Commandant General Royal Marines

The Commandant General Royal Marines is the professional head of the Royal Marines. The title has existed since 1943. The Commandant General Royal Marines is responsible for advising the First Sea Lord, with professional responsibility for all Royal Marine units; however his direct reporting line is to the Fleet Commander.[1] He is assisted by a Deputy Commandant General, whose rank is brigadier.[2] This position is not to be confused with Captain General Royal Marines, the ceremonial head. The Commandant General Royal Marines is the counterpart to the Commandant of the United States Marine Corps, although the latter is a full general.[3] He is based at Navy Command, as part of the headquarters staff.

Office of the Commandant General Royal Marines
Flag of the Commandant General Royal Marines
Incumbent Major General Matthew Holmes since 2019
Ministry of Defence
Member of	Navy Command
Reports to	Fleet Commander
Nominator	Secretary of State for Defence
Appointer	Prime Minister Subject to formal approval by the Queen-in-Council
Term length	1-4 years
Inaugural holder	Major-General Sir James Campbell
Formation	1825-current

History

The professional head of the Royal Marines was the Deputy Adjutant-General from 1825[4] until 1914 when the post was re-designated the Adjutant-General:[5][6] the post holder usually held the rank of full general.[7] Since 1943 the professional head of the Royal Marines has been the Commandant-General who held the rank of full general until 1977, the rank of lieutenant general until 1996 and the rank of major-general since then.[8]

From 1825 until 1964 his headquarters office which changed location several times was known as the Royal Marine Office.[9][10]

Role as COMUKAMPHIBFOR

The appointment has been held concurrently with that of Commander United Kingdom Amphibious Forces (COMUKAMPHIBFOR) since the creation of the Fleet Battle Staff in 2001. COMUKAMPHIBFOR was one of two deployable two-star maritime operational commanders (the other being Commander UK Maritime Forces (COMUKMARFOR), now Commander United Kingdom Strike Force,[11] with particular responsibility for amphibious and littoral warfare.[11] Unlike COMUKMARFOR, COMUKAMPHIBFOR is primarily configured to command as a combined joint task force and designed to support a single two star commander.[11]

Present Role

In April 2018 it was announced that the two separate deployable two-star maritime operational commanders (COMUKMARFOR and COMUKAMPHIBFOR) would be merged into a single, larger, organisation.[12] This took place on 1 July 2019, whereupon the incumbent COMUKMARFOR took the title of Commander United Kingdom Strike Force (COMUKSTRKFOR), and responsibility for all the deployable elements of COMUKAMPHIBFOR. The Role of Commandant General Royal Marines remains in existence as the non-deployable head of the Royal Marines and the Senior Responsible Owner for the future of amphibious warfare and littoral strike capability, or Future Commando Force.[13]

General Officers Commanding

General Officers Commanding have included:[8]

Deputy Adjutant General Royal Marines

• Major-General Sir James Campbell 1825–1831
• Major-General Sir John Savage 1831–1836
• Lieutenant-General Sir John Owen 1836–1854
• Lieutenant-General Sir Robert Wesley 1854–1862
• General Sir George Langley 1862–1867
• General Samuel Lowder 1867–1872
• General Sir George Schomberg 1872–1875
• Lieutenant General George Rodney 1875–1878
• Major-General Sir Charles Adair 1878–1883
• General Sir John Williams 1883–1888
• General Sir Howard Jones 1888–1893
• General Sir Henry Tuson 1893–1900
• Lieutenant-General John Morris 1900–1902
• Lieutenant-General Sir William Wright 1902–1907
• General Sir William Adair 1907–1911
• General Sir William Nicholls 1911–1914

Adjutant General Royal Marines

• General Sir William Nicholls 1914–1916
• Major-General Sir David Mercer 1916–1920
• Major-General Gunning Campbell July 1920–November 1920
• General Sir Herbert Blumberg 1920–1924
• General Sir Alexander Hutchison 1924–1927
• General Sir Lewis Halliday 1927–1930
• General Sir Richard Ford 1930–1933[14]
• General Sir Richard Foster 1933–1936[15]
• General Sir William Godfrey 1936–1939
• General Sir Alan Bourne 1939-1943

Commandant General Royal Marines

Order	Image	Rank	Name	Tenure
1st		General	Sir Thomas Hunton	1943–1946
2nd		General	Sir Dallas Brooks	1946–1949
3rd		General	Sir Leslie Hollis	1949–1952
4th		General	Sir John Westall	1952–1955
5th		General	Sir Campbell Hardy	1955–1959
6th		General	Sir Ian Riches	1959–1962
7th		General	Sir Malcolm Cartwright-Taylor	1962–1965
8th		General	Sir Norman Tailyour	1965–1968
9th		General	Sir Peter Hellings	1968–1971
10th		General	Sir Ian Gourlay	1971–1975
11th		General	Sir Peter Whiteley	1975–1977
12th		Lieutenant General	Sir John Richards	1977–1981
13th		Lieutenant General	Sir Steuart Pringle	1981–1984
14th		Lieutenant General	Sir Michael Wilkins	1984–1987
15th		Lieutenant General	Sir Martin Garrod	1987–1990
16th		Lieutenant General	Sir Henry Beverley	1990–1994
17th		Lieutenant General	Sir Robin Ross	1994–1996
18th		Major General	David Pennefather	1996–1998
19th		Major General	Robert Fulton	1998–2001
20th		Major General	Robert Fry	2001–2002
21st		Major General	Tony Milton	2002–2004
22nd		Major General	David Wilson	2004
23rd		Major General	James Dutton	2004–2006
24th		Major General	Garry Robison	2006–2009
25th		Major General	Andy Salmon	2009–2010
26th		Major General	Buster Howes	2010–2011
27th		Major General	Ed Davis	2011–2014[16]
28th		Major General	Martin Smith	2014–2016
29th		Major General	Robert Magowan	2016–2018
30th		Major General	Charles Stickland	2018–2019
31st		Major General	Matthew Holmes	2019–present

References

1. Government, H.M. "MOD roles and salaries: 2016 - GOV.UK - Navy Command senior". www.gov.uk. Royal Navy, MOD, April 21016. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
2. 08/11/2013 (2014-06-09). "Statement from Deputy Commandant General Royal Marines". Royal Navy. Retrieved 2014-06-14.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
3. "Marine Corps Leadership". Marine Corps. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
4. "Royal Marines historical time line". Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
5. "British Admiralty". Naval History. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
6. "Punch, or the London Charivari". 11 February 1914. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
7. "Navy List". Admiralty. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
8. "Senior Royal Navy appointments" (PDF). Retrieved 20 May 2016.
9. Office, Admiralty (December 1827). "Royal Marine Office". The Navy List. London, England: John Murray. p. 124.
10. Archives, National (1688–1983). "Records of Royal Marines". nationalarchives.gov.uk. London, England: The National Archives. Retrieved 3 January 2019. Division within ADM
11. "Fleet Battle Staff". Royal Navy. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2016.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
12. "Jane's – UK Amphibious Headquarters to Disappear in Merger". 20 April 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
13. "Future Amphibious Force". BMT. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
14. "No. 33983". The London Gazette. 3 October 1933. p. 6355.
15. "No. 34329". The London Gazette. 6 October 1936. p. 6363.
16. City brigadier will lead Royal Marines Archived 2011-12-09 at the Wayback Machine This is Plymouth, 5 November 2011.