List of Royal Marines full generals

This is a list of full generals in the Royal Marines. The rank of general (or full general to distinguish it from the lower general officer ranks) is the highest rank currently achievable by serving officers in the Royal Marines although no dedicated Royal Marines full general posts currently exist, unless they serve in tri-service positions. The Commandant General Royal Marines, a professional post created in 1943, is often –but not exclusively (not 1977 to 2022, see list) –held by a full general, including incumbents of a lower general officer rank promoted to general during their tenure in that post.

Promoted	Name	Born	Died	Notes
1838 [1]	James Meredyth		1841
1854 [2]	Walter Tremenheere	1761	1855	placed on the Retired List 1855 [3]
1855 [2]	Edward Nicolls	1779	1865	promoted while on the Retired List [3]
1855 [3]	George Jones		1857
1855 [3]	George Beatty		1857
1857 [4]	Thomas Parke	1780	1858
1857 [5]	Sir Charles Menzies	1783	1866
1858	John Rawlins Coryton	1791	1867
1862	Sir Samuel Ellis	1787	1865
1866 [6]	Henry Ivatt Delacombe	1790	1878
1866	Fortescue Graham	1794	1880
1867	John Tatton Brown	1795	1880
1870 [7]	Sir Anthony Stransham	1805	1900
1870	Alexander Anderson	1807	1877
1870 [8]	Thomas Holloway		1875
1875 [9]	John Gascoigne	1811 [10]	1893 [10]
1875 [11]	Henry Carr Tate
1877	Sir George Augustus Schomberg	1821	1907	Deputy Adjutant-General Royal Marines 1872–75
1877	Hayes Marriott
1877	George Lambrick	1814	1903
1897 [12]	Sir Howard Sutton Jones	1835	1912 [13]	placed on the Retired List 1900 [14]
	Frederick Gasper Le Grand	1837	1905	placed on the Retired List 1901 [15]
1900 [14]	Samuel James Graham
1901 [15]	Ardley Henry Falwasser Barnes	1838	1910	placed on the Retired List 1902 [16]
1902 [16]	Edward Lee Rose	1842	1903
1912 [17]	Sir William Thompson Adair	1850	1931 [18]
1912 [19]	Henry Cecil Eagles			(1855–1927)?
1914 [20]	James Henry Bor	1857	1914 [21]
1914 [22]	William Inglefield Eastman	1856	1941 [23]
1928	Sir Lewis Halliday	1870	1966	Recipient of the Victoria Cross
1945 [24]	Sir Thomas Hunton	1885	1970	Commandant General Royal Marines 1943–46
1948	Sir Dallas Brooks	1896	1966	Commandant General Royal Marines 1946–49 (promoted while in the post), 19th Governor of Victoria 1949–63
1951 [24]	Sir Leslie Hollis	1897	1963	Commandant General Royal Marines 1949–52
	Sir John Westall	1901	1986	Commandant General Royal Marines 1952–55
	Sir Campbell Hardy	1906	1984	Commandant General Royal Marines 1955–59
1961 [25]	Sir Ian Riches	1908	1996	Commandant General Royal Marines 1959–62
1964 [26]	Sir Malcolm Cartwright-Taylor	1911	1969	Commandant General Royal Marines 1962–65
1967 [27]	Sir Norman Tailyour	1914	1979	Commandant General Royal Marines 1965–68
1970 [28]	Sir Peter Hellings	1916	1990	Commandant General Royal Marines 1968–71 (promoted while in the post)
1973 [29]	Sir Ian Gourlay	1920	2013	Commandant General Royal Marines 1971–75 (promoted while in the post)
1977 [30]	Sir Peter Whiteley	1920	2016	Commandant General Royal Marines 1975–77, Commander-in-Chief Allied Forces Northern Europe 1977–79
2016 [31]	Sir Gordon Messenger	1962		Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff 2016–19, Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom since 2021, Constable of the Tower since 2022
2022 [32]	Sir Gwyn Jenkins			Commandant General Royal Marines since 2022, Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff 2022–24, First Sea Lord since 2025

See also

• List of British Army full generals
• List of Royal Navy admirals
• List of Royal Air Force air chief marshals

References

1. Haydn, Joseph (1851). The Book of Dignities. London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans. p.  323 . Retrieved 10 September 2015.
2. "No. 21637". The London Gazette . 5 December 1854. p. 3956.
3. "No. 21735". The London Gazette . 26 June 1855. p. 2457.
4. "No. 21966". The London Gazette . 10 February 1857. p. 472.
5. "No. 22019". The London Gazette. 7 July 1857. p. 2376.
6. The London Gazette: The Appointed Organ for All Announcements of the Executive. 6 September 1866. p. 4918.
7. "No. 23603". The London Gazette. 1 April 1870. p. 2005.
8. "Page 2005 | Issue 23603, 1 April 1870 | London Gazette | the Gazette".
9. "No. 24286". The London Gazette. 21 January 1876. p. 256.
10. Gosnell, Chris (2013). "John Hawkins Gascoigne". The Gascoigne Family. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
11. No. 4072 The London Gazette
12. "No. 26851". The London Gazette. 11 May 1897. p. 2603.
13. "General Sir Howard S. Jones (Obituaries)". The Times. No. 40078. 10 December 1912. p. 11.
14. "No. 27164". The London Gazette . 13 February 1900. p. 999.
15. "No. 27387". The London Gazette . 13 December 1901. p. 8838.
16. "No. 27428". The London Gazette . 25 April 1902. p. 2791.
17. "No. 28583". The London Gazette. 23 February 1912. p. 1343.
18. "Adair, Sir William Thompson". Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
19. "No. 28598". The London Gazette. 12 April 1912. p. 2639.
20. "No. 28838". The London Gazette. 9 June 1914. p. 4536.
21. "Bor, James Henry". Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
22. "No. 28940". The London Gazette. 16 October 1914. p. 8249.
23. "Eastman, William Inglefield". Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
24. Houterman, Hans; Koppes, Jeroen (2013). "Royal Marine (RM) officers 1939–1945 (Haines–Hunton)". unithistories.com. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
25. "No. 42295". The London Gazette. 7 March 1961. p. 1729.
26. "No. 43280". The London Gazette. 24 March 1964. p. 2680.
27. "No. 44267". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 March 1967. p. 2883.
28. "No. 45240". The London Gazette (Supplement). 27 November 1970. p. 13109.
29. "No. 46138". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 November 1973. p. 14082.
30. "No. 47160". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 March 1977. p. 2826.
31. "General Sir Gordon Messenger KCB DSO* OBE ADC". gov.uk. UK Ministry of Defence. 11 November 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2020. Vice Chief of the Defence Staff 2016 to 2019
32. "No. 63818". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 September 2022. p. 17754.