3rd Special Service Brigade 3rd Commando Brigade 3 Commando Brigade
Cap Badge of the Royal Marines
Active	14 February 1942–present
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Marines
Type	Marines Commando Light infantry
Role	Commando/Amphibious Landing Force
Size	8 battalions
Garrison/HQ	HQ - Stonehouse Barracks, Plymouth
March	Quick - Sarie Marais
Engagements	Second World War Battle of Hill 170 Operation Musketeer Falklands War Iraq War War in Afghanistan
Commanders
Brigade Commander	Brigadier Gwyn Jenkins OBE
Insignia
3 Commando Brigade Formation Badge

3 Commando Brigade is a commando formation of the British Armed Forces and the main manoeuvre formation of the Royal Marines. Its personnel are predominantly Royal Marines, supported by units of Royal Engineers, Royal Artillery, and the Fleet Air Arm, together with other Commando Qualified sailors, soldiers and airmen.

The brigade was formed in 1942, during the Second World War, with a mixture of Army commando and Royal Marine commando units and served in the Burma Campaign. After the Second World War, the Army commandos were disbanded and the brigade became a Royal Marine formation. Recently, the brigade has again become a mixed Army and Marine formation with the addition of an Army infantry battalion, artillery regiment and engineer regiment alongside three Royal Marine battalions and support services. Since the end of the Second World War, it has served in the Suez crisis, Falklands War, Gulf War and the War in Afghanistan.

History[edit]

The 3rd Special Service Brigade was formed in 1943 and sailed for the Far East and saw action against the Japanese in the Burma Campaign.^[1] On 6 December 1944, the brigade was renamed 3rd Commando Brigade, removing the hated title Special Service and its association with the German SS.^[2] In January 1945, the Brigade was involved in the battles to secure the Myebon peninsula and Kangaw.^[1]

The brigade was then withdrawn to India to prepare for the amphibious assault on Malaya, but the dropping of the atom bombs on Japan ended the war before the planned invasion.^[1] Instead, the brigade moved to Hong Kong to secure the Crown Colony.^[1]

In 1946, the Army Commandos in the brigade were disbanded and the brigade became a Royal Marine Commando formation.^[1]

Formation in the Second World War[edit]

The brigade was composed as follows:^[3][4]

• No. 1 Commando


• No. 5 Commando


• No. 42 Royal Marine Commando


• 
  No. 44 Royal Marine Commando.

Post Second World War[edit]

3 Commando Brigade's most high-profile operation after the war was the Suez Crisis, when it took part in the amphibious assault against Egyptian targets. During Operation Musketeer, units of the brigade made a helicopter-borne assault.^[5]

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.^[6] The brigade was deployed to Northern Ireland as part of Operation Banner as violence escalated during the Troubles in July 1972.^[7]

Operation Corporate[edit]

The brigade's next large operation was in 1982. Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, and 3 Commando Brigade, reinforced by 2 Para and 3 Para, was one of the two main British land formations that took part in operations to recapture the islands. The Brigade landed at San Carlos Water and marched across East Falkland to Stanley. Argentine units were defeated in several sharp engagements, and their forces surrendered on 14 June.^[8]

Gulf War[edit]

In the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War, the brigade was deployed on a non-combat task in northern Iraq. The Iraqi Kurds had suffered immensely during the war and in its immediate aftermath, and the brigade was used due to its rapid deployment ability. It provided humanitarian aid to the Kurds and saved many from starvation.^[9]

21st century[edit]

A Jackal armoured vehicle of 3 Commando Brigade, Royal Marines on patrol during Operation Fibonacci near Kuh-e Baba and Shin Ghar, Helmand, Afghanistan

Recently, the brigade has been involved in two major campaigns, including Operation Veritas in Afghanistan, 2001 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.^[10] In 2006, the brigade returned to Afghanistan on Operation Herrick, replacing 16 Air Assault Brigade, where intense fighting occurred.^[11] From 2008 to 2012 1st Battalion, The Rifles was one of the attached army units in 3 Commando Brigade.

Organisation[edit]

The brigade is commanded by a Royal Marines brigadier and contains Royal Marines, Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force personnel. The subordinate units are:^[12]

Commanders[edit]

Commanders have included:^[13]

• 1943–1944 Brigadier Peter Young
  


• 1944–1945 Brigadier Campbell Hardy
  


• 1948–1951 Brigadier Campbell Hardy
  


• 1951–1952 Brigadier Cecil Phillips


• 1952–1954 Brigadier James Moulton


• 1954–1955 Brigadier Ian Riches
  


• 1955–1957 Brigadier Reginald Madoc


• 1957–1959 Brigadier Robert Houghton


• 1959–1960 Brigadier Peter Hellings
  


• 1960–1962 Brigadier Norman Tailyour
  


• 1962–1964 Brigadier Francis Barton


• 1964–1965 Brigadier Leslie Marsh


• 1965–1966 Brigadier Anthony Willasey-Wilsey


• 1966–1968 Brigadier Ian Gourlay
  


• 1968–1970 Brigadier Peter Whiteley
  


• 1970–1972 Brigadier Patrick Ovens


• 1972–1975 Brigadier Roger Ephraums


• 1975–1977 Brigadier John Richards
  


• 1977–1979 Brigadier Jeremy Moore
  


• 1979–1981 Brigadier Michael Wilkins
  


• 1981–1983 Brigadier Julian Thompson
  


• 1983–1984 Brigadier Martin Garrod
  


• 1984–1986 Brigadier Henry Beverley
  


• 1986–1988 Brigadier Robin Ross
  


• 1988–1990 Brigadier Andrew Whitehead


• 1990–1992 Brigadier Andrew Keeling


• 1992–1994 Brigadier David Pennefather
  


• 1994–1995 Brigadier Jonathan Thomson


• 1995–1997 Brigadier Anthony Milton
  


• 1997–1998 Brigadier Robert Fulton
  


• 1998–1999 Brigadier David Wilson
  


• 1999–2001 Brigadier Robert Fry
  


• 2001–2002 Brigadier Roger Lane


• 2002–2004 Brigadier James Dutton
  


• 2004–2006 Brigadier John Rose


• 2006–2007 Brigadier Jeremy Thomas
  


• 2007–2008 Brigadier David Capewell
  


• 2008–2008 Brigadier Buster Howes
  


• 2008–2009 Brigadier Gordon Messenger
  


• 2010–2011 Brigadier Ed Davis
  


• 2011–2013 Brigadier Martin Smith
  


• 2013–2014 Brigadier Stuart M. Birrell


• 2014–2015 Brigadier Charles Stickland
  


• 2015–2017 Brigadier Jim Morris


• 2017–present Brigadier Gwyn Jenkins

Battle honours[edit]

The following Battle honours were awarded to the British Commandos during the Second World War.^[14][15]

See also[edit]

• British Commandos


• British military history


• Ski warfare


• Military of the United Kingdom


• 1st Commando Brigade


• 2nd Commando Brigade


• 4th Commando Brigade


• Australian commandos


• 
  Marine Expeditionary Brigade American equivalent


• 
  Netherlands Marine Corps Dutch equivalent and part of UK/NL Landing Force

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

Sources[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 3 Commando Brigade.

• 3 Commando Brigade Home Page