Editing Special Boat Service (section)

===Origin: Second World War===
[[Roger Courtney]] became a [[British Commandos|commando]] in mid-1940 and was sent to the Combined Training Centre at [[Achnacarry]] in Scotland. He was unsuccessful in his initial attempts to convince [[Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy)|Admiral of the Fleet]] [[Roger Keyes, 1st Baron Keyes|Sir Roger Keyes]] and later Admiral [[Theodore Hallett]], commander of the Combined Training Centre, that his idea of a [[folding kayak]] [[brigade]] would be effective. He decided to infiltrate {{HMS|Glengyle}}, an [[Landing Ship, Infantry|infantry landing ship]] anchored in the [[River Clyde]]. Courtney paddled to the ship, climbed aboard undetected, wrote his initials on the door to the captain's cabin, and stole a [[deck gun]] cover. He presented the soaking cover to a group of high-ranking [[Royal Navy]] officers meeting at a nearby [[Inveraray]] hotel. He was promoted to [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]] and given command of twelve men as the first Special Boat Service/Special Boat Section.{{sfn|Breuer|2001|pp=46–47}}

The unit, on the shores of Sannox, Isle of Arran, was initially named the [[Folboat]] Troop, after the type of folding canoe employed in raiding operations and then renamed No. 1 Special Boat Section in early 1941.<ref name=richards>Richards, p. 240</ref> One training exercise required SBS members to navigate folboats {{convert|140|mi|km}} over 3 days and 3 nights from [[Ardrossan]] to [[Clachan, Kintyre|Clachan]], via the [[Isle of Kerrera]], where they reconnoitred and sketched [[RAF Oban]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=David |first1=Saul |author-link=Saul David |title=SBS – Silent Warriors: The Authorised Wartime History |date=26 May 2022 |publisher=William Collins |isbn=978-0008394561  |language=en |page=115}}</ref> Attached to [[Layforce]], it moved to the Middle East.<ref>Chappell, p. 15</ref> The unit worked with the [[1st Submarine Flotilla]] based at [[Alexandria]] and did beach reconnaissance of [[Rhodes]], evacuated troops left behind on [[Crete]], and carried out a number of small-scale raids and other operations.<ref name =richards/> In December 1941 Courtney returned to the United Kingdom where he formed No2 SBS,<ref name=richards/> and No1 SBS became attached to the [[Special Air Service]] (SAS) as the Folboat Section.<ref>Molinari, p. 25</ref> In June 1942 they took part in the [[June 1942 Crete airfield raids|Crete airfield raids]]. In September 1942 eight men of the SBS carried out [[Operation Anglo]], a raid on two airfields on the island of Rhodes; all but two of the men were captured after carrying out their mission. Destroying three aircraft, a fuel dump and numerous buildings, the two uncaptured SBS men had to hide in the countryside for four days before they could reach the waiting submarine.<ref>Haskew, p. 54</ref> After the Rhodes raid, the SBS was absorbed into the SAS due to the heavy casualties they had suffered.<ref>{{cite news|date=16 March 2006|title=Obituary, Colonel David Sutherland|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/colonel-david-sutherland-z6h9ttkpxr0|newspaper=[[The Times]]|access-date=17 March 2010|url-access=subscription }}</ref>{{#tag:ref|The events of the raid were portrayed in the movie ''[[They Who Dare]]'' in 1954 starring [[Dirk Bogarde]]<ref>{{cite news|date=22 March 2009|title=Obituary, Commander Michael St John |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/5033783/Commander-Michael-St-John.html|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=17 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090604113543/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/5033783/Commander-Michael-St-John.html|archive-date=4 June 2009|url-status=live}}</ref>|group=nb}}
[[File:Oper frankton cockle.jpg|thumb|alt=twotwoman canoes at sea|''Cockles'' MK II]]

The [[Royal Marines]] Boom Patrol Detachment (RMBPD) was formed on 6 July 1942, and based at [[Southsea]], [[Portsmouth]].{{sfn|Rees|2008|p=25}} The RMBPD was under the command of Royal Marines [[Major (rank)|Major]] [[Herbert Hasler|Herbert 'Blondie' Hasler]] with [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|Captain]] J. D. Stewart as second in command.{{sfn|Rees|2008|p=25}} The detachment consisted of 34 men and was based at [[Lumps Fort]], and often exercised in the [[Portsmouth Harbour]] and patrolled the harbour [[Boom barrier|boom]] at nights.{{sfn|Rees|2008|p=25}}<ref name=royal>{{Cite web|access-date=13 May 2010 |publisher=[[Royal Marines]]|title=Operation Frankton |url=http://www.royalmarinesregimental.co.uk/histcockmain.html|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080908012310/http://www.royalmarinesregimental.co.uk/histcockmain.html|archive-date=8 September 2008}}</ref>

[[File:British Special Forces in the Aegean, 1944 E29095.jpg|thumb|A Special Boat Service corporal sharpening his knife before combat on a boat in the [[Aegean Sea]], July 1944]]

In April 1943, 1st SAS was divided, with 250 men from the SAS joining the [[Small Scale Raiding Force]] to form the Special Boat Squadron under the command of Major [[George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe|the Earl Jellicoe]].<ref>Morgan, p. 15</ref> They moved to [[Haifa]] and trained with the [[Sacred Band (World War II)|Greek Sacred Regiment]] for operations in the Aegean.<ref>Thompson, p. 55</ref>

They later operated among the [[Dodecanese]] and [[Cyclades]] groups of islands in the [[Dodecanese Campaign]] and took part in the [[Battle of Leros]] and the [[Battle of Kos (1943)|Battle of Kos]]. They, with the Greek Sacred Band, took part in the successful [[Raid on Symi]] in July 1944 in which the entire German garrison was either killed or captured. In August 1944 they joined with the [[Long Range Desert Group]] in operations in the Adriatic, on the [[Peloponnese]], in Albania, and, finally, in [[Istria]]. So effective were they that, by 1944, the 200–300 men of the SBS were holding down six German divisions.<ref>Thompson, p. 56</ref>

Throughout the war, No.2 SBS did not use the Special Boat Squadron name but instead retained the name Special Boat Section. They accompanied US Major General [[Mark W. Clark|Mark Clark]] ashore before the [[Operation Torch]] landings in October 1942 on [[Operation Flagpole (World War II)|Operation Flagpole]]. Later, one group, Z SBS, which was based in Algiers from March 1943, carried out the beach reconnaissance for the [[Salerno landings]] and a raid on Crete, before moving to Ceylon to work with the [[Special Operations Executive]]s, [[Force 136]] and later with [[Special Operations Australia]]. The rest of No. 2 SBS became part of South-East Asia Command's Small Operations Group, operating on the [[Chindwin]] and [[Irrawaddy River|Irrawaddy]] rivers, and in the [[Rakhine State|Arakan]], during the [[Burma campaign]].<ref>{{cite book|first1=I. C. B.|last1=Dear|first2=M. R. D.|last2=Foot |chapter=Special Boat Section|title=The Oxford Companion to World War II|year=2001}}</ref>

Although their roles always overlapped to some extent, the various canoe and boat units became more specialised from late 1942 onwards. The RMBPD focused on ship attack and harbour sabotage, the Special Boat Section and [[Combined Operations Pilotage Parties]] (COPP) undertook covert beach surveys, and the Special Boat Squadron engaged in raiding, sabotage and reconnaissance above the high-water mark.<ref name="nam.ac.uk"/>