No 43. Royal Marine Commando

This Commando was originally formed from the 2nd Battalion Royal Marines, on August 1st 1943. It was the first Commando to undergo training, as a complete unit, at the Commando Basic Training Centre, Achnacarry, Scotland .

War time service saw the Commando taking part in the Anzio landings and the preliminary assaults on the Gustav line.

Moving to Vis, an Island of the Adriatic, and living for eight months in Bivouacs it carried out eight months of intensive operations against the enemy garrison on the islands off the coast of Yugoslavia.

In October 1944 the unit returned to Italy to support the operations of Marshall Tito’s Partisans.

January 1945 and the unit was in Italy yet again under the command of the 8th Army and operating on the Adriatic coast. During these operations Corporal Thomas Hunter of C Troop was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his Valour at Lake Commachio.

After returning and the cessation of hostilities like all War time Commando units No 43 was disbanded.

However a rebirth occurred when No 43 was reformed on 5th September 1961 in the historic barracks at stonehouse.