40 Commando marks 75th anniversary on Armed Forces Day

The parade was held in Somerset on Saturday

A parade has been held by 40 Commando at its Somerset base to mark its 75th anniversary and to coincide with Armed Forces Day.

The unit is based at Norton Manor Camp where the event was held for staff, friends and family only.

Warrant Officer Daz Joyce said: "It's 75 years since 40 Commando was formed and we're celebrating that in the way of a formal parade."

The Royal Marines unit has been based Norton Manor Camp since 1983.

The unit supported Special Forces in the hunt for Osama bin Laden in the Tora Bora mountain caves in Afghanistan.

It has since taken on the role of Lead Commando Group, which means it can be deployed anywhere in the world with five days' notice.

"There's continuous training and the guys are often deployed on exercise around the world and are prepared on quick notice to move around on operations.

"It's the families that are left behind who have to stick by them and we need to honour that and support them," added WO Joyce.

As part of the anniversary activity, a group of Royal Marines from the unit is joining in a national challenge of running 16.64 miles every day for 100 days.

The overall aim is to clock up 1,664 miles, to represent the figure 1664, the year when the Royal Marines was formed.

40 Commando was celebrating its 75th anniversary

40 Commando has been based at Norton Manor Camp since 1983

Only staff, friends and family were invited to the parade