Commandant General Royal Marines

The Commandant General Royal Marines is the professional head of the Royal Marines. The title has existed since 1943. The role is held by a General who is assisted by a Deputy Commandant General, with the rank of brigadier. 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.

History

In 1760 three naval captains were appointed colonels of marines. However, these were naval officers and it meant that the furthest a marine officer could advance was to lieutenant colonel. It was not until 1771 that commandants of the three divisions (Portsmouth, Plymouth and Chatham) were appointed. The first single professional head of the Royal Marine Forces was the Deputy Adjutant-General, a post which existed from 1825 until 1914 when the post was re-designated the Adjutant-General: the post holder usually held the rank of full general. 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, the rank of major general until April 2021, the rank of lieutenant general until November 2022, and the rank of full general since 2022. Lieutenant General Robert Magowan was the first person to assume the role twice, serving between 2016 and 2017 and again from 2021 to 2022.

On 25 November 2022 the Royal Marines announced for the first time since 1977, that a full general would be taking over the role, that person being General Gwyn Jenkins.

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

Role

The appointment had 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, with particular responsibility for amphibious and littoral warfare. Unlike COMUKMARFOR, COMUKAMPHIBFOR is primarily configured to command as a combined joint task force and designed to support a single two star commander. 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, maritime battle staff.

In April 2021, the role passed to a more senior officer in a dual-hatted capacity, and the commandant general's role, as well as being the professional head of the Royal Marines, was identified as championing emerging concepts in amphibious warfare and maintaining critical ties with the US Marine Corps.

General Officers Commanding

General Officers Commanding have included:

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
• General Sir Richard Foster 1933–1936
• General Sir William Godfrey 1936–1939
• General Sir Alan Bourne 1939-1943

Commandant General Royal Marines

List of Deputy Commandants General

The following have served as Deputy Commandant General:

• 0000–2013: Brigadier Bill Dunham
• 2014–2017: Brigadier Richard Spencer
• 2017–2020: Brigadier Haydn White
• 2020–present: Brigadier Anthony R. Turner

References