Category: Royal Marines

Waugh kept an extensive diary which describes his career in the Royal Marines. He took part in the Dakar expedition and fought in Crete. After some time in the UK he then served in Yugoslavia. Almost 200 pages are devoted to his wartime experiences.

Dunn was arguably the greatest military musician of the twentieth century. His 38 years of service are fully covered including his wartime service, almost exclusively at Portsmouth as Director of Music of the Portsmouth Division.

The autobiography of a New Zealander Marine who was on the administrative fringe of action. In 1939 he was Colour Sergeant at Deal. He was commissioned in 1942 for service with MNBDO2 and commanded the Marine Field Bakery in the invasion of Sicily. A year later he became Adjutant of the 5th Independent Battery of the Marine Armoured Support Group for the campaign in North West Europe. Most of the book concerns his post-war activities.

The autobiography of one of the 40 Royal Marine pilots of WWII. Much concerned with the Norwegian campaign and the legendary Konigsberg attack. He was shot down near the end of the campaign and spent the rest of the war as a POW. The recovery of his plane in 1974 is also described.

He joined up in late 1943 aged 17 and in a glittering career rose to be Senior Regimental Sergeant Major before gaining a commission. There is a detailed account of his training in the latter part of the war.

Sticky-Blue was the name for a Boy Bugler. Rowe joined up in 1941 aged 13. Training is engagingly described and a year later he joined Howe, where he spent the rest of the war serving from the Arctic to the Pacific, via Operation HUSKY and the surrender of the Italian Fleet, finishing as a hardened regular aged 17. Simply and well told.

A history of 45 Commando from D-Day to VE Day. Reprinted by White Lion in 1976 and by Greenhill Books in 1988.

The biography of a Royal Marine, Colonel Alan Warren. He was associated with the creation of Combined Operations under Keyes and later operated in the Singapore area with SOE and other clandestine groups before being captured by the Japanese and spending the rest of the war as a POW.

Hasler was widely known as a yachtsman, but better and more popularly as the leader of the Cockleshell Heroes. Commissioned in 1932, he fought in Norway, then moved to special forces, both in the Far East and Europe. About one-third of the book describes his war.

Conscripted against his will into the Royal Marine Labour Corp in 1941, the author caused trouble and awkwardness until allowed to join the Royal Marine Commando. He was promptly captured at Dieppe and then spent the rest of the war being a nuisance to the Germans.

The author recounts his war service in the Royal Marines where he struck up a friendship with Evelyn Waugh. The book is mainly concerned with their training and the assault on Dakar. First published in a limited edition in 1973.

The second volume of this major biography covers his war service, with its mixture of courage, dissatisfaction, and ultimate failure.

An enjoyable tale. He joined up in 1940 as a bandsman and trained at Deal before joining the new King George V and saw the Bismarck hunt. Later in 1941 he joined Norfolk and saw service in the Arctic including the sinking of Scharnhorst. A spell ashore at the training camp Glendower was followed by joining the RM orchestra, the Oceanaires to entertain the Forces, serving in Germany until war's end.

The wartime life and loves - especially the latter - of a Royal Marine. After a gruelling introduction to war in Norway, he spent the next few years based in Ceylon while setting up coast defences in the Indian Ocean in such varied sites as the Seychelles and Addu Atoll.

About half of the book covers their wartime exploits.

The wartime letters, mainly to his wife, occupy 80 pages and are a useful complement to his diaries.

Formed in the reorganisation of 1943, this famous unit first saw action at D-Day, then fought through Holland and Germany.

WALLIS, John. With God's Blessing and a Green Beret: A Pilgrimage. 112p., illus. Poole: Firebird, 1994. ISBN: 185314200X.

An autobiography. Wallis volunteered in 1941 and served as a chaplain with 41 Royal Marine Commando until in 1944 he transferred to the depot ship Tyne, serving with her at Scapa and in the Pacific. Very good on the unsung and unpleasant work of a non-combatant padre as medic and gravedigger at Sicily and Salerno.

JACOBS, G. F. Prelude to the Monsoon. 247p., map. Cape Town: Purnell, 1965.

An autobiography describing the role of five Royal Marines dropped in Sumatra just before war’s end to take control of the island when the Japanese surrendered.

PRINGLE, Patrick. Fighting Marines. 192p., illus. London, Evans, 1966.

A popular history with a heavy emphasis on their actions in WW2.

THOMPSON, Julian. The Royal Marines: From Sea Soldiers to a Special Force. xv, 699p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 2000. ISBN: 0283063157.

An excellent account by  a marine turned academic from earliest times to post Falklands  adventures. Has good coverage of WW2.

SNELLING, Stephen. Commando Medic: Doc Harden VC. 240p.,bibliog., illus., index. Stroud: Spellmount, 2012. ISBN: 9780752479439

Harden joined the artillery in early 1942 but was soon transferred to the RAMC as he had field ambulance experience. He quickly gravitated to 45 Royal Marine Commando as a medic. He landed with them on D-Day and fought through Northern Europe. He was awarded a posthumous VC for his actions saving wounded men in a bitter battle on the Dutch-German border in January 1945.

FRY, Helen. German Schoolboy, British Commando: Churchill's Secret Soldier. 186p., bibliog., illus., index. Stroud : History Press 2010. ISBN: 0752449966.

Colin Anson was born Claus Ascher in Berlin and raised a Protestant. He was forced to flee Nazi Germany because his father, Curt Ascher, was one of Hitler's. In 1939, Colin found refuge in Britain, where he joined the British Army. Selected for Commando service, he trained with 3 Troop, the only German-speaking unit in the British armed forces. He was attached to the Royal Marines and took part in the invasion of Italy and Sicily in 1943, before participating in raids into Yugoslavia and Albania, and then in the liberation of Corfu.

DE BOLSTER, Marc. 47 Royal Marine Commando: An Inside Story 1943-1946. 232p., illus. Stroud: Fonthill, 2014. ISBN: 1781552975.

Based on personal accounts written by veterans who served in the conflict. From the D-Day landings to fierce battles in Holland, young men were taken prisoner and sent to camps until freed at the end of the war in 1945.

WATTS, Martin. The Royal Marines and the War at Sea 1939-45. 256p., bibliog., illus., index. Stroud: Amberley, 2018. ISBN: 9781445663180.

This book by a professional historian is centred on the career of his uncle, Colour Sergeant Albert Elliott who saw service with the Marines on board ship in almost every theatre of the war. Unusually, the book focuses on the role of the Marines at Sea, rather than on land.

KITCHINGHAM, William J. Bluenoses, Bears and Bandits: Sea Service to Commandos. An Account of Some Events in the Service Life of the Author. (Royal Marines Historical Society Special Publication No 43). [3], 125p., illus. Southsea: Royal Marines Historical Society, 2015. ISBN: 9781908123121.

Aged 17 he enlisted in the Marines in 1941. After training, in 1943 he was posted to a special detachment acting as orderlies for the Prime Minister and Chiefs of Staff. He visited Canada and the USA with Churchill. Now a Corporal he joined Jamaica at the start of 1944 and served on Arctic convoys. After almost a year he left the ship when she went to refit. Early in 1945 he formed part of the Marine detachment which accompanied and guarded Churchill at the Yalta Conference. In March he joined Duke of York and sailed with her for service in the Pacific. After the war he moved to the Royal Marine Commandos where he served out his active and happy career.

FARQUHARSON-ROBERTS, D. A. The Royal Marines and D-Day: Some Personal Reminiscences (Royal Marines Historical Society Special Publication, 15). 72p., illus. Portsmouth: Royal Marine Historical Society, 1994.

Reminiscences of their role in the landings, coloured by time. A second revised edition was published in 2012, ISBN: 9781908123039.

FORD, Ted. The Nearly Man, or, This is Another Fine Mess I've Gotten Myself Into. 158p., illus. Wolverhampton, E.V. Ford, 1997.

An autobiography. No copy seen. Held by the Imperial War Museum in London at Catalogue Number LBY 98 /1536.

A comprehensive, authoritative work with many detailed appendices. A second edition was published in 1998 by HarperCollins as By Sea, By Land: The Royal Marines 1919–1997 ISBN: 000472366X.

An autobiography. He joined the Marines aged 18 in 1941. After training he joined Nelson and saw service in the Mediterranean and South Atlantic, including the Pedestal convoy and later at D-Day. A light enjoyable tale of a good war.

Chester joined as a bugler aged fourteen in 1939. He tells of training and service on Iron Duke, King George V and Glasgow through a whole series of anecdotes.

The autobiography of a man who went on to work for MI5 after his service in the Marines.

Covers the actions or units illustrating the Royal and US Marines in WWII. The Royal Marines are shown as the RM Siege Regiment, Force Viper, at the Normandy landings, Walcheren, and the Five Rivers Campaign in NW Europe.

The author grew up in straitened circumstances in Paisley. He joined up in 1941 and after training saw active service at Dieppe and in Sicily Italy and Yugoslavia. An enjoyable set of reminiscences.

The last commando formed, in March 1944, it suffered 50% casualties on D-Day, but fought on through Europe and the Walcheren landing to the occupation of Germany. A detailed account.

A detailed operational history by the Commando's medical officer. They fought gallantly in bitter actions from D-Day to Walcheren.

A determinedly literary wartime autobiography of service with 41 Royal Marine Commando. He served in Sicily Italy and at D-Day, was wounded in France in late August 1944 and later invalided out.

An accurate if censored account in a popular pamphlet.

WWII is covered in 20 pages which briefly fill in some background information on the many tasks performed by the Marines. A second edition was published in 1959.

The memoirs of General Hollis, who was a Staff Officer to Churchill during the war and Secretary to the Chiefs of Staff Committee.

Jenkins joined up in 1943 and trained at Achnacarry and a year later joined 43 RM Commando on Vis. After six months of action with Tito's partisans the Commando moved to Italy and saw action notably around Lake Comachio and Argenta. Gives a good account of action "at the sharp end."

The Commando was formed in August 1943 and fought from Normandy to the Elbe.

The Commando was formed in the spring of 1944 and fought at D-Day, at Walcheren, and on into Germany. Written by Capt. T.G. Linnell, a member of the Commando.

An anecdotal history of the war based on the reminiscences of the Royal Marine General who was Assistant Secretary to the War Cabinet and Chiefs of Staff Committee. US title: The Clock with Four Hands.

An officially approved narrative of the chief exploits of the Marines in WWII. They were involved everywhere.

At the age of seventeen, he ran away from Repton school to join the Royal Marine Commandos. As the youngest member of the youngest commando force, after three months he found himself fighting on the beaches of Normandy and on through North West Europe.

The Second Battalion had a frustrating first half to the war, with only the abortive Dakar Expedition to show for their efforts. Reformed as a commando it served in the Mediterranean from 1943 at Anzio, in Yugoslavia and in northern Italy, where the Marines only Victoria Cross of the war was won. A good account.

A whole series of tall tales, anecdotes and cartoons, many from WW2.

A good brief chronological account of a Commando whose most notable service was in the Far East, especially the Arakan.

A biographical dictionary of this select group of 86 men. There is an initial chronological division so that the WWII biographies are in a separate section.

Mears joined up as a Bandboy in 1936. In 1940 he joined Illustrious and gives a vivid account of her career and action damage in the Mediterranean. She reached Brooklyn for repair in 1941 and the Marine band returned to the UK but he was sent to Canada to join Warspite, staying with her in the Eastern Fleet and Mediterranean until late 1943 when he went ashore at HMS Daedalus. In mid-1945 he joined Orion. A desultory account apart from the Illustrious material.

A firsthand account of the Commando's six month tour in the Mediterranean in 1943–44.

Formed in 1942, the Commando saw action at Sicily, Salerno, D-Day, Walcheren, and on the Maas. A former Corporal in the Commando has written a good account of their war.

A history of 48 Royal Marine Commando. Formed early in 1944, it landed on D-Day, fought on the beachhead, and later took part in the Walcheren assault.

Naylor joined the Marines in 1927 and saw extensive shipboard service. In mid-1939, now a sergeant he joined Resolution which did Atlantic convoy work before taking part in the Norwegian Campaign, where he saw land as well as sea action. Resolution moved south and saw action with Force H and at Mers-el-Kebir and Dakar where she was torpedoed. She went to Philadelphia for repair and he returned to the UK on Totland. He next joined Cornwall at Capetown. Her sinking is graphically described. After some leave he served briefly on Valiant, but returned to the UK to join the new Swiftsure in which he saw service in the Mediterranean and Pacific. An engaging if brief biography.