The Captain, God Bless him, he passed away 2009 aged only 60, a super fellow, ended up being Major John Lear, OBE. Russ Craig also a diamond ended up a Sgt Major, Sgt Matthews ended as a top officer, top group of men pathing the way for all new recruits, harder training back then, nothing but admiration and love ❤️❤️
Bear in mind that these men were already Royal Marines Commandos. That in itself is a feat few can aspire to. Then to apply for and pass this course is very special indeed. Guts, intelligence, practical skills and knowledge, and utter determination. This is how soldiering should be. I am so glad I had the chance to be trained by such guys on several courses as a young NCO in the mountains of Scotland back in the late '80s.
My oppo (Pete) in Royal Hong Kong Police EOD Cadre was former 42 Commando and told me on our long hikes on Lantau Trail we often did together of some crazy stories about his time in the Falklands and on these gruelling courses during his bootneck days - kudos to all. Many years before that in early 1980s when I was a teenage cop in the Met in Ealing I had to puppy walk a former Royal Marine NCO who had done 22 years or so and joined on the mature entry scheme - he was a gentleman of note and far too modest and discreet to answer my endless barrage of questions - how he put up with me telling him how to walk old ladies across the road and feel door handles at 2 am still amazed me to this day.
Captain Lear was my troop Lt for a while. Good to see him again after all these years. Great series and well done to all who participated. We have to remember these guys had already passed out as Royal Marines and therefore had proved themselves. This course took their abilities to a whole new level. Respect.
He was OC CTW when I went through Lympstone in 89/90. I bumped into him a few times over the years and it was always an enjoyable interaction. He was a true gentleman who died far too young (at only 60) back in '09. Remarkably I shared a desk with one of his daughters in Bastion (she was in the RAF) and she was just as professional, cordial and enthusiastic about life as her father was.
@@keithpringle3940 Of course. We respect our military equals… it’s just there are so few of them. I think there’s probably still friendly rivalry between RMs and Paras - don’t know for sure as it’s been 40+ years. But the Paras, along with Commando artillery and some other units, have nothing to prove in my book.
@@Sam-ch9mn Fkn brilliant answer! I only mention it cos my great grandfather was an original commando! He was a royal scot, but he had that dagger on his left shoulder and his wings on his right!! I almost spat my beer out when I first read that answer though, it was brilliant! You probably wouldn't even have talked to me in a green life I was just a plastic para, hat stacker!! For 24 fkn years, got out in Jan this year!
Russ Craig is a top bloke with great sense of humour. 1st met him when he was our section Sgt when 45 went to Ireland 1990. He was later the TQ colour sgt at Y coy when I was sent there as a corporal and he had a word with the ML sgt/ major Ben Donaldson who wanted to have a go at me when I joined the company as I was an AE and told him I was a good egg 😉😉 Cheers Russ 👍👍👍
This series is really well made and informative. It takes you on a journey with these brave men who are the best of the best soldiers in the world. A fine bunch of men, and a fantastic series 10/10
Yes, they were very good, but there were a couple of guys that they never really allowed too much attention to by the cameras of the interviewer. Kept them in the shadows, so to speak. They were likely going on to yet bigger and better things.
@@nacholibre1962 good point -I noticed this as well ,some where .... out thee is a follow up documentary 15 years later catching up with the lads same guy doing the voice over its brilliant , some still in the corps others well ... SGT MClaine is out running his own business , one of the guys served time for bank robbery ! try and find it pal its a nice conclusion
run a business ,build a house, paint in oils ,act, lots of things they cant do lol there just normal guys who train and with a mind set to get something done what are they doing now what happened to them after this
The real "slap in the face" awakening, is that "really bad and evil bastards" are doing the same thing for completely the opposite reasons. Humans are, and always will be, plagued by this strange defect called, "I don't recall History". How quickly a large part of humanity has forgotten Nazi Germany and it's excruciatingly horrific grasp on almost all of Europe, and most of North Africa; and the simultaneous squeeze by Japan on China and Southeast Asia, and how many human lives they exterminated in partnership, by so many foul and vile ways. The fortunate thing for most of us, is that some folks understand humanity, and are willing to make a stand against the evil bastards of this world, and are willing to protect their homeland. Multiculturalism is a farce, and will find more dead bodies than any conflict we've yet to experience in history............ I hope I'm not here for that mess. Ask any citizen of Paris these days, what he or she thinks of the current trends......... My salute of respect to the Royal Marines; and especially these men of thirty years ago. I pray that life since then has been kind to them.....
Ratty No, they CAN fail, it’s just that they’re extremely well motivated and prepared so that the chances of them failing are really, really small. That’s the secret. Hard work and determination, especially under dreadful conditions. The commando spirit.
"...They contain explicit details of how to blow up an integral part of the Norwegian railroad system. An exercise which happily never goes further than the theoretical stage..." LOL 😂 You've just gotta love British Humor! It's a fail on ski tracks. Always travel in the same tracks as the bloke in front of you, placing your stick mark in his mark to mask your number. Tracks are easily visible from high ground and the air, and at the depot pick up point by the high voltage transmission tower there were at least three tracks shown on this film. In loose snow, place the strongest skier in the back pulling a few branches of brush to mask the tracks. At agent meetings, I would have ensured a solid base of fire at a possible escape point before approaching, just in case of a fucking Quisling. That aside, we love having the Royal Marines Commandos up here in the Arctic, but we try not to pick a fight with them in bars, but rather buy them a pint! 😀 👍
The British are synonymous with 'commando' as the originators of the idea and have perfected the art. Mad respect to our cousins across the pond. They seem perfect gentlemen drinking their tea but at a flip of a switch can cut an enemy's throat, flip the switch back to 'Off' and buy you a beer and light your smoke at the tavern. That evading capture part at the end looked pretty real as it looked like they were really exchanging blows and only holding back enough to not kill each other.
Actually no they're not. The word Commando comes from the Boer war when the Boers were organised in units known as "Kommandos " It was from them that Churchill took the name.
did Norway every year as part of the ace mobile force did hundreds of miles of cross country over the years from sleeping in the snow shelter to ice hole great times. you cant beat the Arctic heaters in the old Hagglunds BV206 we didn't have the light M16s though SLR then SA80. We had newer kit though as was 7 years after this was filmed in late 80s early 90s
This was probably filmed in 84 and was 1st released in 85. I joined the corp in 86 and got to meet and work with some of the lads in this program. Russ Craig is a top bloke too. M16's were only given to marines in ML's, SBS and unit Recce troops during the 80's. The rest of us had to carry the SLR and then SA80 😉😉👍👍
What a fantastic series this has been, thank you for posting..... I've really enjoyed it. The Royal Marines, like the Paras, are the finest infantry soldiers in the World and we should all be proud of all of them. I wish I was good enough to have got either the maroon beret or the green beret, these 2 Regiments are a phenomenal asset that we have.🇬🇧🇬🇧✌✌
Briliant series. Watched it when originally aired. Went to CTCRM in 95 myself and aspired to be an ML but didn’t make it through basic.......Seriously tough men then.
Being in Canada now, I get to operate in snow conditions like that regularly, albeit we use snowmobiles a lot these days. It's still hard work when you stop and have to work in severely cold conditions. Coldest I've been was -47C (-53F) in a 40 Kph wind, travelling into wind at 40 Kph to create the equivalent of an 80 Kph wind, which results in a wind chill factor of -76C or -104F. You require very good equipment, a LOT of excellent knowledge and skills, and a pronounced sense of humour in such condictions!
Hey pal out there is a follow up documentary 15 years later catching up with the lads same guy doing the voice over its brilliant , some still in the corps others well ... SGT MClaine is out running his own business , one of the guys served time for bank robbery ! try and find it pal its a nice conclusion
Capt John Lear (then) was my Company Commander at Lympstone in 1990 - he was a Major by that time. Every Royal Marine had massive respect for the M&AW Cadre, a "Special Forces" that not many are aware of, if shit goes down in arctic conditions they'll be leading the way.
Hey pal , some where out there is a follow up documentary 15 years later catching up with the lads same guy doing the voice over its brilliant , some still in the corps others well ... SGT MClaine is out running his own business , one of the guys served time for bank robbery ! try and find it pal its a nice conclusion
@@Pardus_1970 Thanks for that, great man & leader, he met my dad (who served from 1959-68) during my passout parade, they had a lot to talk about of course. RIP Major John Lear OBE.
Never loose your field axe or same knife. Wool, wool and more wool, good, breathing wind sealing on top and you're happy as a clam. Fat, fat and more fat. Put some coconut oil in your kit, it tastes great and keeps the moral up, and you can easily make an improv. oil lamp out of it. Dig a snow cave with your skis. They're often time's warmer than a tent, and requires less fuel to be kept warm. Happy Arctic Camping!
There was a follow-up documentary featuring corporal Craig as a colour sergeant or warrant officer (sporting a massive moustache), made some years after. Is that available to watch online? The Royal Marines should be expanded not contracted. Great series.
I looked all over the net to no avail. It may have been a one-off about what happened to Falklands vets, not just marines, on some anniversary or other. Maybe 20 years or 25 years after the conflict. I recall one scene of a guy abseiling down a cliff, somewhere like Dartmoor. I'll keep looking.
The Royal Marines have had to fight hard against the pen-pushers in Whitehall, who time and again would throw the Corps under a bus, if it meant preserving the Household Cavalry and Brigade of Guards :(
It's not really warn off camp (or wasn't). From what I remember (going back to the 90s) it was only warn in unit, on the olive wooly pully, which is winter 'long sleave' order only. Oct-april. I can't recall wearing one on our combats (the old 64s iirc), but for some reason I think on the 95s started wearing the dagger patch below the commando flashes as the rank patch moved from the upper arms (or sholder lapels for officers) to the centre chest lapel. So that would of freed up space on the upper arm. I could be completely wrong, but I warn the same combats as the guys in this doc, I'm sure they are combat 64s (1964). Yes back then it was 30 plus years between refreshes. I think we are now on the 3rd in 22 years. The new incoming GB4 kit looks hoofing. Back to the old school original flashes.
@Raj Maj Thank you, you've answered my question, I've only ever seen the black triangular badge on Army personnel (RAF commandos, are you sure, LOL!). I honestly thought Bootnecks wore them too, you live and learn.
Some Royal marines do their BPC at brize no1 parachute training school also 148 Cdo bty get on it also we had a marine on my course after i completed pcoy they get loaded on the course due to the commando phase or AACC being an Arduous course
@Raj Maj Crinkle Crikey, someone on social media, commenting on something they actually know about! What did you think of this series, I'm assuming the same high standards have been maintained?
+Alfie Noades You'd never wear contacts, only glasses. And since the marines are special forces you would require significantly better eyesight then most. So most likely no; however the infantry would allow glasses to be worn.
Don't listen to this clown he has no idea what he's talking about and has almost certainly, never served. Royal Marines are not special forces, you should be wearing glasses but nobody is going to care if you wear contacts
