The Commando Order () was issued by the OKW, the high command of the German Armed Forces, on 18 October 1942. This order stated that all Allied commandos captured in Europe and Africa should be summarily executed without trial, even if in proper uniforms or if they attempted to surrender. Any commando or small group of commandos or a similar unit, agents, and saboteurs not in proper uniforms who fell into the hands of the German forces by some means other than direct combat (by being apprehended by the police in occupied territories, for instance), were to be handed over immediately to the ' (SD, or Security Service) for immediate execution.
According to the OKW, this was to be done in retaliation for their opponents "employing in their conduct of the war, methods which contravene the International Convention of Geneva". The German high command alleged that they had ascertained from "captured orders" that Allied commandos were "instructed not only to tie up prisoners, but also to kill out-of-hand unarmed captives who they think might prove an encumbrance to them, or hinder them in successfully carrying out their aims", and that commandos had been ordered to kill prisoners.
This order, which was issued in secret, made it clear that failure to carry out its directives by any commander or officer would be considered an act of negligence punishable under German military law. It was issued on October 18 by Chief of the OKW Wilhelm Keitel, and only a dozen copies were distributed by Chief of Operations Staff Alfred Jodl the next day, with an appendix stating that it was intended for commanders only, and must not under any circumstances fall into enemy hands. However it was sent as an Ultra message, intercepted, and translated.
It was in fact the second "Commando Order", the first being issued by Gerd von Rundstedt on 21 July 1942, stipulating that parachutists should be handed over to the Gestapo. However, it has also been suggested that Hitler had issued secret orders that Allied commandos were to be "shot while trying to escape" as early as October 1941.
Shortly after World War II, at the Nuremberg trials, the Commando Order was found to be a direct breach of the laws of war, and German officers who carried out illegal executions under the Commando Order were found guilty of war crimes and sentenced to death, or, in two cases, extended incarceration.
Background
thumb|British commandos during [[Operation Archery on Vågsøy island, Norway, 1941]]
The Commando Order cited alleged violations of the Geneva Conventions by Allied commandos as justification, following incidents at the recent Dieppe Raid and on a small raid on the Channel Island of Sark by the Small Scale Raiding Force, with some men of No. 12 Commando.
Dieppe Raid
On 19 August 1942, during a raid on Dieppe, a Canadian brigadier, William Southam, took a copy of the operational order ashore against explicit orders. The order was subsequently discovered on the beach by the Germans and found its way to Adolf Hitler. Among the dozens of pages of orders was an instruction to "bind prisoners". The orders were for Canadian forces participating in the raid, and not the commandos. Bodies of shot German prisoners with their hands tied were allegedly found by German forces after the battle.
Sark Raid
On the night of 3–4 October 1942, ten men of the Small Scale Raiding Force and No. 12 Commando (attached) made an offensive raid on the German-occupied isle of Sark, called "Operation Basalt", to reconnoitre the island and to take prisoners.
During the raid, five prisoners were captured. To minimise the task of the guard left with the captives, the commandos tied the prisoners' hands behind their backs. According to the commandos, one prisoner started shouting to alert his comrades in a hotel and was shot dead.
En route to the beach, three prisoners made a break. Whether or not some had freed their hands during the escape has never been established, and it is unknown whether all three broke at the same time.
German response and escalation
thumb|alt=|Canadian prisoners being led away through Dieppe after the failed raid
A few days after the Sark raid, the Germans issued a communiqué claiming that at least one prisoner had escaped and two were shot while they were escaping, having had their hands tied. They also claimed the "hand-tying" practise was used at Dieppe. Then, on 9 October Berlin announced that 1,376 Allied prisoners (mainly Canadians from Dieppe) would henceforth be shackled. The Canadians responded with a similar-in-practise shackling of German POWs in Canada.
The tit-for-tat shackling continued until the Swiss achieved agreement with the Canadians to desist on 12 December and with the Germans some time later after they received further assurances from the British. However, before the Canadians ended the policy, there was an uprising of German POWs at Bowmanville POW camp.
On 7 October, Hitler personally penned a note in the Wehrmacht daily communiqué:
Text
thumb|General [[Alfred Jodl (between Major Wilhelm Oxenius to the left and Generaladmiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg to the right) signing the German Instrument of Surrender at Reims, France, 7 May 1945]]
On 18 October, after much deliberation by High Command lawyers, officers, and staff, Hitler issued the Commando Order or in secret, with only 12 copies. The following day Alfred Jodl distributed 22 copies with an appendix stating that the order was "intended for commanders only and must not under any circumstances fall into enemy hands". The order itself stated: