First in Last out

- Blurb -

A seminal piece of Royal Marines Commando history, this 1950s doctrine summing up the lessons of World War II is published for first time. The official document Amphibious Warfare Handbook No. 10a: The Organisation, Employment and Training of Commandos is a unique piece of post-war Royal Marines Commando doctrine, never before published, or quoted at length. Prepared in 1951 at the height of the Korean War by the Chief of Amphibious Warfare and the Commandant General Royal Marines, this seventy-page aide memoire is, in essence, the distillation of major lessons learned by the British wartime Combined Operations Headquarters regarding amphibious warfare, raiding, cliff assaults, sabotage, intelligence-gathering, specialised infantry work, guerrilla warfare and Commando tactics. In addition, it offers its readership a delineation of the characteristics, skills and qualities required of a Royal Marines Commando. Published to mark the seventieth anniversary of its official issue, this rare example of bespoke Commando doctrine is a timely and highly relevant addition to a growing body of work on The Corps of Royal Marines. Currently undergoing significant institutional changes by means of the Future Commando Force (FCF) programme, the Royal Marines are having to challenge their existing operating concept, force structures, doctrine and organisational design to meet the emerging defence challenges of the 21st century. It serves to remind those currently evolving the FCF concept of General Sir John Hackett' s advice, namely, ' To see where we are going, we must know where we are, and to know where we are, we need to discover how we got her' . AUTHOR: Educated at the universities of Warwick, London and Cambridge, Dr Paul Winter received his doctorate in history in 2009. He specialised in wartime intelligence and military history, publishing academic articles in Intelligence and National Security and War in History. In 2013 he was a Changing Character of War Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Oxford. From 2017 to 2020, he was an affiliated academic at 40 Commando Royal Marines assisting with Professional Military Education and Officer Career Development. He is currently a member of the Land and Littoral Strike team at the Maritime Warfare Centre.