3 Commando Brigade is the main manoeuvre force of the British Royal Marines.

History

3 Commando Brigade can trace its origins back to World War II, when it was formed as the 3rd Special Service Brigade. The Commandos were formed as forces to performs raids on occupied Europe. Many of these raids were relatively small affairs, but some were very large, such as the 1942 Dieppe Raid, and the attack on St Nazaire to cripple the dry dock there.

At the end of the war, the British Army ceased using troops in the commando role, and the Royal Marines took over the task completely. 3 Commando Brigade was at the forefront of many actions over the next 25 years, acting as a strategic reserve for the Far East and Mediterranean areas. Its most high profile operation during this time was the Suez Crisis, when it took part in the amphibious assault against Egyptian targets. During Operation Musketeer, units of the Brigade made the first helicopter borne assault in history.

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.

Its next large operation was in 1982. Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, and 3 Commando Brigade was one of the two main British land formations that took part in operations to recapture the islands. The Brigade landed at San Carlos Inlet and marched across East Falkand to Port Stanley. Argentine units were defeated in several sharp engagements, and their forces surrendered on 14 June. In the aftermath of the Gulf War, the Brigade was deployed on a non-warfighting task in northern Iraq. The Kurds had suffered immensely during the war and its immediate aftermath, and the Brigade was used due to its rapid deployment ability. It provided succour to the Kurds and saved many from starvation.

Recently, the brigade has been involved in two major campaigns, including Operation Veritas in Afghanistan, 2002 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. Both operations were successful, and demonstrated the brigade is still ready to perform its traditional role as one of the United Kingdom's elite fighting forces.

Organisation

Currently, the Brigade consists primarily of three battalion-sized Commando units:

• 40 Commando Royal Marines
• 42 Commando Royal Marines
• 45 Commando Royal Marines

In addition the brigade has several supporting units, its own logistics regiment, an artillery regiment, an engineer squadron, a helicopter squadron, a raiding squadron equipped with small boats, and a landing craft squadron. In addition, elements of the Special Boat Service are usually deployed with the Brigade, when operational.

• 539 Assault Squadron, Royal Marines
• Commando Logistic Regiment, Royal Marines
• 29 Commando Regiment, Royal Artillery
• 59 Independent Commando Squadron, Royal Engineers
• 131 Independent Commando Squadron, Royal Engineers

As part of the re-organisation of the armed forces announced in 2004, it was decided that the engineering support for 3 Commando Brigade would be increased to a full regiment, with the formation of 24 (Commando) Engineer Regiment, bringing it in line with the other deployable brigades of the British Army.

See also

• British Commandos
• British military history
• Ski warfare
• Military of the United Kingdom

External links

• Royal Marines