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45 Commando Royal Marines (45 CDO RM)
Former WO1(GSM) Peter Padley MBE
45 Commando can trace its origins back to the end of WWI with the formation of the 5th Royal Marine Battalion (5th RM Bn) – which existed from September 1918 until February 1919. The Battalion reformed again in early April 1940 at Brookwood in Surrey and became part of the 101st Royal Marine Brigade (101st RM Bde). Between August and October 1940 the Bridade took part in Op ‘MENACE’ – the Battle of Dakar – an unsuccessful operation undertaken by the Allies to capture the French West African Port of Dakar from the Vichy French and install the Free French under General de Gaulle.
Renamed 45 RM Commando in August 1943 the unit became part of the 1st Special Service Brigade and eventually took part in Operation ‘OVERLORD’ – the Normandy landings on 6th June 1944. Continuing to move across Europe as part of the Allied advance it was during Operation ‘BLACKCOCK’ – an operation to clear the ‘Roer Triangle‘, formed by the towns of Roermond, Sittard and Heinsberg, – that the Commando was involved in some of the fiercest battles prior to the Allied crossing into Germany. During a battle at Montforterbeek a 45 Commandos medic, LCpl Eric Harden RAMC, was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for valour. While under intense enemy fire he crossed open ground to dress the wounds and evacuate 3 seriously injured members of the Commando. Having carried one of the casualties to safety he returned to collect the other two but was subsequently shot and died of his wounds.
The Commando took part in the crossings of the Rivers Rhine, Weser and Elbe – and remained in Germany for a short period after the end of the war before returning to the United Kingdom in June 1945.
As part of the post WWII reorganisation 45 RM Commando moved to Hong Kong in January 1946 to join 3 Commando Brigade. From arriving in Hong Kong until May 1947 the Commando carried out internal security duties before redeploying to Malta with the Brigade. From Malta the Commando deployed to Libya, Palestine, the Suez Canal Zone and Jordan before moving back to Hong Kong in December 1948 with other Brigade units as a deterrent to the communist Chinese who were posing a serious threat to the colony.
With increasing communist insurgency problems ‘45’ moved into the jungles of Malaya in mid-1950 where they operated against communist insurgents for the next two years. They moved back to their ‘home’ base in Malta and from here took part in multiple operational tours of Cyprus during the EOKA (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston [National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters]) Crisis. It was while in Malta that the Commando took part in the first combat helicopter assault – as part of Operation ‘MUSKETEER’ – in the Suez Canal Zone on 5th November 1956.
Based in Aden during the period 1960/67 45 Commando carried out multiple operational tours in the Radfan during the Aden Emergency. While still based in Aden the Commando deployed to the Protectorate of Kuwait in 1961 when it was threatened by an increasingly belligerent Iraq! With the British withdrawal from Aden 45 Commando finally left the colony on 29th November 1967 for Plymouth – it was to be the first time the Commando had returned to the United Kingdom since the end of WWII.
In 1970 45 Commando assumed the dedicated role as the United Kingdom’s Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre (M&AW) and from the winter of 1971 the Commando could be regularly found in the snowy wastes of Norway perfecting their primary function – Winter Warfare on NATO’s Northern Flank. The winter warfare skills acquired by the Commando were the envy of those they worked alongside and it was because of this exclusive role that the Commando became affectionately known as ‘The Frozen Chosen’! During 1971 they moved from Plymouth to the Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Condor – now Royal Marines Condor – at Arbroath in Scotland. Although dedicated to the M&AW Role this did not stop 45 Commando from alternating Norway deployments with Op ‘BANNER’ tours in Northern Ireland and amphibious exercises in the Mediterranean and other parts of the world.
With the 2nd April 1982 Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands 45 Commando were recalled from leave to prepare to move to the South Atlantic as part of 3 Commando Brigade on Op ‘CORPORATE’. The Commando landed at Ajax Bay on 21st May 1982 and ‘yomped’ across East Falkland to prepare for the final assault on Stanley. On the night of 11/12 June 45 Commando and personnel from 59 Independent Commando Squadron Royal Engineers, supported by six 105mm guns of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, conducted a night attack on the Two Sisters feature. The attack was successful but resulted in the loss of 8 men with 17 injured. Argentine losses amounted to 20 dead, 60+ injured and over 50 taken prisoner. For Leadership and individual acts of bravery during the Battle of Two Sisters 1 Distinguished Service Order (DSO), 3 Military Crosses (MC), 1 Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) and 6 Military Medals (MM) were awarded to members of the Commando Group.
45 Commando was not included in the orbat for the 1990/91 First Gulf War but shortly afterwards were deployed, as part of 3 Commando Brigade, to the Zakho area of Northern Iraq on Operation ‘SAFE HAVEN’ – an operation undertaken to provide humanitarian aid and protection to the Kurdish population. Fearing that Saddam Hussein was moving units of the Republican Guard toward the border with Kuwait 45 Commando were airlifted into the protectorate on Operation ‘VIGILANT GUARDIAN’ for the period 8th October until 15th December 1994 to reinforce the coalition forces.
In 1998 ‘45’ deployed to the Caribbean on the Landing Platform Helicopter (LPH), HMS Ocean, when Hurricane ‘Mitch’ struck Honduras and Nicaragua. Ocean, with 45 Commando embarked, was immediately redirected from an exercise in Belize into the disaster area to provide humanitarian aid and it was in recognition of their actions in the aftermath of the hurricane that HMS Ocean and 45 Commando were jointly awarded the Wilkinson Sword of Peace.
With no ‘let-up’ in the pace of operations elements of 45 Commando deployed to Kosovo in 2000 as part of the Multi-National Force on Operation ‘AGRICOLA IV’. Recovered to the United Kingdom the Unit embarked on HMS Ocean in March 2002 to provide the Landing Force component of the Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and It was from HMS Ocean that that 45 Commando, working with American, Australian and Norwegian forces, were deployed into Afghanistan on Operation ‘JACANA’ – a series of ‘follow-up’ operations to Operation ‘ANACONDA’ – that were designed to kill or capture any remaining Al-Qaida and Taliban insurgents. During Op ‘JACANA’ 45 Commando moved through eastern areas of Afghanistan to the border with Pakistan destroying Al-Qaeda infrastructure and weapons caches en-route.
The Commando took part in the 2003 Invasion of Iraq – Operation ‘TELIC’ – and although not operating as a Commando Group close to 500 members of the Unit deployed on operations with the Special Boat Service (SBS) and Special Air Service (SAS). Following operations in Iraq the Commando returned to the United Kingdom to carry out a 6 month Op ‘BANNER’ tour in Northern Ireland from January to June 2004. This was closely followed by an exercise deployment to America. In 2006 the Unit returned to the familiar snowy wastes of Norway and the Arctic Circle to hone their winter warfare skills which culminated in a multi-national NATO led exercise.
In October 2006 45 Commando deployed to Afghanistan on Op ‘HERRICK 5’, assuming the task of an Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (OMLT) to the Afghan National Army (ANA) – a difficult task in the early days but with the aim of turning the ANA into a professional self-sufficient war fighting organisation over the coming years.
The Commando returned to the United Kingdom in April 2007 but with leave, exercises and courses it didn’t take long for October 2008 – and Op ‘HERRICK IX’ – to arrive. The Unit returned to Afghanistan as part of the Northern Battle Group in Helmand Province – with responsibility for the Upper Sangin Valley. Effective patrolling from 5 Forward Operating Bases (FOB’s) meant the Commando engaged the Taliban on numerous occasions destroying infrastructure and arms and explosive caches but, in true Royal Marine style they never failed to carry the ‘Hearts and Minds’ offensive to the local population by helping to build shops and schools as well as providing medical assistance when needed. Probably the largest bonus delivered to the local population was the security given by the constant patrolling of the Royal Marines of 45 Commando which made the Upper Sangin Valley a safer and more developed place than it had been when they first arrived.
In April 2009 45 Commando returned to their home base in Arbroath, Scotland to meet the ongoing challenges of both operational and exercise deployments away from home.
45 Commando returned to Afghanistan, as part of 3 Commando Brigade, on Op ‘Herrick XIV’ in early April 2011. They are expected to complete another 6 month deployment before returning home to Arbroath during October 2011.
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