40 Commando
40 Commando Royal Marines | |
---|---|
Active | 1942–present |
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | |
Type | King Charles III |
Regimental Sergeant Major | WO1 L Drinkwater RM |
40 Commando RM is a
Tasked as a Commando light infantry unit, 40 Commando (pronounced "Forty Commando") is capable of a wide range of operational tasks. Personnel regularly deploy outside the United Kingdom on operations or training. Whilst 3 Commando Brigade RM are the principal cold weather warfare formation, personnel are capable of operating in a variety of theatres including tropical jungle, desert or mountainous terrain. The Commando is a regular participant in the annual Brigade cold weather warfare exercise in Norway. The unit's first "winter" was 1991, until which the unit was nicknamed the "Sunshine Commando".
All personnel will have completed the Commando course at the Commando Training Centre (CTCRM) at Lympstone in Devon, entitling them to wear the green beret, with attached personnel having completed the All Arms Commando Course.
History
Formation
Early Commando units were all from the British Army but by February 1942, the Royal Marines were asked to organise Commando units of their own, and 6,000 men volunteered.[1] The first Royal Marines commando unit was formed at Deal in Kent on 14 February 1942 and designated 'The Royal Marine Commando'. Before long it was re-designated RM 'A' Commando. Col J Picton Phillips was the Commanding Officer.[2]
Dieppe Raid
The Commando's first assignment was at
Italy and the Aegean
On return RM 'A' Commando was again re-designated; this time as 40 (RM) Commando. Further training and replenishment was carried out. Once back to full strength it was sent to Sicily in July 1943 and a little later in September saw action at Pizzio. Later that year the Commando was in action in Termoli in October, and in 1944 was embroiled at Anzio. Later service in Yugoslavia and Albania followed by policing duties on Corfu wound up 40's wartime activities.[6]
Post-Second World War
Following the Second World War, 2 Commando (Nos. 2, 9, 40(RM) and 43(RM)) disbanded leaving 3 Commando Brigade (42(RM), 44(RM) and 45(RM)). To recognise 2 Commando Brigade one of the Commandos was renamed, No44(RM) becoming No40(RM).[7]
The Commando was involved in
Malayan Emergency - headhunting photographs
Members of the 40 Commandos caused a media scandal when photographs were leaked to the public showing their marines posing with the severed heads of pro-independence guerrillas during the Malayan Emergency. This was a common practice employed by the British during the war and was often conducted by Iban headhunters from Borneo hired by the British military.[9]
In April 1952, British left-wing newspaper The Daily Worker (today known as the Morning Star) published a photograph depicting soldiers inside a 40 Commando base near Kuala Kangsar holding the severed head of a suspected pro independence fighter belonging to the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA).[10][9][11] An Admiralty spokesman subsequently claimed that the photographs were a forgery and a "communist trick", though Colonial Secretary Oliver Lyttelton later confirmed to Parliament that they were genuine.[12] Lyttelton came to the defence of the Commando, noting that the decapitations had been conducted by an Iban headhunter from Borneo hired by the British army, and not the Marines themselves.[13]
1960s
The Commando subsequently undertook security duties in
Return to UK
In 1971 the Commando left Singapore and re-established itself in Seaton Barracks, Crownhill, Plymouth. Over the next decade the Commando found itself deployed to Northern Ireland four times and also undertook an unexpected two-month tour in Cyprus after the 1974 invasion by the Turkish Army.[14]
Falklands Conflict
In 1982, following the
1980s
On their return from the Falklands, the Commando spent the rest of the decade involved in a variety of tasks including two
1990s
In 1991 the Unit undertook its first Norway deployment but found itself undergoing a dramatic climatic change when, due to the Gulf War, it deployed to Northern Iraq to ensure the security of Kurdish refugees. Northern Ireland tours, Norway winter deployments and a major Asia-Pacific Exercise kept the Commando busy through the following years. In November 1993 the unit deployed to West Belfast in support of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), returning in May 1994. In 1998 a substantial part of the Commando deployed to the Congo to ensure the safe evacuation of UK nationals from Kinshasa City.[14]
Recent history
The new millennium saw the Commando deploy to Northern Ireland and on their return they were the first Commando to reorganise under a new structural concept called Commando 21.[14]
The Unit deployed in its entirety in January 2003, initially part of the Naval Task Group (NTG) 03 in
In March 2003 a coalition force, under the overall command of the
In 2004 the Unit returned to Iraq as part of a multi-national division peace-support operation.[14] The commandos returned in April 2008 from a tour in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan as part of Operation Herrick. During the tour L-Cpl Matthew Croucher was awarded the George Cross for his action of jumping on a live grenade during a patrol.[15]
40 Cdo returned to Afghanistan in 2010 for Op Herrick 12. They were the last British troops to leave Sangin, described as the "deadliest place in Afghanistan", after command was handed over to the US Armed Forces.[16]
A Company deployed with the UK
In the autumn of 2017, the Unit spearheaded the UK Military's crisis response (Operation RUMAN) in the Caribbean following the catastrophic damage caused to UK Overseas Territories by record-breaking Atlantic Hurricanes. 40 Commando deployed hundreds of troops to the British Virgin Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands and Anguilla. Their efforts helped to reassure the affected communities, restore security, fix critical infrastructure and distribute humanitarian aid.[19]
40 Commando are CBRN defense experts, expecting to be the lead unit in the event of a CBRN incident. In 2018 they participated in the annual chemical warfare exercise, Exercise TOXIC DAGGER, on Salisbury Plain involving over 300 military personnel, along with the RAF Regiment, the Royal Marines Band Service for casualty treatment and utilising Defence CBRN Centre expertise.[20][21][22]
It became clear in 2018 that 40 Commando would, as would 45 Commando, form the infantry component of a Littoral Response Group, as part of restructuring in the Future Commando Force programme.[23]
Unit memorable dates
- The Landing at Termoli — 3 October 1943
- The Landing at San Carlos — 21 May 1982
- The Clearance of the Al-Faw Peninsula— 20 March 2003
Battle honours
The following Battle honours were awarded to the British Commandos during the Second World War.[24]
- Adriatic
- Alethangyaw
- Aller
- Anzio
- Argenta Gap
- Burma 1943–45
- Crete
- Dieppe
- Dives Crossing
- Djebel Choucha
- Flushing
- Greece 1944–45
- Italy 1943–45
- Kangaw
- Landing at Porto San Venere
- Landing in Sicily
- Leese
- Litani
- Madagascar
- Middle East 1941, 1942, 1944
- Monte Ornito
- Myebon
- Normandy Landing
- North Africa 1941–43
- North-West Europe 1942, 1944–1945
- Norway 1941
- Pursuit to Messina
- Rhine
- St. Nazaire
- Salerno
- Sedjenane 1
- Sicily 1943
- Steamroller Farm
- Syria 1941
- Termoli
- Vaagso
- Valli di Comacchio
- Westkapelle
Commanding officers
Commanders have included:
- 1942–1942 Lt Col J Picton Phillips RM (KIA Dieppe)
- 1942–1944 Lt Col J C "Pops" Manners RM (KIA Brač, Yugoslavia)
- 1944–1944 Major N S E Maude RM
- 1944–1945 Lt Col R W Sankey DSO DSC RM
- 1945–1945 Maj I D De'Ath DSO MBE RM
- 1945–1945 Lt Col C L Price RM
- 1947–1949 Lt Col R D Houghton OBE MC RM
- 1949–1951 Lt Col B J D Lumsden RM
- 1951–1953 Lt Col M Price DSO OBE RM
- 1953–1954 Lt Col H E Johns MBE RM
- 1954–1956 Lt Col T M Gray DSO MC RM
- 1956–1958 Lt Col D G Tweed DSO MBE RM
- 1958–1959 Lt Col Peter Hellings DSO MC RM
- 1959–1961 Lt Col I S Harrison RM
- 1961–1963 Lt Col David Hunter MC RM
- 1963–1964 Lt Col J F Parsons MC RM
- 1964–1966 Lt Col J A Taplin MBE RM
- 1966–1967 Lt Col E D Pounds RM
- 1967–1969 Lt Col Robert Loudoun RM
- 1969–1970 Lt Col David Alexander RM
- 1970-1972 Lt Col D L Bailey OBE RM
- 1972–1974 Lt Col John Mottram RM
- 1975–1978 Lt Col Julian Thompson RM
- 1978–1979 Lt Col Martin Garrod RM
- 1979–1981 Lt Col Robin Ross RM
- 1981–1983 Lt Col Malcolm Hunt RM
- 1983–1985 Lt Col Tim Donkin RM
- 1985-1987 Lt Col Alan Hooper RM
- 1987–1989 Lt Col John Chester RM
- 1989–1991 Lt Col A D Wray RM
- 1991–1992 Lt Col Graham Dunlop RM
- 1992–1994 Lt Col Anthony Milton RM
- 1994–1996 Lt Col Ian Gardiner RM
- 1996–1998 Lt Col Jim Dutton RM
- 1998–2000 Lt Col John Rose OBE RM
- 2000–2002 Lt Col David Capewell RM
- 2002–2003 Lt Col Gordon Messenger DSO OBE ADC
- 2003–2004 Lt Col Richard Watts OBE RM
- 2004–2006 Lt Col D C M King RM
- 2006–2008 Lt Col S M Birrell DSO RM
- 2008–2010 Lt Col Paul James DSO RM
- 2011–2013 Lt Col Matt Jackson DSO RM
- 2013–2015 Lt Col Alex Janzen OBE RM
- 2015–2017 Lt Col Andy Watkins RM
- 2017–2019 Lt Col Paul Maynard OBE RM
- 2019–2021 Lt Col Simon Rogers RM
- 2021–2023 Lt Col Andy Dow RM
- 2023–Present Lt Col Oliver Denning RM
References
Notes
- ^ Haskew, pp.48–49
- ^ Neillands, p. 238
- ^ Neillands, p. 245
- ^ Neillands, p. 248
- ^ "Major-General 'Titch' Houghton". The Telegraph. London. 19 January 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
- ^ "Operation Mercerised". Commando Veterans Archive. Archived from the original on 26 April 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
- ^ "Royal Marines Commando and Special Boat Service". Commando Veterans Association. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
- ^ "Photos of 40 Commando RM". gallery.commandoveterans.org. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
- ^ a b Hack, Karl (2022). The Malayan Emergency: Revolution and Counterinsurgency at the End of Empire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 315–316.
- ^ "This is the War in Malaya". The Daily Worker. 28 April 1952.
- ^ Hack, Karl (2022). The Malayan Emergency: Revolution and Counterinsurgency at the End of Empire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 315.
- ISBN 981-04-8693-6.
- ISBN 978-1501716409.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "40 Commando Royal Marines History". 40 Commando Association. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
- ^ "No. 58774". The London Gazette (Supplement). 24 July 2008. pp. 11163–11164.
- ^ "Royal Marines speak of 'horrible' reality of life on patrol in Afghanistan". The Guardian. 17 November 2010.
- ^ "RFA Cardigan Bay". Royal Fleet Auxiliary Historical Association. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
- ^ "Royal Marines deploy on Black Alligator". Royal Navy. 15 October 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ^ "Operation Ruman". Warfare Today. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
- ^ "Exercise Toxic Dagger: training the UK military to mitigate CBRN threats". Army Technology. Verdict Media. 3 May 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
- ^ "Exercise TOXIC DAGGER - the sharp end of chemical warfare". Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. gov.uk. 20 February 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
- ^ "'No Comms, No Bombs': Optimising the Signals Branch for the Future". Puzzle Palace. 25 July 2019. Archived from the original on 23 February 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
- ^ Moreman, p.94
Bibliography
- Beadle, Maj. Jeffery (1992). The Light Blue Lanyard: 50 years with 40 Commando Royal Marines. Square One Publications. ISBN 1872017525.
- Haskew, Michael E (2007). Encyclopaedia of Elite Forces in the Second World War. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-84415-577-4.
- Moreman, Timothy (2006). British Commandos 1940–46. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-986-X.
- Neillands, Robin Neillands (2006). The Dieppe Raid: The Story of the Disastrous 1942 Expedition. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0253347817.
External links
- 40 Commando - Royal Navy official website
- 40 Commando Association
51°2.338′N 3°9.248′W / 51.038967°N 3.154133°W