Their most spectacular action was another failure: an attempted attentate against Rommel himself in Beda Littoria. The British were about to launch a major offensive to push the Axis forces out of Cyrenaica (Operation "Crusader"). To deprive the enemy of its chief on the eve of the attack was too tempting to be rejected. Unfortunately, the intelligence on which the action was based were false. Beda Littoria was not Rommel's Headquarter and the German general was not there when the house came under attack. The heavy losses meant the end of the Layforce.

Outside commandos, other special forces operated on the rears of the Axis lines in North Africa. Since they have nothing to do with the navy, they are outside the scope of this website.