Mallory was the last name of the British Commando played by Gregory Peck in "The Guns of Navarone" (1961).
Bernard Fox, who plays Higgins, is best known in comedic roles such as Doctor Bombay on "Bewitched" and Colonel Crittendon on "Hogan Heroes".
Hitler issued the Commando Order in 1942. This order declared all members of a small unit operating inside German territory to be killed in combat and not to be treated under the Geneva Convention.
This explains the fatalistic attitude of the Commandos in this episode.