Korps Commandotroepen 1950-1964

On 1 July 1950 the Stormschool Roosendaal was transformed into Korps Commandotroepen (KCT). During the fifties the KCT developed into an organization with three operational companies and a changing number of reserve companies, in times of peace, a training company and a combat service support company were also operational. The operational commando companies, each consisting of approximately 115 soldiers, could be deployed for various special missions in times of crisis or war. In times of war the reserve commando companies were to secure or recapture so-called vital objects such as airfields, bridges and harbours.   Between 1950 and 1964 the commandos carried out a number of so-called "special missions", which did not belong to their usual job responsibilities between 1951 and 1953 the volunteers were subjected to a six-week heavy combat training for the benefit of the Dutch United Nations Detachment Korea. De KCT contribution to the Korean War was not confined to training only. Among those who went to Korea there were ex-parachutists and ex-commandos of the Regiment Speciale Troepen and some forty professional soldiers. In September 1952 another Green Beret mission occurred. On a "voluntary" basis 103rd Commando Company was sent on a mission to Surinam. In March 1953 the "Surinam-company" returned after having transferred their tasks to the newly established forces in Surinam: the Troepenmacht in Suriname (TRIS). During the 1953 Flood Disaster nearly the whole Korps was participating in the rescue operation. For two weeks the commandos were busy saving as many people as possible from drowning, using boats, rafts and pontoons. In the neighbourhood of Fijnaart the green berets did their utmost to prevent the dikes from breaching. During this action commando J.E.Willemsen drowned when he was washed away by the swirling mass of water. From January 1959 until September 1960 a detachment of over fifty commandos reinforced the forces in New Guinea. They were assigned to secure Isle of Biak, where the main naval base and airbase were situated and to several other special missions, such as the interception of hostile infiltrations.   In the autumn of 1961 Dutch commando teams were deployed in the Federal Republic of Germany. As a consequence of the construction of the Berlin Wall in August of that very same year the tension between East and West had risen close to fever pitch! In turns the Dutch commando companies were deployed to camp Hohne. In October 1963 this assignment in Germany was completed. In 1964 the State Secretary of Defence presented a great number of expenditure cuts. This policy was named "Operatie Chirurg" and made the Korps lose its resilience. Units that were no longer directly necessary in the new defence concept, with a leading part for mechanised units, had to disband. The three operational companies, 104, 105 and 108 Commando company, had to make way for a new operational unit: 104 Long Range Reconnaissance and Patrol Company (LRRP coy).