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42 Commando (42 Cdo) (pronounced as Four-Two Commando) is a subordinate unit within the
Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...
3 Commando Brigade 3 Commando Brigade (3 Cdo Bde), previously called the 3rd Special Service Brigade, is a commando formation of the British Armed Forces. It is composed of the Royal Marine Commandos, alongside commando qualified sailors, soldiers and airmen from ...
. Based at Bickleigh Barracks near Plymouth, personnel regularly deploy outside the United Kingdom on operations or training. All Royal Marines personnel will have completed the Commando course at the Commando Training Centre (CTCRM) at
Lympstone Lympstone is a village and civil parish in East Devon in the English county of Devon. It has a population of 1,754. There is a harbour on the estuary of the River Exe, lying at the outlet of Wotton Brook between cliffs of red breccia.
in Devon, entitling them to wear the
green beret The green beret was the official headdress of the British Commandos of the Second World War. It is still worn by members of the Royal Marines after passing the Commando Course, and personnel from other units of the Royal Navy, Army and RAF who ...
, with most attached personnel having completed the
All Arms Commando Course The All Arms Commando Course (AACC) lasts for 13 weeks and is run by the Royal Marines at the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines (CTCRM), Lympstone. Members from any of the United Kingdom's Regular Armed Forces (e.g. personnel from units atta ...
.


History


Second World War

Early Commando units were all from the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...
but by February 1942, the Royal Marines were asked to organise Commando units of their own, and 6,000 men volunteered. No. 42 (Royal Marine) Commando was raised in August 1943, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel R C de M. Leathes from the 1st Royal Marine Battalion, as part of the expansion of the commandos. They were assigned to the
3rd Special Service Brigade Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * H ...
and served in India and
Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
in 1943–45, including operations in the
Arakan Arakan ( or ) is a historic coastal region in Southeast Asia. Its borders faced the Bay of Bengal to its west, the Indian subcontinent to its north and Burma proper to its east. The Arakan Mountains isolated the region and made it acces ...
and
Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur t ...
. It took part in the third Arakan campaign and carried out a series of amphibious landings down the Burmese coastline. Including the landings at
Myebon Myebon ( my, မြေပုံမြို့ Myebon Township) is a town of Mrauk-U District in Rakhine State, Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ ev ...
and the
Battle of Hill 170 The Battle of Hill 170 was a battle between the British 3rd Commando Brigade and the Japanese 54th Division during the Second World War. The battle was fought in January 1945, as part of the Burma Campaign. The 3rd Commando Brigade were giv ...
. It then returned to India to prepare for
Operation Zipper During World War II, Operation Zipper was a British plan to capture either Port Swettenham or Port Dickson, Malaya, as staging areas for the recapture of Singapore in Operation Mailfist. However, due to the end of the war in the Pacific, it ...
the invasion of
British Malaya The term "British Malaya" (; ms, Tanah Melayu British) loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British hegemony or control between the late 18th and the mid-20th century. Un ...
. The war ended before the operation began and the commando was diverted to reoccupy Hong Kong.


Post-Second World War

Following the Second World War
1st First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
,
2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds or 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Second of arc, an angular measurement unit, ...
and
4th Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...
commando brigades disbanded leaving only one brigade – the 3rd (40(RM), 42(RM) and 45(RM)). The Commando was involved in operations during the confrontation with Indonesia (Borneo). It was during this tour that the famous Limbang raid was conducted by Lima Company. Throughout the following decade it was based in Singapore at (RNAS Sembawang).


Return to UK

After the return to the UK, the Commando was deployed to Northern Ireland, the New Hebrides in 1980 and exercised regularly overseas. More recently the Commando has seen operational service in
South Georgia South Georgia ( es, Isla San Pedro) is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. Stretching in the east� ...
,
Montserrat Montserrat ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, with roughly of coastline. It is n ...
in 1995, Iraq and
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
.


Falklands Conflict

In 1982, following the
Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...
invasion of the Falkland Islands, the Commando deployed on
Operation Corporate The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
. On 21 May the Commando were Brigade reserve at San Carlos under
Lt. Col. Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
Nick Vaux RM. The unit was deployed to seize
Mount Kent Mount Kent is a mountain on East Falkland, Falkland Islands, and is high. It is located north of Mount Challenger. History The mountain saw action during the Falklands War during the Assault on Mount Kent, part of the larger Battle of Mou ...
in a night move by helicopter. By 4 June the unit had moved forward, mostly under cover of darkness, to positions west of high ground overlooking
Port Stanley Stanley (; also known as Port Stanley) is the capital city of the Falkland Islands. It is located on the island of East Falkland, on a north-facing slope in one of the wettest parts of the islands. At the 2016 census, the city had a populat ...
and the last Argentine stronghold. After days of probing
reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmishers ...
, a Brigade assault took place on the night of 11/12 June in which the Commando's task was to secure Mount Harriet on the Brigade right flank. By moonlight and in freezing temperatures, 42 Commando moved undetected through enemy minefields in a right-flanking movement to surprise the enemy in their rear. Consecutive assaults by "K" and "L"
Companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...
followed, up steep slopes onto company positions. Against strong resistance and continuous
artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, ...
bombardment, the Marines prevailed. By first light more than 30 enemy had been killed and over 300 prisoners taken as 42 Commando consolidated on Mount Harriet. 42 Commando suffered two fatalities themselves – one on Mount Harriet and one on Wall Mountain. For the bravery shown in the attack on Mount Harriet, 42 Commando was awarded one DSO, one
Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...
, four Military Medals and eight men were Mentioned in Dispatches.


21st Century

The new millennium saw the Commando deploy on Operation Telic 1 for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 where they launched a helicopter assault on the Al-Faw Peninsula to support
40 Commando 40 Commando RM is a battalion-sized formation of the British Royal Marines and subordinate unit within 3 Commando Brigade, the principal Commando formation, under the Operational Command of Commander in Chief Fleet. Their barracks are at Norton M ...
. The unit returned from Operation Herrick in Afghanistan on 16 April 2009, where it served as the Regional Battle Group (South). In May 2013, 42 Commando took over from 45 Commando as the lead Commando task group and deployed as part of the COUGAR 13
Response Force Task Group The Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime) (or JEF(M)) (formerly the Response Force Task Group (RFTG), and prior to that the Joint Rapid Reaction Force (JRRF)), is the Royal Navy's contribution to the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) maintained at ...
exercising in Albania and the Middle East. In early July 2019, personnel from 42 Commando deployed by air to
Gibraltar ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song = "Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gibra ...
, in order to support the Gibraltar Government's detention of the Panama-flagged crude oil tanker ''Grace 1''. The vessel was suspected of carrying oil to a Syrian refinery, in contravention of European Union sanctions against Syria. In March 2020, personnel of the unit worked with the Peacekeeping Company of the Belarusian 103rd Guards Airborne Brigade at the Losvido Training Areas during the two-week Exercise ''Winter Partisan'', which was the first time Armed Forces of Belarus have provided training to any nation.


Role

42 Commando is a Very High Readiness commando force capable of delivering special operations with a specific expertise in maritime operations including: high threat capacity-building and training of overseas partnered forces; Ships Force Protection Teams; training to indigenous forces; maritime interdiction and boarding operations; UK resilience and support to the Queen Elizabeth Class Carriers.


Organisation

Prior to April 2017, the structure of 42 Commando followed the Commando 21 model with four rifle companies: * J (Juliet) company. * K (Kilo) company. * L (Lima) company. * M (Mike) company. Following the commando's re-role in 2018 the companies specialised as follows: * J company - board and search specialists (role transferred from
43 Commando The 43 Commando Fleet Protection Group Royal Marines (43 Cdo FP Gp RM), formerly Comacchio Company Royal Marines (1980–1983), Comacchio Group Royal Marines (1983–2001) and Fleet Protection Group Royal Marines (2001–2012), is a 550-man un ...
under project Sykes). * K company - Support, Augment, Liaise and Train (SALT) either other UK units, Allied forces, or front-line operations * L company - Joint Personnel Recovery, rescuing aircrew or fellow marines/soldiers who are isolated, missing, detained or captured in an operational environment, in particular fliers aboard
HMS Queen Elizabeth HMS ''Queen Elizabeth'' could refer to one of three ships named in honour of Elizabeth I of England: * was the lead ship of the s, launched in 1913 and scrapped in 1948 * HMS ''Queen Elizabeth'' was to have been the first of the 1960s planned CV ...
. * M company - force protection teams to RN and RFA ships passing through high threat areas around the globe In 2021 the unit comprised 6 companies.


Commanders

Commanders have included: *1948–1950 Lt. Col.
Ian Riches General Sir Ian Hurry Riches, (27 September 1908 – 23 December 1996) was a Royal Marines officer who served as Commandant General Royal Marines from 1959 to 1962. Military career Educated at University College School, Riches joined the Royal ...
*1963–1965 Lt. Col. Ian Gourlay *1965–1966 Lt. Col. Peter Whiteley *1970–1972 Lt. Col. John Richards *1972–1973 Lt. Col.
Jeremy Moore Major General Sir John Jeremy Moore, (5 July 1928 – 15 September 2007) was a British senior Royal Marine officer who served as the commander of the British land forces during the Falklands War in 1982. Moore received the surrender of the ...
*Oct 75 – Apr 78 Lt Col TJM Wilson RM *Apr 78 – Jun 80 Lt Col
Henry Beverley Lieutenant General Sir Henry York La Roche Beverley, (born 25 October 1935) is a retired Royal Marines officer who served as Commandant General Royal Marines from 1990 to 1994. Military career The son of Vice Admiral Sir York Beverley, he was e ...
OBE RM *Jun 80 – Dec 81 Lt Col CHC Howgill RM *Dec 81 – May 83 Lt Col Nick Vaux DSO RM *May 83 – Dec 84 Lt Col PT Stevenson MBE RM *Dec 84 – Oct 86 Lt Col Van Der Horst RM *Oct 86 – Jun 88 Lt Col RS Tailyour RM *Jun 88 – Jul 90 Lt Col
David Pennefather Major General David Anthony Somerset Pennefather, (born 17 May 1945) is a former Royal Marines officer who served as Commandant General Royal Marines from 1996 to 1998. Military career Pennefather was educated at Wellington College and joined ...
RM *Jul 90 – Jul 92 Lt Col NM Robinson RM *Jul 92 – May 94 Lt Col Robert Fulton RM *May 94 – May 96 Lt Col AR Pillar RM *May 96 – May 98 Lt Col RGT Lane RM *May 98 – Dec 99 Lt Col RM Bowkett RM *Dec 99 – Apr 01 Lt Col
Andy Salmon Major General Andrew Salmon, (born 2 July 1959) is a retired Royal Marines officer who served as Commandant General Royal Marines from 2009 to 2010. Early life Salmon was born on 2 July 1959 in Wellington, Shropshire, England. He was educated at ...
RM *Apr 01 – Nov 02 Lt Col DA Hook OBE RM *Nov 02 – Jul 04 Lt Col
Buster Howes Major General Francis Hedley Roberton "Buster" Howes, (born 22 March 1960) is a former Royal Marines officer who served as Commandant General Royal Marines from February 2010 to December 2011. Early life Howes was educated at Christ's Hospital, ...
OBE RM *Jul 04 – Mar 06 Lt Col GM Salzano MBE RM *Apr 06 – Jan 08 Lt Col MJ Holmes DSO RM *Jan 08 – Oct 09 Lt Col CR Stickland OBE RM *Oct 09 – Jan 12 Lt Col EA Murchison MBE RM *Jan 12 - Jan 14 Lt Col N Sutherland MBE RM *Jan 14 - Nov 15 Lt Col Richard Cantrill OBE MC RM *Nov 15 - Dec 17 Lt Col Mark Totten MBE RM *Dec 17 - Sept 19 Lt Col Ben Halstead MBE RM *Sep 19 - Jun 21 Lt Col Doug Pennefather RM *Jun 21 - Present Lt Col James Lewis OBE RM


References

Notes Bibliography * * * *


External links


42 Commando

Royal Marines History
The Royal Marines a Geo History {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Royal Marine formations and units Military units and formations established in 1942 Military units and formations of the United Kingdom in the Falklands War Military units and formations of the United Kingdom in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Commandos (United Kingdom) 1942 establishments in the United Kingdom N