The little seaside town of Criccieth in North Wales has a special place in the history of the Free French commandos. Whilst it would never be mentioned in the commando’s État des Services, in the period between July 1942 and the end of May 1943 all of the Free French commandos were stationed there; at its peak nearly 100 commandos lived in billets provided by the local residents, whose population during the Second World War was about 2000, inflated by evacuees.