern Africa]]n peoples such as the [[Xhosa people|Xhosa]] and the [[Zulu people|Zulu]] caused the Boers to retain the commando system despite being free of colonial laws.  Also, the word became used to describe any armed raid.  During this period, the Boers also developed [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]] techniques for use against numerically superior but less mobile bands of natives such as the Zulu, who fought in large, complex formations.<ref name="Dobbie" />

In the [[First Boer War]], [[Boer commando]]s utilised superior marksmanship, fieldcraft, camouflage and mobility to great effect against British forces, who wore conspicuous [[Red coat (military uniform)|red uniforms]] and were poorly trained in marksmanship. These tactics continued to be used during the [[Second Boer War]]. In the final phase of the war, 25,000 Boer commandos engaged in [[asymmetric warfare]] against [[British Empire|British Imperial]] forces numbering 450,000 strong for two years after the British had captured the capitals of the two Boer republics. During these conflicts the word entered the [[English language]], retaining its general Afrikaans meaning of a "militia unit" or a "raid". [[Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell|Robert Baden-Powell]] recognised the importance of fieldcraft and was inspired to form the [[scouting]] movement.

[[File:No. 3 Commando men after Dieppe raid.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|The "commando" name was permanently established with the introduction of the [[British Commandos]] in 1942 the elite special forces units of the [[British Army]] in [[World War II]]]]

In 1941, Lieutenant-Colonel D. W. Clarke of the British Imperial General Staff, suggested the name ''commando'' for specialized raiding units of the British Army Special Service in evocation of the effectiveness and tactics of the Boer commandos.<ref name="Dobbie" /> During World War II, American and British publications, confused over the use of the plural "commandos" for that type of British military units, gave rise to the modern common habit of using "a commando" to mean one member of such a unit, or one man engaged on a raiding-type operation.<ref name="Dobbie" />