Origins The Royal Marines trace their origins back to 28 October 1664 when '''the Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot''' was formed at the grounds of the
Honourable Artillery Company. It was the fifth European Marine unit formed, being preceded by the
Spain's
Infantería de Marina (1537), the
Fanti da Mar of the
Republic of Venice (1550), the
Portuguese Marine Corps (1610) and
France's
Troupes de marine (1622). It consisted of six 200-man companies and was initially commanded by Colonel Sir
William Killigrew with Sir Charles Lyttleton as lieutenant-colonel. Killigrew had commanded an English
regiment in Dutch service, and many of the regiment's initial complement of officers had served there as well. The
Holland Regiment (later The Buffs) was also raised to serve at sea and both of these "Naval" regiments were paid for by the
Treasurer of the Navy by Order of Council of 11 July 1665.
John Churchill, later the 1st Duke of Marlborough, was a famous member of this regiment. A Company of
Foot Guards served as Marines to augment the Marines of the Admiral's Regiment during the key
sea battle the
Battle of Solebay in 1672. The regiment was disbanded in 1689 shortly after James II was
deposed in the
Glorious Revolution. In 1699 the marine regiments were disbanded, but they were raised again from 1702 to 1713 to fight in the
War of the Spanish Succession; their most notable contribution being the
capture of Gibraltar in 1704.
Early British Empire On 5 April 1755, '''His Majesty's Marine Forces''', fifty Companies in three Divisions, headquartered at
Chatham,
Portsmouth, and
Plymouth, were formed by Order of Council under
Admiralty control. In 1788 a detachment of four companies of marines, under Major
Robert Ross, accompanied the
First Fleet to protect a new colony at
Botany Bay (
New South Wales). Due to an error the Fleet left Portsmouth without its main supply of ammunition, and were not resupplied until the Fleet docked in Rio de Janeiro midway through the voyage. Some scholars contend that the Marines deliberately spread smallpox among Australia's Indigenous population in order to protect the settlement, but this incident does not appear in contemporaneous Marine or government records and most researchers associate the disease outbreak with other causes. In 1802, largely at the instigation of Admiral the
Earl St Vincent, they were titled the
Royal Marines by King
George III. The
Royal Marines Artillery (RMA) was formed as a separate unit in 1804 to man the artillery in
bomb ketches. These had been manned by the Army's
Royal Regiment of Artillery, but a lawsuit by a Royal Artillery officer resulted in a court decision that Army officers were not subject to Naval orders. As RMA uniforms were the blue of the Royal Regiment of Artillery they were nicknamed the "Blue Marines" and the infantry element, who wore the red uniforms of the British infantry, became known as the "Red Marines", often given the semi-derogatory nickname "Lobsters" by sailors. A fourth division of the Royal Marines, headquartered at
Woolwich, was formed in 1805. During the
Napoleonic Wars the Royal Marines participated in every
notable naval battle on board the Royal Navy's ships and also took part in multiple amphibious actions. Marines had a dual function aboard ships of the Royal Navy in this period; routinely, they ensured the security of the ship's officers and supported their maintenance of discipline in the ship's crew, and in battle, they engaged the enemy's crews, whether firing from positions on their own ship, or fighting in boarding actions. In the Caribbean theatre volunteers from freed French slaves on
Marie-Galante were used to form
Sir Alexander Cochrane's first
Corps of Colonial Marines. These men bolstered the ranks, helping the British to hold the island until reinforcements arrived. This practice was repeated during the
War of 1812, where escaped American slaves were formed into
Cochrane's second
Corps of Colonial Marines. These men were commanded by Royal Marines officers and fought alongside their regular Royal Marines counterparts at the
Battle of Bladensburg. Throughout the war Royal Marines units raided up and down the east coast of America including up the
Penobscot River and in the
Chesapeake Bay. They fought in the
Battle of New Orleans and later helped capture
Fort Bowyer in Mobile Bay in what was the last action of the war. , Crete, in spring 1897, as part of the British occupation during the
Greco-Turkish War In 1855 the infantry forces were renamed the
Royal Marines Light Infantry (RMLI). During the
Crimean War in 1854 and 1855, three Royal Marines earned the
Victoria Cross, two in the Crimea and one in the
Baltic. In 1862 the name was slightly altered to
Royal Marine Light Infantry. The Royal Navy did not fight any other ships after 1850 and became interested in landings by Naval Brigades. In these Naval Brigades, the function of the Royal Marines was to land first and act as skirmishers ahead of the sailor infantry and artillery. This skirmishing was the traditional function of
light infantry. For most of their history, British Marines had been organised as
fusiliers. In the rest of the 19th Century the Royal Marines served in many landings especially in the
First and
Second Opium Wars (1839–1842 and 1856–1860) against the Chinese. These were all successful except for the landing at the Mouth of the
Peiho in 1859, where
Admiral Sir James Hope ordered a landing across extensive mud flats. The Royal Marines also played a prominent role in the
Boxer Rebellion in China (1900), where a Royal Marine earned a
Victoria Cross. effort was made in 1907, through the common entry or "
Selborne scheme", to reduce the professional differences between RN and RM officers through a system of common entry that provided for an initial period of shared training. By the early twentieth century the Royal Marines had achieved a high professional status, although there was a serious shortage of junior officers. Numbering about 15,000 during the Edwardian era, enlistment for other ranks was for at least 12 years, with entitlement to a pension after 21 years of service. After basic training new recruits were assigned to one of three land-based divisions and from there to warships as vacancies arose. From 1908 onwards one gun turret on each battleship was manned by RMA gunners. The RMLI continued their traditional role of providing landing parties and shore-based detachments. Specialist positions on board ship, such as postmen, barbers, lamp trimmers and butchers, were reserved for Royal Marines. After 1903 the Royal Marines provided bands for service on board battleships and other large vessels.
World wars First World War During the
First World War, in addition to their usual stations aboard ship, Royal Marines were part of the
Royal Naval Division which landed in
Belgium in 1914 to help defend
Antwerp and later took part in the
amphibious landing at Gallipoli in 1915. It also served on the
Western Front. The Division's first two commanders were Royal Marine Artillery Generals. Other Royal Marines acted as landing parties in the Naval campaign against the Turkish fortifications in the Dardanelles before the Gallipoli landing. They were sent ashore to assess damage to Turkish fortifications after bombardment by British and French ships and, if necessary, to complete their destruction. The Royal Marines were the last to leave Gallipoli, replacing both British and
French troops in a neatly planned and executed withdrawal from the beaches. The Royal Marines also took part in the
Zeebrugge Raid in 1918. Five Royal Marines earned the Victoria Cross in the First World War, two at Zeebrugge, one at Gallipoli, one at Jutland and one on the Western Front. The Royal Marine Artillery (RMA) and Royal Marine Light Infantry (RMLI) were amalgamated on 22 June 1923. Post-war demobilisation had seen the Royal Marines reduced from 55,000 (1918) to 15,000 in 1922 and there was
Treasury pressure for a further reduction to 6,000 or even the entire disbandment of the Corps. As a compromise an establishment of 9,500 was settled upon but this meant that two separate branches could no longer be maintained. The abandonment of the Marine's artillery role meant that the Corps would subsequently have to rely on Royal Artillery support when ashore, that the title of Royal Marines would apply to the entire Corps and that only a few specialists would now receive gunnery training. As a form of consolation the dark blue and red uniform of the Royal Marine Artillery now became the full dress of the entire Corps. Royal Marine officers and SNCO's however continue to wear the historic scarlet in
mess dress to the present day. The ranks of
private, used by the RMLI, and
gunner, used by the RMA, were abolished and replaced by the rank of Marine.
Second World War in action during
Operation Archery, Norway During the
Second World War, a small party of Royal Marines were first ashore at
Namsos in April 1940, seizing the approaches to the Norwegian town preparatory to a landing by the
British Army two days later. The Royal Marines formed the
Royal Marine Division as an amphibiously trained division, parts of which served at Dakar and in the
capture of Madagascar. After the assault on the French naval base at Antsirane in Madagascar was held up, fifty Sea Service Royal Marines from commanded by Captain Martin Price were landed on the quay of the base by the destroyer after it ran the gauntlet of French shore batteries defending Diego Suarez Bay. They then captured two of the batteries, which led to a quick surrender by the French. In addition the Royal Marines formed Mobile Naval Base Defence Organisations (MNBDOs) similar to the
United States Marine Corps Defense Battalions. One of these took part in the
defence of Crete. Royal Marines also served in
Malaya and in
Singapore, where due to losses they were joined with remnants of the 2nd Battalion of
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders at
Tyersall Park to form the "Plymouth Argylls". The Royal Marines formed one Commando (A Commando) which served at
Dieppe. One month after Dieppe, most of the 11th Royal Marine Battalion was killed or captured in an ill staged amphibious landing at Tobruk in
Operation Agreement. Again, the Marines were involved with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, this time the 1st Battalion. In 1942 the Infantry Battalions of the Royal Marine Division were re-organised as
Commandos, joining the
British Army Commandos. The Division command structure became a
Special Service Brigade command. The support troops became
landing craft crew and saw extensive action on
D-Day in June 1944. engaged in house to house fighting with the Germans at Riva Bella, near
Ouistreham A total of four Special Service Brigades (redesignated Commando brigades in December 1944 as the "SS" abbreviation was unpopular) were raised during the war, and Royal Marines were represented in all of them. A total of nine RM Commandos were raised during the war, numbered from 40 to 48. These were distributed as follows: •
1 Commando Brigade •
45 (RM) Commando •
2 Commando Brigade •
40 (RM) Commando •
43 (RM) Commando •
3 Commando Brigade •
42 (RM) Commando •
44 (RM) Commando •
4 Commando Brigade (entirely Royal Marine after March 1944) •
41 (RM) Commando •
46 (RM) Commando •
47 (RM) Commando •
48 (RM) Commando 1 Commando Brigade took part in first in the
Tunisia Campaign and then assaults on
Sicily and
Normandy, campaigns in the
Rhineland and
crossing the Rhine. 2 Commando Brigade was involved in the
Salerno landings,
Anzio,
Comacchio, and operations in the
Argenta Gap. 3 Commando Brigade served in Sicily and
Burma. 4 Commando Brigade served in the
Battle of Normandy and in the
Battle of the Scheldt on the island of
Walcheren during the clearing of
Antwerp. In January 1945, two further RM Brigades were formed, 116th Brigade and 117th Brigade. Both were conventional Infantry, rather than in the Commando role. 116th Brigade saw some action in the
Netherlands, but 117th Brigade was hardly used operationally. In addition one Landing Craft Assault (LCA) unit was stationed in Australia late in the war as a training unit. In 1946 the Army Commandos were disbanded, leaving the Royal Marines to continue the Commando role (with supporting Army elements). A number of Royal Marines served as pilots during the Second World War. It was a Royal Marines officer who led the attack by a formation of
Blackburn Skuas that sank the
Königsberg. Eighteen Royal Marines commanded
Fleet Air Arm squadrons during the course of the war, and with the formation of the
British Pacific Fleet were well represented in the final drive on Japan. Captains and Majors generally commanded squadrons, whilst in one case Lt Colonel R.C. Hay on
HMS Indefatigable was Air Group Co-ordinator from
HMS Victorious of the entire
British Pacific Fleet. Throughout the war Royal Marines continued in their traditional role of providing ships detachments and manning a proportion of the guns on
Cruisers and Capital Ships. They also provided the crew for the UK's Minor
Landing craft, and the Royal Marines Armoured Support Group manned
Centaur IV tanks on
D Day; one of these is still on display at
Pegasus Bridge. Only one marine (
Corporal Thomas Peck Hunter of 43 Commando) was awarded the
Victoria Cross in the Second World War for action at Lake Comacchio in
Italy. Hunter was the most recent RM Commando to be awarded the medal.
Post-colonial era The Royal Marines underwent a notable change after 1945 however, when the Royal Marines took on the main responsibility for the role and training of the
British Commandos. , since their creation in 1942 Royal Marines Commandos had engaged on active operations across the globe, every year except 1968. Notably they provided the first military unit to perform an air assault insertion by helicopter, during the
Suez Crisis in 1956. They were also part of the land element during the 1982
Falklands War. 43 Commando was active as amphibious infantry from 1961 to 1968, and
41 Commando was disbanded in 1981.
After 1945 and the Cold War In 1946 the Army Commandos were disbanded, leaving the Royal Marines to continue the commando role (with supporting army elements). During the
Cold War the Royal Marines were earmarked to reinforce
NATO's northernmost command
Allied Forces North Norway. Therefore,
3 Commando Brigade began to train annually in Northern Norway and had large stores of vehicles and supplies pre-positioned there. At the end of the Cold War in 1989 the structure of the Royal Marines was as follows: •
Commandant General Royal Marines,
London •
3 Commando Brigade,
Plymouth •
40 Commando,
Taunton •
42 Commando,
Bickleigh •
45 Commando,
Arbroath •
29 Commando Regiment,
Royal Artillery, Plymouth, one battery in Arbroath, (18×
L118 light guns) •
4 Assault Squadron, Plymouth (4×
LCU Mk.9, 4×
LCVP Mk.4, 2×
Centurion BARV), served aboard •
539 Assault Squadron, Plymouth (4× LCU Mk.9, 4× LCVP Mk.4, 2× Centurion BARV), served aboard •
59 Independent Commando Squadron,
Royal Engineers, Plymouth, one troop in Arbroath •
3 Commando Brigade Air Squadron,
RNAS Yeovilton, (12×
Gazelle AH.1, 6×
Lynx AH.1) • 2 Raiding Squadron, Royal Marines Reserve, Plymouth •
131 Independent Commando Squadron,
Royal Engineers (V),
Kingsbury, London •
289 Commando Battery,
Royal Artillery (V),
East Ham (6×
L118 light guns) •
Special Boat Service,
Poole, under operational control of
United Kingdom Special Forces •
Comacchio Group,
HMNB Clyde, guarded HMNB Clyde and the UK's naval nuclear weapons stored at
RNAD Coulport •
Royal Marines Police, Plymouth •
Commando Training Centre Royal Marines,
Lympstone •
Royal Marines Band Service RMSoM,
Deal •
Royal Marines Reserve • RMR Plymouth,
Plymouth • RMR Bristol,
Bristol • RMR London,
Wandsworth • RMR Merseyside,
Liverpool • RMR Scotland,
Edinburgh • RMR Tyne,
Newcastle Royal Marines were involved in the
Korean War.
41 (Independent) Commando was reformed in 1950, and was originally envisaged as a raiding force for use against
North Korea. It performed this role in partnership with the
United States Navy until after the landing of
United States Army X Corps at
Wonsan. It then joined the US's
1st Marine Division at Koto-Ri. As
Task Force Drysdale with Lt. Col. D.B. Drysdale RM in command, 41 Commando, a USMC company, a
US Army company and part of the divisional train fought their way from Koto-Ri to Hagaru after the Chinese had blocked the road to the North. It then took part in the famous withdrawal from
Chosin Reservoir. After that, a small amount of raiding followed, before the Marines were withdrawn from the conflict in 1951. It received the
Presidential Citation after the USMC got the regulations modified to allow foreign units to receive the award. After playing a part in the long-running
Malayan Emergency, the next action came in 1956, during the
Suez Crisis. Headquarters
3 Commando Brigade, and Nos 40, 42 and 45 Commandos took part in the operation. It marked the first time that a helicopter assault was used operationally to land troops in an amphibious attack. British and French forces defeated the Egyptians, but after pressure from the United States, and French domestic pressure, they backed down. In September 1955 45 Commando was deployed to
Cyprus to undertake anti-terrorist operations against the
EOKA guerrillas during the independence war against the British. The EOKA were a small, but powerful organisation of Greek Cypriots, who had great local support from the Greek community. The unit, based in Malta at the time travelled to the Kyrenia mountain area of the island and in December 1955 launched Operation Foxhunter, an operation to destroy EOKA's main base. Further action in the Far East was seen during the
Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation. Nos 40 and 42 Commando went to
Borneo at various times to help keep
Indonesian forces from worsening situations in the neighbouring region, in what was an already heated part of the world, with conflicts in
Cambodia,
Laos and
Vietnam. During the campaign there was a company-strength amphibious assault by Lima Company of 42 Commando at the town of
Limbang to rescue hostages. The
Limbang raid saw three of the 150 marines involved decorated, L company 42 commando are still referred to today as Limbang Company in memory of this archetypal commando raid. In January 1964, part of the
Tanzanian Army mutinied. Within 24 hours elements of 41 Commando had left Bickleigh Camp, Plymouth, Devon, and were travelling by air to Nairobi, Kenya, continuing by road into Tanzania. At the same time, Commandos aboard
HMS Bulwark sailed to East Africa and anchored off-shore from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The revolt was put down and the next six months were spent in touring Tanzanian military out-posts disarming military personnel. From 1969 onwards, Royal Marine units regularly deployed to
Northern Ireland during
The Troubles, during the course of which 13 were killed in action. A further eleven died in the
Deal barracks bombing of the Royal Marines School of Music in 1989. Between 1974 and 1984, the Royal Marines undertook three United Nations tours of duty in Cyprus. The first was in November 1974, when 41 Commando took over the Limassol District from the 2nd Battalion of the Guards Brigade, following the
Turkish invasion, and became the first commando to wear the light blue berets of the UN when they began the Corps' first six-month tour with the UN forces in Cyprus (UNIFCYP). The
Falklands War provided the backdrop to the next action of the Royal Marines.
Argentina invaded the islands in April 1982. A British task force was immediately despatched to recapture them, and given that an amphibious assault would be necessary, the Royal Marines were heavily involved. 3 Commando Brigade was brought to full combat strength, with not only 40, 42 and 45 Commandos, but also the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the
Parachute Regiment attached. The troops were landed at
San Carlos Water at the western end of
East Falkland, and proceeded to "
yomp" across the entire island to the capital,
Stanley, which fell on 14 June 1982 to 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment. A Royal Marines divisional headquarters was deployed, under Major-General
Jeremy Moore, who was commander of British land forces during the war. procedures demonstrated by Royal Marines on the frigate HMS
Somerset in the Persian Gulf, in 2004 The main element of 3 Commando Brigade was not deployed in the 1991
Gulf War. However, 24 men from K Company, 42 Commando Royal Marines were deployed as six-man teams aboard two Royal Navy destroyers and frigates. They were used as
ship boarding parties and took part in numerous boardings of suspect shipping. There were also further elements deployed to provide protection of shipping whilst in ports throughout the Gulf. The main element of 3 Commando Brigade was deployed to northern
Iraq in the aftermath to provide aid to the Iraqi
Kurds as part of
Operation Safe Haven. In 1992 recruiting into the RM Band Service was opened to females. From 2000 onwards, the Royal Marines began converting from their traditional
light infantry role with the introduction of the
Commando 21 concept, an emphasis on force protection leading to the introduction of the
Viking, the first armoured vehicle to be operated by the Royal Marines for half a century. Note: "(V)" denoted
British Army reserve units. ==Current status and deployment==