RMC Annual Review 2020-21 digital (1) - Flipbook - Page 20
A Brief History of the Royal Marines Association
already released prior to 1st February 1946,
28,000 copies of a letter from the President were
printed and each went into a separate envelope
personally addressed to the Royal Marine
concerned. Through the conscientious work
of a team of cheerfully dedicated volunteers,
this task was achieved and a long tradition of
volunteering within the Association started – it
took four volunteers just a month to set up the
first card index of seven thousand names.
www.rma-trmc.org
Bainbridge answered the telephone and was
surprised to find that he was speaking to Lady
Clementine Churchill who was in desperate
need of a suitable married man to act as valet
to Winston Churchill and his wife to act as
cook. In due course, a suitable RM applicant
was found and proved to be very satisfactory.
As the Association became better known, its
Central Office received more and more letters
asking for information. They provided support
and advice on a huge range of issues; missing
sons or husbands, overseas settlement, housing
difficulties, money to buy tools, pay credits,
pensions, addresses of old comrades, education
of children, increasing disability from wounds
or injuries, and many other questions. It was
impossible to solve every problem but skilled and
helpful advice or information was always given.
The member who got a house certainly considered
his 4/- subscription to have been well spent.
At one of the early monthly meetings of the
Executive Committee, they resolved to launch
the Association with a large Ball with as many
VIPs attending as possible. The date was to be
5th July 1946 and the Lyceum was chosen as it
could take 2000 guests. Tickets were sold out
a week before the Ball, and many members
who applied late were disappointed.
Two other critical strands of work were also
started, the recruitment of volunteers to form
branches in areas with large numbers of exRoyals and the establishment of the muchneeded Employment Bureau. Major Cook
played a key role, his main contribution to the
formation of the Association was starting the
Employment Section. Either by telephone or
personal visits he and the General Secretary
encouraged a vast number of large businesses
or other organisations to take their quota of
ex-Royals. These included British Overseas
Airways, European Airways, de Havillands,
English Electric, Imperial Chemical Industries,
General Electric Company, the Merchant Navy
and many non-commercial organisations such as
school Combined Cadet Forces, the Fire Services,
the Metropolitan and City Police Forces and
other Police Forces throughout the country.
The Guest of Honour was Rear Admiral Lord Louis
Mountbatten who was accompanied by Lady
Edwina and the Commandant General, Lt General
RAD Brooks. Soon after their arrival, the RMA’s
first President, Sir Robert Sturges, introduced the
Admiral. Mountbatten in his speech described
himself as probably the biggest employer of
Royal Marines during the War when he was the
Supreme Allied Commander in South East Asia.
Music was provided by three bands, but it was the
‘Oceanaires’ who stole the show. They consisted
of musicians from the Royal Naval School of
Music who had just returned to Britain after a
tour of the world when they had entertained men
and women in Brussels, Berlin, America, Tokyo,
China, Hiroshima, India and the Mediterranean.
The following extract of a letter
received by a member of the Association
in Liverpool was typical;
‘Blue uniform mingled with khaki and plenty
of demob suits which with the attractive
dresses of the ladies and ever-changing
colours of the lights, the flashes of half
a dozen photographers; the gaiety and
laughter of old friend recognising old friend
presented a scene which was worthy of the
Corps and a fitting launch to the citation.’
‘I thought you might like to know that up
to now fifty-seven Marines have been put
into employment. Not so much the numbers
as the good reports that come through
from the employers, such as I quote...
“I had not thought
it possible to meet
such men as these.”
That was the object of the evening, to
launch the Association in an atmosphere of
Reunion, Comradeship and Celebration.
The new Association determined to neither act
nor be seen as a charity, Royal would help Royal
and the RMA would signpost those in need to
where they could get the help they were entitled
to. The Corps had subscribed to the Royal Naval
Many employers were keen to recruit from the
Corps, including some especially important
personalities. On one occasion Captain
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A new Central Headquarters was needed, so an
outstanding freehold property was bought at 5
Talbot Square in London in 1948, formally opened
by Rear Admiral Earl Mountbatten. This offered
a clubroom, bar, and limited accommodation
facilities. On 19 th June 1948, the first RMA rifle
competition took place at Browndown. By this
time, a worldwide network of 155 branches
had been established and membership had
reached 30,000. That year, 1500 people
attended the reunion ball and 3500 attended
the Corps night at the Royal Tournament.
The Victory Parade, 8 th June, 1946 London. When massed bands of
the RN & RM gave a display and Beat Retreat in Hyde Park on 6th
June, just prior to the Victory Procession, the Association made
By the end of 1949 the Bureau had found jobs
for 9,300 former Royal Marines and dealt with
15,000 applications. After this initial success,
the following five years saw a number of crises
as several branches struggled to survive and
only half of the 158 in the British Isles were really
active. In 1952 a shake-up aimed at maintaining
financial viability resulted in the formation
of regional committees, a reduction in paid
administrators and a step up of the employment
and welfare sections. 1953 produced an upsurge
arrangements for Sgt. Shea and Sgt. Humphreys, both totally
blinded in the war and now at St. Dunstan’s, to come to the park
and listen to the music. For the Victory March in London fifty
seats in the British Legion stand were given to the Association.
Benevolent Trust for many years and it was
obvious that these benefits should in no way
be prejudiced when the RMA was formed. The
RNBT was a wealthy, powerful and efficient body
within the limits of its objects; its assistance and
co-operation therefore, seemed a prerequisite
to success for the new Association. Lt Gen GRS
Hickson, a Governor of RNBT and also Honorary
Colonel Commandant of Portsmouth Division,
was approached and the whole matter discussed
with him in great detail. During the discussion, it
became apparent that the objects of the RNBT and
the Association were somewhat different; in some
cases they ran on parallel course and in others
they coincided; but in any case, it was agreed
that each could be of assistance to the other, the
Association by presenting cases to and putting
men in touch with the RNBT and the RNBT by
continuing to give financial assistance in cases
of hardship among members of the Association.
Lord Louis Mountbatten, Lady Edwina and CG arrive at the Ball.
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