RMC Annual Review 2020-21 digital (1) - Flipbook - Page 33
A Brief History of the Royal Marines Association
Branches remain the lifeblood of the Association
and in recent years new, specialist branches
have been formed or amalgamated into the new
organisation, all of the branches were listed in
December 1947; Aberdeen, Acton, Aldershot,
Auckland (New Zealand), Ayrshire, Barnet,
Barnet and district, Barrow-in-Furness, Belfast,
Bermuda, Birmingham, Blackburn, Blackpool,
Bolton, Bradford, Bridgwater, Brighton, Bristol,
Burnley and Nelson, Burton-on-Trent, Bury St.
Edmunds, Cambridge, Cardiff, Catford, Bromley
and district, Chatham, Chesterfield and district,
Coventry, Croydon, Deal, Derby, Doncaster and
district, Dundee, Durham, East Devon, Edgware,
Edinburgh, Elgin and district, Epsom and district,
Glasgow, Gloucester, Greenock and district,
Greenwich, Grimsby, Halifax, Hastings and
district, Hong Kong, Hounslow, Huddersfield, Hull
and East Riding, Inverness and district, Ipswich
and district, Kettering, Kidderminster, Kingston,
Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Llanelli and district,
London (Central), London (East), London (NorthEast), London (South-West), Luton and Dunstable,
Manchester. Salford and district, Merthyr Tydfil,
Middlesbrough and Teesside, Neath, New Forest,
Newport (Monmouthshire), North/South Shields,
Northampton, North-West Middlesex, Norwich,
Nottingham, Oxford, Palestine, Plymouth, Poole
and Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading,
Rotherham, Rugby, Sheffield, Shropshire,
Southampton, Southend, Southern Africa (Reef
section), Southern Africa (Simonstown), Stokeon-Trent, Sunderland, Swansea, Swindon,
Taunton, Tavistock, Tunbridge Wells, Tyneside,
Wigan and Leigh, Winchester, Wisbech,
Wolverhampton, Worcester, Wrexham, and Yeovil.
North East Suffolk, North Wales, Northern Ireland,
Oxon and Bucks, Plymouth, Poole and District,
Portsmouth, Reading, Romford, Scarborough
and District, Scotland—East, Sheffield,
Shropshire, Southend-on-Sea, St Helens, Stoke
on Trent, Stourbridge, Swansea Bay, Taunton,
Tavistock, Torbay and District, Tyneside, Welwyn
Garden City, Windsor and District and York.
Specialist Branches
cover a vast range
of areas;
...Arts Society, Boxing, Buglers, Concert Band,
Cycle Club, Football Club, Gig Racing, Golf
Society, Landing Craft Branch, PT Branch, Riders
Branch, RM Musicians, RM Officers’ Dining
Club, Royal Marines Club, Rugby Football Club
(RFC), Shot Gun Branch (RMCTA), Signals.
The Association thrives overseas as well, with
very active branches in Auckland, Brisbane,
Cyprus, Falkland Islands, Malta, New South
Wales, Ontario (London), Ontario, The
Costa Blanca, USA, Victoria, and France.
A brief history can only cover so much ground,
this history has tried to draw out those things
that have changed in the 75 years of the RMA and
those that continue, what has caused them to
happen and the effects they have had. Much has
had to be left out, the pages of the Globe and Laurel
are a rich source for discovering more about the
RMA and I am indebted to Graham Adcock and
his staff for their assistance and his as well as his
predecessors’ foresight in ensuring the activities
of the RMA are so well recorded. Many members
of the Association have assisted with this history
and I am indebted to them all, but especially those
three historians, de Courcy-Ireland, Sir Ian Riches
and Derek Oakley, who made this work so much
easier, their task without access to a complete
digital run of Globe and Laurel was immense.
By 2020 this picture had changed, with some
branches closing, others amalgamating and new
branches forming; the list of branches in 2021 is
Bath and District, Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre,
Bridgwater, Brighton, Hove and District, Bristol,
Cambridge, Canterbury, Carlisle and District,
Chelmsford and District, City of London, City
of Wolverhampton, Cornwall, Deal, Derby and
District, Devon—Mid, Devon—North, Doncaster,
Eastbourne, Edinburgh, Essex—North East, Exeter,
Exmouth, Glamorgan, Glasgow, Guildford and
District, Hanworth, Highland, Hull, Isle of Thanet,
Isle of Wight, Lancashire—East, Lincolnshire,
Manchester and Salford, Merseyside, Norfolk,
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www.rma-trmc.org
Presidents
The Commandant General’s message
from 1946 holds true 75 years later.
1946: Lt. General Sir R. G. Sturges, KBE. CB. DSO.
‘…the RM Association is a big undertaking.
It will need leadership, drive, initiative and,
above all, co-operation if it is to be a complete
success. Anything less than that cannot be
accepted in a project which is a Corps affair
such as this. It is my wish that the Corps as a
whole, and each individual who has served
or is serving, should be solidly behind the
Royal Marine Association. I would remind
you that it must of necessity be some time
before the tentacles of this Association reach
out as far as it is planned, but the Executive
Committee is already in action and the speed
of development will, to a great extent, depend
on the amount and quality of the co-operation
they receive. I therefore expect you all to
assist in the greatest possible measure.
1947: Major General R.H. Campbell, CB. MC.
1950: Major General H. T. Tollemache, CBE.
1952: Major General V. D. Thomas, CB. CBE.
1957: Major General G. E. Wildman-Lushington,
CB. CBE.
1961: General Sir Campbell R. Hardy,
KCB. CBE. DSO**
1966: Major General N. H. D. McGill, CB.
1967: General Sir Ian Riches, KCB. DSO.
19.70: Major General R. C. de M. Leathes,
CB. MVO. OBE.
1975: Major General I. S. Harrison, CB.
1981: General Sir Peter Whiteley, GCB, OBE.
1986: Major General PL Spurgeon, CB.
1991: Major General Sir Jeremy Moore,
KCB, OBE, MC*.
T. L. HUNTON,
Commandant General, Royal Marines’
1995: Major General NF Vaux, CB DSO.
Over its 75-year existence, the RMA has faced
many challenges and, on each occasion, has
overcome them and succeeded in regenerating
itself to flourish whilst supporting the Corps
and its veterans, but a number of tenets have
remained immutable. The gradual expansion of
activity to embrace welfare and include the entire
Corps family, the merger to become ‘RMA - The
Royal Marines Charity’ has strengthened the
Association and prepared it for the challenges of
the future. It is an association that is based on the
sense of unity and comradeship that results from a
shared formative experience. This is perhaps best
represented in the local and specialist branches.
Within these branches and as individual HQ Roll
members, we seek to focus their endeavours on
celebrating that comradeship, commemorating
those whose shoulders we stand on, whilst
remaining compassionate to those who the
‘years (and their service) have condemned’. And
today, the organisation continues to find ways to
enable Royal Marines to transition back to Civvie
Street in a seamless and effective manner, with a
worthwhile job to step into. The balance between
these various interwoven strands of endeavour
ebbs and flows from day to day, but the essence of
what unites the Association remains steadfast.
1997: Major General P T Stevenson OBE.
2002: Brigadier SP Hill OBE.
2012: Major General David Wilson CB CBE.
2015: Major General Martin Smith CB MBE.
2016: Major General Rob Magowan CB CBE.
2019: Major General Charles Stickland CB OBE.
2020: Major General Matthew Holmes CBE DSO.
2021: Lieutenant General Rob Magowan CB CBE.
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