His Majesty the King approved the commando logistic regiment renaming, and the unit now serves as 48 Commando Support Group Royal Marines. Based at Chivenor in North Devon, the formation keeps its front-line sustainment role while taking a name that links it to a World War II commando identity.
Lieutenant Colonel Jolyon Simpson called the change "the coming together of traditions" and tied it to "48 Commando's offensive actions on Juno Beach and the assault on German gun batteries in Walcheren in 1944 with CLR's 54 years of sustainment operations across the Falklands War, two wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and other global operations". General Sir Gwyn Jenkins said the regiment's record runs through "more than half a century" of major operations and described the new name as "a continuation of that proud record".
Royal Marines at Chivenor
The Royal Navy said the unit is reinforcing its position as a fully functioning fighting component, even though the name still reflects a logistics formation. 48 Commando will continue to sustain commando operations on the front line, providing transportation, combat and surgical medical care, refuelling, drone operations and combat supplies such as ammunition.
The same unit also provides protected mobility across the battlefield using Vikings and other armoured vehicles. That combination leaves the marines, soldiers, and sailors of 48 Commando in a role that spans movement, supply, medical support and battlefield protection rather than a single specialist task.
World War II legacy
48 Commando was raised in 1944 as No. 48 (Royal Marine) Commando. A little under three months after being raised, the unit landed alongside Canadian forces on Juno Beach during D-Day, then took part in the liberation of Walcheren in November 1944 during Operation Infatuate.
The unit was disbanded in 1946, but its name and reputation were not lost from Royal Marines history. The current renaming now folds that Second World War identity into the modern UK Commando Force naming pattern used across 24 Commando, 29 Commando, 30 Commando, 40 Commando, 42 Commando, 43 Commando, 45 Commando and 47 Commando.
48 Commando and modern warfare
General Sir Gwyn Jenkins said the change is "a recognition of new ways of operating, being more dispersed on the battlefield, with greater resilience, and acting more independently to better serve the modern Commando Force". The practical effect is a unit that keeps the same sustainment mission but now carries a name that signals both historic commando lineage and current battlefield utility.
For personnel at Chivenor in North Devon, the new badge does not alter the core task: keeping Royal Marines operations supplied, moving and medically supported. What changes is the public identity of that work, with the new name placing the unit inside the commando tradition it now serves and the front-line function it still performs.
