The Commando Memorial is located near Spean Bridge in the Scottish Highlands. The village takes its name from the bridge over the River Spean on General Wade's military road between Fort William and Fort Augustus. Based at Achnacarry, Commandos and United States Army Rangers were trained in the area around the village between 1942 and 1945.
Following Sir Winston Churchill's instruction to form a "butcher and bolt" raiding force as a means of continuing the war against Nazi Germany after the evacuation of most of the British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk, a format for the new force was put forward by Lieutenant-Colonel Dudley Clarke (Royal Artillery) during his time as Military Assistant to General Sir John Dill, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff. He penned his proposals on 5 June 1940, just two days after the evacuation, which was approved at a meeting between Dill and Churchill on 8 June, and department M.O.9 of the War Office was created the following day to pursue the idea. M.O.9 continued to foster the Commando idea until disbanded with the creation of the Tri-service organisation known as Combined Operations, encompassing all three services. On Churchill's orders the units were to be armed with the latest equipment and were to launch an attack at the earliest opportunity.
Dudley Clarke proposed the name "Commando" after the raiding and assault style of Boer Commando units of the Second Boer War. Despite Churchill's liking for the name, some senior officers preferred the term "Special Service" and both terms coexisted until the latter part of the war. Persistence of the term "Special Service" derived the terms "Special Air Service", for the original No. 2 Commando parachutists, and longer term the "Special Boat Service" whose origin lays in Lt. Roger Courtney’s Folbot Troop, later "Special Boat Section" of No.8 Commando and "101 Troop" of No.6 Commando.
In 1940, volunteers were called for from serving Army soldiers within certain formations still in Britain and men of the disbanding Divisional Independent Companies originally raised from Territorial Army Divisions and who had seen service in Norway. Some later recruiting was conducted in the various theatres and among foreign nationals joining the Allies. In 1942 the Admiralty agreed to volunteers being sought from the Royal Marines Division and the first Royal Marines Commando, No.40, was formed in mid February. The same year, recruits were also called for from the British Police Force. Many officers, NCOs and trainee instructors initially attended various courses at the all forces Special Training Centre at Lochailort, Scotland. Also in the Scottish Highlands, Combined Operations established a substantial all forces amphibious training centre at Inveraray, and in 1942 a specific Commando Training Centre at Achnacarry near Spean Bridge.