42 Commando

The Commandos were formed during the darkest days of the Second World War and as the war progressed, more men were needed for this very specialist role. In 1942 two Royal Marines Commandos were formed;

Soon even more men were needed and No.42 (Royal Marine) Commando was raised in August 1943. After arduous training at Achnacarry, the unit was assigned to the 3rd Special Service Brigade and served in India and Burma taking part in operations in the Arakan and Assam, including a series of amphibious landings down the Burmese coastline.

At the end of the war ‘42’ was moved to Hong Kong. The unit was involved in operations during the confrontation with Indonesia (Borneo). It was during this tour that the audacious Limbang Raid was conducted by Lima Company. Throughout the following decade it was based in Singapore at HMS Simbang.

After returning to the UK, the Commando was deployed to Northern Ireland, the New Hebrides and exercised regularly overseas.

In 1982 the unit deployed as part of the Falklands Task Force and played it’s part in the recapture of the Islands, gaining the unit’s memorable date for the assault on Mount Harriet. More recently the Commando has seen operational service in South Georgia, Montserrat, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The new millennium saw ‘42’ deploy on Operation TELIC for the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

They served on three tours of Operation HERRICK in Afghanistan, 2006/2007, 2008/2009 and HERRICK 14 in 2011 when the unit carried out it’s last operational tour of Afghanistan.