42 Commando Royal Marines

42 Commando
Cap Badge of the Royal Marines
Active	1943 – present
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Marines
Role	Commando
Size	Battalion
Part of	Naval Service
Garrison/HQ	Bickleigh Barracks, Devon
Motto(s)	Per Mare Per Terram (By Sea By Land) (Latin)
Commanders
Current commander	Lt Col Richard Cantrill OBE MC RM
Captain-General	HRH The Duke of Edinburgh (Captain-General, Royal Marines)

42 Commando (read and said as Four-Two Commando) is a subordinate unit within the Royal Marines 3 Commando Brigade, the principal Commando formation, under the Operational Command of Fleet Commander.

Tasked as a Commando unit, 42 Cdo RM is capable of a wide range of operational tasks. Based at Bickleigh Barracks near Plymouth, personnel regularly deploy outside the United Kingdom on operations or training. Whilst 3 Commando Brigade RM are the principal cold weather warfare formation, personnel are capable of operating in a variety of theatres including tropical jungle, desert or mountainous terrain. In the future, 42 Commando will be re-structured to be a specialised, go-to unit for maritime operations – meaning some of the posts within the unit, like heavy weapons specialists, can be reallocated across the Royal Navy.

All personnel will have completed the Commando course at the Commando Training Centre (CTCRM) at Lympstone in Devon, entitling them to wear the green beret, with attached personnel having completed the All Arms Commando Course.

Early Commando units were all from the British Army but by February 1942, the Royal Marines were asked to organise Commando units of their own, and 6,000 men volunteered.

No. 42 (Royal Marine) Commando was raised in August 1943, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel R C de M. Leathes from the 1st Royal Marine Battalion, as part of the expansion of the commandos. They were assigned to the 3rd Special Service Brigade and served in India and Burma in 1943–45, including operations in the Arakan and Assam. It took part in the third Arakan campaign and carried out a series of amphibious landings down the Burmese coastline. Including the landings at Myebon and the Battle of Hill 170. It then returned to India to prepare for Operation Zipper the invasion of British Malaya. The war ended before the operation began and the commando was diverted to reoccupy Hong Kong.