| Office of the Commandant General Royal Marines | |
|---|---|
Flag of the Commandant General | |
| Ministry of Defence | |
| Style | Lieutenant General |
| Abbreviation | CGRM |
| Member of | Admiralty Board 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 |
| Formation | 1825 |
| First holder | Major-General Sir James Campbell |
| Deputy | Deputy Commandant General Royal Marines |
| Website | About The 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 and Chief of the Naval Staff, with professional responsibility for all Royal Marine units; however his direct reporting line is to the Fleet Commander.[1] The role is held by a Lieutenant General[2] who is assisted by a Deputy Commandant General, with the rank of brigadier.[3] 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.[4]
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.[5] The first single professional head of the Royal Marine Forces was the Deputy Adjutant-General, a post which existed from 1825[6] until 1914 when the post was re-designated the Adjutant-General:[7][8] the post holder usually held the rank of full general.[9] 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 in 1996 and until April 2021 all Commandant General's held the rank of major-general.[10] On 30 April 2021 the Royal Marines announced for the first time since 1996, that a lieutenant general would be taking over the role, that person being Lieutenant General Robert Magowan. Magowan is also the first person to assume the role twice.[11]
From 1825 until 1964 his headquarters office which changed location several times was known as the Royal Marine Office.[12][13]
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,[14] with particular responsibility for amphibious and littoral warfare.[14] Unlike COMUKMARFOR, COMUKAMPHIBFOR is primarily configured to command as a combined joint task force and designed to support a single two star commander.[14]
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.[15]
General Officers Commanding have included:[10]
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||
| 1 | General Sir Thomas Hunton (1885–1970) |
January 1943 | 1946 | 2–3 years | – | |
| 2 | General Sir Dallas Brooks (1896–1966) |
1946 | May 1949 | 2–3 years | – | |
| 3 | General Sir Leslie Hollis (1897–1963) |
1949 | 1952 | 2–3 years | – | |
| 4 | General Sir John Westall (1901–1986) |
1952 | 1955 | 2–3 years | – | |
| 5 | General Sir Campbell Hardy (1906–1984) |
1955 | 1959 | 3–4 years | – | |
| 6 | General Sir Ian Riches (1908–1996) |
1959 | 1962 | 2–3 years | – | |
| 7 | General Sir Malcolm Cartwright-Taylor (1911–1969) |
1962 | 1965 | 2–3 years | – | |
| 8 | General Sir Norman Tailyour (1914–1979) |
1965 | 1968 | 2–3 years | – | |
| 9 | General Sir Peter Hellings (1916–1990) |
1968 | 1971 | 2–3 years | – | |
| 10 | General Sir Ian Gourlay (1920–2013) |
1971 | 9 June 1975 | 6–7 years | – | |
| 11 | General Sir Peter Whiteley (1920–2016) |
1975 | 1977 | 1–2 years | – | |
| 12 | Lieutenant General Sir John Richards (1927–2004) |
1977 | 1981 | 3–4 years | – | |
| 13 | Lieutenant General Sir Steuart Pringle (1928–2013) |
1981 | 1984 | 2–3 years | – | |
| 14 | Lieutenant General Sir Michael Wilkins (1933–1994) |
1984 | 1987 | 2–3 years | – | |
| 15 | Lieutenant General Sir Martin Garrod (1935–2009) |
1987 | 1990 | 2–3 years | – | |
| 16 | Lieutenant General Sir Henry Beverley (born 1935) |
1990 | 1994 | 3–4 years | – | |
| 17 | Lieutenant General Sir Robin Ross (born 1939) |
1994 | 1996 | 1–2 years | – | |
| 18 | Major General David Pennefather (born 1945) |
1996 | 1998 | 1–2 years | – | |
| 19 | Major General Robert Fulton (born 1948) |
1998 | 2001 | 2–3 years | – | |
| 20 | Major General Robert Fry (born 1951) |
2001 | 2002 | 0–1 years | – | |
| 21 | Major General Tony Milton (born 1949) |
May 2002 | February 2004 | 1 year, 9 months | – | |
| 22 | Major General David Wilson (born 1949) |
February 2004 | August 2004 | 6 months | – | |
| 23 | Major General James Dutton (born 1954) |
August 2004 | June 2006 | 1 year, 10 months | – | |
| 24 | Major General Garry Robison (born 1958) |
June 2006 | June 2009 | 3 years | – | |
| 25 | Major General Andy Salmon (born 1959) |
26 June 2009 | February 2010 | 7 months | – | |
| 26 | Major General Buster Howes (born 1960) |
February 2010 | December 2011 | 1 year, 10 months | – | |
| 27 | Major General Ed Davis (born 1963) |
December 2011 | 13 June 2014 | 2 years, 6 months | [18][19] | |
| 28 | Major General Martin Smith (born 1962) |
13 June 2014 | 4 June 2016 | 1 year, 11 months | [19][20] | |
| 29 | Major General Robert Magowan (born 1967) |
4 June 2016 | 19 January 2018 | 1 year, 7 months | [20][21] | |
| 30 | Major General Charles Stickland (born 1968) |
19 January 2018 | 14 June 2019 | 1 year, 4 months | [21][22] | |
| 31 | Major General Matthew Holmes (1967–2021) |
14 June 2019 | 30 April 2021 | 1 year, 10 months | [22] | |
| 32 | Lieutenant General Robert Magowan (born 1967) |
30 April 2021 | Incumbent | 1 year, 3 months | [23] | |
The following have served as Deputy Commandant General:
