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1664-

The Royal Marines can trace their history all the way back to the 17th century, when, Charles 11 could see a real advantage in having soldiers dedicated to working closely with the Navy. The Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot was formed on the 28th of October 1664 and quickly found themselves at sea preparing for the imminent war with Holland. The Regiment was formed into six companies and were armed with firelocks (muskets) and they did not carry pikes. The very distinctive yellow coats and uniforms were not issued until the following year. Around 250 of the first recruits had previously been soldiers and they turned up in Southampton in the remnants of their old uniforms. The average age of the first recruits was 19 and they joined for the bounty and the promise of prize money. The sea soldiers (the name Marines wasn't used until 1672) were able to both fight on shore as infantry and also take their part in manning warships, and the discipline shown by these men was compared to the seamen of the time. Discipline and regulations was enforced fairly and the early Quarter-Master Marshalls had the power to hang privates as the ultimate punishment.

The Regiments first action of note was i early July 1667, on 1st July 1667 a Dutch fleet of over 40 ships anchored off Gravesend then the next day sailed towards Harwich, where they put ashore 3,000 men while the ships engaged the fort. A company of Dutch soldiers set off towards Landguard Fort straight into the steady fire of 2 companies of the Admirals men. The Dutch soldiers withdrew before making a second assault which was again repulsed the next day the dutch refloated their ships and retreated back into the English channel. This was the last time that Marines fought on English soil but they were to spend the next three centuries fighting all over the world.

Above left: An officer of the Lord High Admirals Regiment 1664-1685

Center: A soldier of the Prince George of Denmarks Regiment 1686

Right: A private of the Lord High Admirals Regiment

The famous attack upon Gibraltar, which led to its surrender to the British on 24th July 1704 was carried out by a brigade of British and Dutch Marines, 1,800 strong, under the command of Prince George of Hess-Darmstadt. In the following October, Gibraltar was besieged by the French and Spanish. The Marine brigade, which had been reinforced shortly before by a further 400 Marines from the British Fleet, held the fortress against repeated attacks until the siege was raised on 9th March 1705. In one incident in this fighting, Captain Fisher of the Marines with 17 of his men, successfully defended the Round Tower against the continued assaults of 500 French Grenadiers. A contemporary report of this noted defence says, "Encouraged by the Prince of Hesse, the garrison did more than could humanly be expected, and the English Marines gained an immortal glory".

October 21st 1805, Admiral Nelson appeared early on the quarterdeck of HMS VICTORY, he had left his sword behind in his cabin, his dress was his usual uniform, not his full dress uniform but his old undress coat, with epaulettes and a minimum of gold braid; the replicas of his orders stitched on in silver and gold wire, for he was not wearing the full stars in silver and gilt and enamel as some paintings depicting the battle suggest. However his was still a discernible target, but then again so was any Admiral on deck, British, French, or Spanish.
There was talk among Nelsons officers about him wearing his decorations, Dr Beatty the surgeon was particularly worried, but was dissuaded by Dr Scott the chaplain from mentioning them, the other Dr Scott who was Nelson's secretary, said, " I would not be the man to mention such a matter to him"
It seems, however, that someone did, probably Captain Hardy, but he received the brusque reply that it was no time to be changing coats. Captain Blackwood was also concerned about his Admirals safety, and suggested that Nelson should transfer to EURYALUS, as frigates stayed out of the way when battleships closed, Reasonably enough Nelson refused, although he did lend an ear to Blackwoods other suggestion that some other ship rather than the VICTORY should lead the van. Indeed he eventually gave the order to Captain Harvey of TEMERAIRE to take the lead. However when Harvey did succeed in ranging his ship up to VICTORY'S quarter, a proud and determined Admiral hailed him with the words "I'll thank you Captain Harvey to keep to your proper station, which is astern of Victory".
At about eleven o'clock Nelson went down to his cabin for the last time, and added to the already written entry in his private diary his famous prayer,
May the Great God, whom I worship, grant to my country, and for the benefit of Europe in general, a great and glorious Victory; and may no misconduct in anyone tarnish it; and may humanity after Victory be the predominant feature in the British Fleet. For myself, individually, I commit my life to him who made me, and may his blessing light upon my endeavours for serving my Country faithfully. To him I resign myself, and the just cause which is entrusted to me to defend. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Half an hour later Nelson was back on deck, turning to Lieutenant Pasco (Signals Officer) he said " Mr Pasco I want to say to the Fleet, England confides that every man will do his duty." you must be quick, for I have one more signal to add, which is to close for action'. Pasco replied " If your Lordship will permit me to substitute "Expects" for "Confides" the signal will be completed sooner, because the word Expects is in the signal book but the word Confides must be spelt, Nelson seemed satisfied and said "That will do, Pasco; make it directly"
The thirty two coloured flags climbed VICTORY'S halyards, bearing the most famous signal in naval history, after a few minutes the flags came down and were replaced with a white flag with a blue cross, and a red, white and blue lateral tricolour;
this was "Close for Action" these flags stayed aloft till they were shot away during the forthcoming battle.
It was Admiral Collingwood's ROYAL SOVEREIGN that was first to hit the enemy line, shots were now being fired at VICTORY, within minutes the van of the British ships was enveloped in smoke and flame and the roar of gunfire. One of the first casualties in VICTORY was Nelsons secretary. a cannon ball almost cut him in two as he stood on the quarter deck talking to Captain Hardy..... Captain Adair of the Marines immediately ordered up a sailor to remove the bloody corpse.
VICTORY was to suffer more dead than any other British ship that day.
Walking the quarter deck together, for there was not much else to do at that stage, Nelson and Hardy had both thought the other wounded, they had paused and looked anxiously at each other, but the only damage was Hardy's shoe buckle, shot away by a shot splinter.
"This is too warm work to last long" Nelson said as they resumed their steady pacing.
At about quarter past one Hardy turned on his heel and then realized that a familiar figure was no longer beside him. The Admiral was on his knees on the deck supporting his weight for a moment with the fingers of his left hand. Then his arm buckled and he fell on his side, his frock coat being soiled with the blood that was still on the deck from Scotts fatal wound. Sergeant Secker of the Marines and two of his men rushed across to lift him up.
"They have done for me at last, gasped Nelson, "I hope not said Hardy.' "Yes said Nelson my backbone is shot through"
Three Marines carried the Admiral below deck to the cockpit, covering his face with a handkerchief in the hope that his men would not see that he had been wounded.
In the cockpit Nelson was undressed and laid on a bed and covered with a sheet, Mr Burke the purser, had taken over from the Marines supported the Admirals shoulders so that he sat almost half upright, the position which seemed to give him the least pain. Forty others, officers and men, dying and wounded, were also in the cockpit.
All around were the sounds of battle, the roar and convulsions of VICTORYS broadside, and the occasional cheer as another French ship struck her colours. Nelson, in conditions nearly intolerable for a dying man, afflicted by pain and plagued with thirst and still conscious of his responsibilities, wished that he had stayed on deck. At least there he would have known what was going on.
At about half past two Hardy at last arrived, the two men shook hands affectionately, and Nelson said "Well, Hardy, how goes the battle? How goes the day with us? Hardy replied "Very well my Lord, we have got twelve or fourteen of the enemy's ships in our possession. Nelson replied that he hoped that none of the British ships had struck their colours, Hardy assured him that they had not.
I am a dead man, Hardy, i am going fast, it will be all over with me soon, pray let my dear Lady Hamilton have my hair, and all other things belonging to me.
Captain Hardy shook the Admirals hand and returned on deck, Nelson turned to the surgeon and said that he had no feeling in his limbs, God be praised that i have done my duty he said.
Hardy returned to the cockpit to congratulate Nelson on his brilliant victory which he said was complete, though he did not know how many of the enemy were captured, he thought at least fourteen to fifteen ships had surrendered.
"Take care of my dear Lady Hamilton, kiss me Hardy", the Captain knelt and kissed his Admirals cheek, "Thank God that I have done my duty.
Captain Hardy stood for a minute or two in contemplation: he then knelt down and kissed the Admirals forehead.
His Lordship said: "Who is that". The Captain said "It is Hardy" to which the Admiral replied "God Bless you Hardy"
The Midshipman of the watch later entered up in pencil the log of VICTORY, "Partial firing continued until 4:30, when a victory having been reported to the Right Hon. Lord Viscount Nelson., and Commander in Chief, he died of his wound.
Only when darkness fell upon a scene of unexampled devastation and defeat did the exultant but weary victors, on looking toward the flagship, notice with foreboding that there were no Admiral's lights shining on board VICTORY.

"Nearly one third of the Corps was present at Lord Nelson's victory overthe combined fleets at Trafalgar, the most decisive sea fight in British History. Ninety two officers and over 3,600 NCOs and men of the Royal Marines at their traditional stations on the upper decks of the British ships, bore a brave and important part in the success of the day. The losses were particularly heavy on board the leading ships; in Lord Nelson's flag ship, the VICTORY, all four Royal Marine officers and over fifty men of the Royal Marine Detachment were killed or wounded. The total Royal Marine casualties during the battle of Trafalgar were 5 officers and 121 men killed or died of wounds, and 12 officers and 204 men wounded.

Nelsons Squadron. Victory (flag). Temeraire. Euryalus. Neptune. Leviathan. Conqueror. Britannia (flag). Ajax. Orion.
Agamemnon. Minotaur. Spartiate. Prince. Africa.

Collingwoods Squadron Royal Sovereign (flag). Belleisle. Mars. Tonnant. Bellerophon. Colossus. Defiance. Polyphemus.
Achille. Revenge. Dreadnought. Swiftsure. Thunderer. Defence.....28 Ships of the Line.

French and Spanish Ships Neptuno.Scipion. Intrepide. Formidable (flag). Mont Blanc. Duquay Trouin. Rayo. San Francisco de Asis. San Augustin. Heros. Santissima Trinidad.(flag). Bucentaure (flag). Redoutable. San Justo. Neptune. San Leandro.
Indomptable. Sata Ana (flag). Fougueux. Monarca. Pluton. Algeciras (flag). Bahama. Aigle. Swiftsure. Montanez. Argonaute.
San iidefonso. Argonauta. Achille. Principe de Asturias (flag). Berwick. San Juan de Nepomuceno.....33 Ships.

During February and March 1915 elements of the 3rd Royal Marines Brigade (under the command of Brigadier C N Trotman. RMLI* ), which was made up of the Chatham and Portsmouth Battalions RMLI, landed largely unopposed on the Gallipoli peninsula to dismantle Turkish defensive positions. After the unsuccessful Naval attempts to force the Narrows in March the Turkish army reinforced the peninsula in strength. Thereafter a major amphibious operation was required. The Plymouth Battalion RMLI took part in the initial landing on 25th April but the brigade did not land until the night of 28th/29th April when it went ashore at Anzac cove to relieve the 1 and 3 Australian Brigades. On 30th April it was joined in the line by 1 Royal Navy Brigade ( Brigadier D Mercer RMLI ) which contained the Deal RMLI battalion. For the next 13 days both brigades were engaged in continuous heavy fighting bearing the brunt of the Turkish attacks and displaying great resolution. After a counter-attack in the Monash Valley by Chatham and Portsmouth Battalions on 3rd May 1915 the Turks were driven back with heavy losses. Major Quinn, a great Australian VC, said to Major Jerram of the Royal Marine Brigade " The bravest thing that I have seen so far was the charge of your two Battalions up that hill on Bloody Sunday". In another incident Lance Corporal RW Parker ( Portsmouth Battalion RMLI ) was awarded the Victoria Cross for his gallantry in evacuating a party of wounded men under fire. The Royal Marines casualties during this period were 21 Officers and 217 men killed, 29 Officers and 764 men wounded and 122 men missing in action. On 12th May 1915 both Brigades were deployed to Cape Helles to rejoin the Royal Navy Division for the remainder of the campaign.

* Royal Marine Light Infantry

Over 10,000 Royal Marines took part in the D-Day assault in a variety of tasks, including the manning of Landing Craft, the Royal Marine Armoured Support Group (Centaur Tanks), frogmen of the Landing Craft Obstruction Clearance Units, Fleet Royal Marines manning ships turrets, Royal Marine Engineers and No. 41, 45, 46, 47, and 48 Royal Marine Commandos who assaulted the enemy coast.

The spirit in which these heavy responsibilities were accepted is best illustrated by the story of an L.C.A. coxswain, Corporal George Tandy.

As his craft was being lowered from his parent ship into a heavy sea, its steering wheel was carried away. So Tandy slipped over the stern, stood on the rudder guards and guided the rudder with his feet. Thus he proceeded with his load of 30 infantrymen on the 7 mile run into the beach, through minefields

and in the face of heavy artillery and small arms fire. He beached at precisely the right time and in the correct place, retracted and made the 7 mile return journey still acting as a human rudder. Throughout he was almost totally immersed by the heavy sea that was running.

The battle of D-Day cost the Allied armies some ten thousand men, killed, wounded, and missing.

By the evening of 6th June, the Allies were ashore on a fifty-mile front and established in parts to a depth of seven miles.

The Commando units suffered heavily in the landings and in spite of hopes that they would be swiftly withdrawn and sent back to England, this never happened. 47 Commando, who expected to be "home for Christmas", stayed in the line and did not actually return to England until November 1945.

After a bitterly fought battle in November 1944, 4 Commando Brigade which included 41, 47, and 48 Royal Marine Commandos captured Walcheren, enabling the Schelt and the Port of Antwerp to be opened, thus making a material contribution to the shortening of the war in North West Europe.

In the initial stages of the assault, support Landing Craft, with their armament manned by Royal Marines took on an unequal fight with the powerful German defences at point blank range.

By thus drawing enemy fire they enabled the Commandos to get ashore with lighter losses than would otherwise have been the case.

This resolute and courageous act was paid for with heavy sacrifice. Seventeen of the 25 craft involved were either sunk or severely damaged and over 370 men killed or wounded.

The battle of Walcheren now ranks high among the achievements of the Corps.

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