3 Commando Brigade
3rd Special Service Brigade 3rd Commando Brigade 3 Commando Brigade | |
---|---|
Cap Badge of the Royal Marines | |
Active | 14 February 1942βpresent |
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | Royal Marines |
Type |
Marines Commando Light infantry |
Role | Commando/Amphibious Landing Force |
Size | 8 battalions |
Garrison/HQ | HQ - Stonehouse Barracks, Plymouth |
March | Quick - Sarie Marais |
Engagements |
Second World War Operation Musketeer |
Commanders | |
Brigade Commander | Brigadier Gwyn Jenkins OBE |
Insignia | |
3 Commando Brigade Formation Badge |
3 Commando Brigade is a commando formation of the British Armed Forces and the main manoeuvre formation of the Royal Marines. Its personnel are predominantly Royal Marines, supported by units of Royal Engineers, Royal Artillery, and the Fleet Air Arm, together with other Commando Qualified sailors, soldiers and airmen.
The brigade was formed in 1943, during the Second World War, with a mixture of Army commando and Royal Marine commando units and served in the Burma Campaign. After the Second World War, the Army commandos were disbanded and the brigade became a Royal Marine formation. Recently, the brigade has again become a mixed Army and Marine formation with the addition of an Army infantry battalion, artillery regiment and engineer regiment alongside three Royal Marine battalions and support services. Since the end of the Second World War, it has served in the Suez crisis, Falklands War, Gulf War and the War in Afghanistan.
History
The 3rd Special Service Brigade was formed in 1943 and sailed for the Far East and saw action against the Japanese in the Burma Campaign.[1] On 6 December 1944, the brigade was renamed 3rd Commando Brigade, removing the hated title Special Service and its association with the German SS.[2] In January 1945, the Brigade was involved in the battles to secure the Myebon peninsula and Kangaw.[1]
The brigade was then withdrawn to India to prepare for the amphibious assault on Malaya, but the dropping of the atom bombs on Japan ended the war before the planned invasion.[1] Instead, the brigade moved to Hong Kong to secure the Crown Colony.[1]
In 1946, the Army Commandos in the brigade were disbanded and the brigade became a Royal Marine Commando formation.[1]
Formation in the Second World War
The brigade was composed as follows:[3][4]
Post the Second World War
3 Commando Brigadeβs most high-profile operation after the war was the Suez Crisis, when it took part in the amphibious assault against Egyptian targets. During Operation Musketeer, units of the brigade made a helicopter-borne assault.[5]
1971 saw the withdrawal of British forces from the Far East and Persian Gulf. The brigade returned to the UK with other British units. It moved to Stonehouse Barracks in Plymouth, where it remains to this day.[6] The brigade was deployed to Northern Ireland as part of Operation Banner as violence escalated during the Troubles in July 1972.[7]
Operation Corporate
The brigade's next large operation was in 1982. Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, and 3 Commando Brigade, reinforced by 2 Para and 3 Para, was one of the two main British land formations that took part in operations to recapture the islands. The Brigade landed at San Carlos Water and marched across East Falkland to Stanley. Argentine units were defeated in several sharp engagements, and their forces surrendered on 14 June.[8]
Gulf War
In the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War, the brigade was deployed on a non-combat task in northern Iraq. The Iraqi Kurds had suffered immensely during the war and in its immediate aftermath, and the brigade was used due to its rapid deployment ability. It provided humanitarian aid to the Kurds and saved many from starvation.[9]
21st century
Recently, the brigade has been involved in two major campaigns, including Operation Veritas in Afghanistan, 2001 and 2002, and Operation Telic during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In Afghanistan, no contact was made with enemy forces, despite contrary predictions. Iraq, however, saw heavy fighting occur in the early stages of the campaign, as the brigade made its first amphibious assault in over 20 years by landing on the Al-Faw peninsula in south east Iraq.[10] In 2006, the brigade returned to Afghanistan on Operation Herrick, replacing 16 Air Assault Brigade, where intense fighting occurred.[11] From 2008 to 2012 1st Battalion, The Rifles was one of the attached army units in 3 Commando Brigade.
Organisation
The brigade is commanded by a Royal Marines brigadier and contains Royal Marines, Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force personnel. The subordinate units are:[12]
Royal Marines | British Army |
---|---|
30 Commando Information Exploitation Group (Stonehouse Barracks, Plymouth) | 24 Commando Regiment Royal Engineers (RM Chivenor, Devon) |
40 Commando (Norton Manor Camp, Taunton) | 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery (Royal Citadel, Plymouth) |
42 Commando (Bickleigh Barracks, Plymouth) | 383 Commando Petroleum Troop Royal Logistic Corps (Plymouth) |
45 Commando (RM Condor, Arbroath) | Korps Mariniers (as part of UK/NL Landing Force) |
43 Commando Fleet Protection Group (HMNB Clyde, Argyll and Bute) | 1st Marine Combat Group (Doorn, Utrechtse Heuvelrug) |
539 Assault Squadron (HMNB Devonport, Plymouth) | |
Royal Marines Armoured Support Group (RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset) | |
Commando Logistic Regiment (RM Chivenor, Devon) |
Commanders
Commanders have included:[13]
- 1943β1944 Brigadier Peter Young
- 1944β1945 Brigadier Campbell Hardy
- 1948β1951 Brigadier Campbell Hardy
- 1951β1952 Brigadier Cecil Phillips
- 1952β1954 Brigadier James Moulton
- 1954β1955 Brigadier Ian Riches
- 1955β1957 Brigadier Reginald Madoc
- 1957β1959 Brigadier Robert Houghton
- 1959β1960 Brigadier Peter Hellings
- 1960β1962 Brigadier Norman Tailyour
- 1962β1964 Brigadier Francis Barton
- 1964β1965 Brigadier Leslie Marsh
- 1965β1966 Brigadier Anthony Willasey-Wilsey
- 1966β1968 Brigadier Ian Gourlay
- 1968β1970 Brigadier Peter Whiteley
- 1970β1972 Brigadier Patrick Ovens
- 1972β1975 Brigadier Roger Ephraums
- 1975β1977 Brigadier John Richards
- 1977β1979 Brigadier Jeremy Moore
- 1979β1981 Brigadier Michael Wilkins
- 1981β1983 Brigadier Julian Thompson
- 1983β1984 Brigadier Martin Garrod
- 1984β1986 Brigadier Henry Beverley
- 1986β1988 Brigadier Robin Ross
- 1988β1990 Brigadier Andrew Whitehead
- 1990β1992 Brigadier Andrew Keeling
- 1992β1994 Brigadier David Pennefather
- 1994β1995 Brigadier Jonathan Thomson
- 1995β1997 Brigadier Anthony Milton
- 1997β1998 Brigadier Robert Fulton
- 1998β1999 Brigadier David Wilson
- 1999β2001 Brigadier Robert Fry
- 2001β2002 Brigadier Roger Lane
- 2002β2004 Brigadier James Dutton
- 2004β2006 Brigadier John Rose
- 2006β2007 Brigadier Jeremy Thomas
- 2007β2008 Brigadier David Capewell
- 2008β2008 Brigadier Buster Howes
- 2008β2009 Brigadier Gordon Messenger
- 2010β2011 Brigadier Ed Davis
- 2011β2013 Brigadier Martin Smith
- 2013β2014 Brigadier Stuart M. Birrell
- 2014β2015 Brigadier Charlie Stickland
- 2015β2017 Brigadier Jim Morris
- 2017βpresent Brigadier Gwyn Jenkins
Battle honours
The following Battle honours were awarded to the British Commandos during the Second World War.[14][15]
- Vaagso
- Norway 1941
- St. Nazaire
- Dieppe
- Normandy Landing
- Dives Crossing
- Flushing
- Westkapelle
- Rhine
- Leese
- Aller
- North-West Europe 1942 '44β45
- Litani
- Syria 1941
- Steamroller Farm
- Sedjenane 1
- Djebel Choucha
- North Africa 1941β43
- Landing in Sicily
- Pursuit to Messina
- Sicily 1943
- Landing at Porto San Venere
- Termoli
- Salerno
- Monte Ornito
- Anzio
- Valli di Comacchio
- Argenta Gap
- Italy 1943β45
- Greece 1944β45
- Crete
- Madagascar
- Adriatic
- Middle East 1941 '42 '44
- Alethangyaw
- Myebon
- Kangaw
- Burma 1943β45
See also
- British Commandos
- British military history
- Ski warfare
- Military of the United Kingdom
- 1st Commando Brigade
- 2nd Commando Brigade
- 4th Commando Brigade
- Australian commandos
- Marine Expeditionary Brigade American equivalent
- Netherlands Marine Corps Dutch equivalent and part of UK/NL Landing Force
References
Notes
- 1 2 3 4 5 Chappell 1996, p. 31.
- β Moreman 2008, p. 32.
- β "burmastar".
- β Chappell 1996, p. 28.
- β "1956: Allied Forces take control of Suez". BBC. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- β "3 Commando Brigade". British Army units 1945 on. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- β Van der Bijl 2009, p. 68
- β "3 Commando Brigade". Naval History.net. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- β "1991: UK forces withdraw from Kurdish haven". BBC News. 14 July 1991. Retrieved 10 October 2008.
- β "Marines spearhead the invasion with lightning attack". The Telegraph. 21 March 2003. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- β "Commandos ready to face the Taliban". BBC. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- β "3 Commando Brigade". Royal Navy. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- β Royal Navy Senior Appointments Archived 11 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
- β Moreman, p.94
- β "Commando Forces at regiments.org by T.F.Mills". Archived from the original on 7 November 2007. Retrieved 2015-07-14.
Bibliography
- Chappell, Mike (1996). Army Commandos 1940β1945. Elite Series # 64. London: Osprey Military Publishing. ISBN 1-85532-579-9.
- Moreman, Tim (2008). British Commandos 1940β46. Battle Orders. London: Osprey Military Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-986-8.
- Southby-Tailyour, Ewen (2009). 3 Commando Brigade. Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0-09-192696-0.
- Neillands, Robin (2004). By Sea and Land: The Story of the Royal Marine Commandos. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Classics. ISBN 1-84415-043-7.
- Philip, Sea soldiers' readied for a new world disorder,' Jane's Navy International, September 2001
- Van der Bijl, Nick (2009). Operation Banner: The British Army in Northern Ireland 1969-2007. Pen & Sword. ISBN 978-1844159567.
External links
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