The little-known World War II battle for Termoli, code named Operation Devon, took place in early October 1943 and began with the only Allied amphibious landing on Italy’s Adriatic coast. It was a joint operation between newly formed elite groups and regular units of the Allied armed forces. A brigade made up of two units of commandos and the 1st Special Air Service, known during this operation as the Special Raiding Squadron, was given the task of making the first landing. Despite the initial success of the operation, a drawn out and fierce battle ensued. With the help of archival material from the Imperial War Museum, London, and The National Archives, Kew, this article reconstructs the key elements of a battle that has received little scholarly attention, particularly in relation to the role of conventional forces in the fighting. In doing so, it provides an overview of the battle, analysing the main factors that led to a chaotic handover between special and regular infantry forces and what made the action ultimately successful. Finally, it reveals how the operation was part of an evolutionary process for special forces and helped to cement their role in UK military doctrine.

二战期间鲜为人知的泰尔莫利战役，代号为德文行动，发生在 1943 年 10 月上旬，始于盟军在意大利亚得里亚海沿岸的唯一一次两栖登陆。这是新组建的精英团体和盟军正规部队的联合行动。一个旅由两个突击队和第一特种空勤团组成，在这次行动中被称为特种突袭中队，被赋予了第一次登陆的任务。尽管行动取得了初步成功，但一场旷日持久的激烈战斗接踵而至。在伦敦帝国战争博物馆和邱园国家档案馆的档案材料的帮助下，本文重构了一场鲜有学术关注的战斗的关键要素，特别是与常规部队在战斗中的作用有关的内容。在这样做，它概述了这场战斗，分析了导致特种步兵和正规步兵部队之间混乱交接的主要因素，以及这场行动最终取得成功的原因。最后，它揭示了该行动如何成为特种部队进化过程的一部分，并有助于巩固他们在英国军事学说中的作用。