Royal Marines Celebrating 352nd Birthday This Weekend

Henry attends RM service in Gibraltar with his brother, Lt. Col. Nik Cavill in 2014

This weekend the Royal Marines are celebrating their 352nd birthday, and the Royal Navy is looking back at their history with this post that we are sharing with you since Henry is an ambassador for their charity:

On the 28th October 2016, the Royal Marines celebrate their 352nd birthday. From fighting on the decks and in the mastheads at the Battle of Trafalgar, through World War Two, to the modern day, leading the assaults on the Falkland Islands and Iraq and operating in Afghanistan, they are an integral part of Britain’s defence and the Royal Navy; their distinction combines excellence, versatility and unique amphibious skills.

Formed in the reign of King Charles II on October 28, 1664 as the Duke of York and Albany’s Maritime Regiment of Foot (or Admiral’s Regiment), the name Marines first appeared in the records in 1672 and in 1802 they were titled the Royal Marines by King George III.

Since then, Marines have taken part in more battles on land and sea around the world than any other branch of the British Armed Forces; so numerous are the Corps’ battle honours they are simply represented by the famous Globe and the single honour ‘Gibraltar’.

Today, the Royal Marines are the UK’s Commando Forces and the Royal Navy’s amphibious troops. An elite force held at very high readiness, they are trained for worldwide rapid response, able to deal with a wide spectrum of threats and security challenges.

The main deployable force is 3 Commando Brigade RM with a Lead Commando Group ready and held at five days' notice to deploy globally, in support of the UK’s national interests.

Since becoming ambassador for The Royal Marines Charity in 2014, Henry has worked hard to raise funds for military families in need. He participated in the Gibraltar Rock Run in October of that year, and just this month completed the Commando Challenge in Devon, UK.

At that event, Henry told us why it's so important for him to support the Royal Marines:

You see these incredibly strong, powerful, fun charismatic people. And you realize that they are going to go through stuff which may change them forever, and they may the life or soul of the party at one stage and all of a sudden their life changes dramatically. We need to be there for them when it does, because they've always been there for us.    

Watch the full interview, and if you can support the Royal Marines Charity on his JustGiving page.

We had the privilege of meeting several Royal Marines as we covered the Commando Challenge, and we wanted to wish them all a very happy 352nd birthday.

Check out Henry's birthday wish in 2014, at about the :46 mark.