7. Fleming developed a new commando unit in 1942
Once Goldeneye was established in Spain and North Africa, Fleming approached Godfrey with an idea. He had read with interest of the activities and successes of Germany’s elite commando unit led by Otto Skorzeny during the Crete invasion. Fleming envisioned a similar unit for the British. His unit was designated 30 AU, which stood for assault unit. The unit was used to gather intelligence in advance of Allied troop movements and to covertly infiltrate behind enemy lines, obtaining intelligence, conducting sabotage operations (often in conjunction with the Underground) and capturing targeted officials and officers.
The unit participated in Operation Torch, using information provided to it by operatives under Goldeneye. 30 AU consisted of 120 commandos, for the most part, culled from other British commando units, and in many cases operated independently and singly. It changed its name several times over the course of the war, when it was formed by Fleming it was known as the Special Intelligence Unit. It was known as the Special Engineering Unit during the Italian and Greek campaigns. Among its members were civilians brought in for their unusual skills, such as safecracking, and sleight of hand, as in the stacking of a deck of cards.