That Ubiquitous 'S'

By Maj A Donald

(Reprinted by kind permission of the RM Historical Society, from their Newsletter)

There seems to be constant confusion these days as to whether there should be a terminal 's' in the titles of the Corps and its units, past and present. Perhaps an explanation will help to correct some of the errors that might be made in the future.

An Order-in-council dated 18 August 1804 authorised the formation of artillery companies as part of the Royal Marine Forces 'under the denomination of 'Royal Marine Artillery'. The Corps was granted the title' Light Infantry' in 1855 and for a short period the title was 'Royal Marines, Light Infantry'. In fact even in 1893, when the first (and only) volume of a History of the Royal Marine Forces was published, the author was still styled 'Major L Edye, Royal Marines, Light Infantry'.
The buttons of the RMA always read 'Royal Marine Artillery', however, in the Light Infantry, the buttons and officer's undress white belt locket (worn until 1905) always read 'Royal Marines Light Infantry' - right up until 1923 when the Corps was amalgamated and the 'Royal Marines' button was introduced!

In consequence, in the mid-1960s, there was a strong following by many of those of us interested in Corps history, who thought that the correct title was in fact 'Royal Marines Light Infantry'. This then reflected in most of the 'historical' writings undertaken in the last four decades, and in a very short time this view was generally accepted in the Corps. However there were a number of retired officers, particularly those belonging to old established Corps families, who considered that 'Royal Marine Light Infantry' was correct, and this had proved to be so. In the Order-in-Council dated 21 March 1862, when the RM Artillery became a separate Division and the officers of the RMA and RMLI were placed on separate lists, the latter was quite clearly referred to as the 'Royal Marine Light Infantry'. This is also how it is headed in Royal Marine Officers Lists published subsequently.

Just after the Second World War ended, in order to establish uniformity in the titles of RM units, an order was published in November 1945 stating that the words 'Royal Marines' were to be placed after the designation of a unit. 40 Royal Marine Commando became '40 Commando Royal Marines' and the Royal Marine Infantry Training Centre was to be known as the 'Infantry Training Centre Royal Marines'. Between 1942 and 1945 titles of RM Commandos were often written as 40 (Royal Marine) Commando or 40 (RM) Commando.

The woven RM Commando shoulder title has always been 'Royal Marines Commando', because originally the title 'Commando' was an additional straight Cash's tape, sewn immediately below the existing straight shoulder title 'Royal Marines', whilst above was a matching woven unit numeral. When a complete curved woven title was later produced it was natural that it should read 'Royal Marines Commando'. The exception to this was 46 Commando, who had their own curved title, '46 Royal Marine Commando', manufactured complete with numeral.

In 1951, a Royal Marines Routine Order directed that in future the adjective 'Royal Marines' would be used instead of 'Royal Marine'. This meant that whereas some of us had been Royal Marine Officers and used to live in a Royal Marine Barracks, we then became Royal Marines Officers and lived in a Royal Marines Barracks. Many serving ranks found this new nomenclature difficult to accept, and in fact never have!

Maj A Donald RM