‘Dispute’ over death of major general pits Navy against Marines
THE tragic death of the former head of the Royal Marines is “driving a wedge” between the elite unit and the Royal Navy, his successor has warned in a letter sent to senior commanders.
Ahead of today’s funeral of Major General Matt Holmes, the Marines’ most senior officer appealed for calm for the sake of his widow, explaining that the “dispute” was “making that journey harder”.
An inquest heard yesterday that he died as a result of hanging and had been found in a bedroom at his home in Winchester on Oct 2 after having “concerns about his marriage and service career”.
Jason Pegg, the Hampshire coroner, requested details of how the Royal Navy had managed his career, including the removal from his post in April after two years at the helm.
The father-of-two, a pall-bearer at Prince Philip’s funeral, was, according to reports, said to be in a “bad place” over the loss of his “dream job”.
In the letter Lt General Rob Magowan, Commandant General Royal Marines (CGRM), wrote: “I thought I would drop you a short note as we run towards Matt’s funeral on Wednesday. Stories are playing out in the press that are making that journey harder.”
The officer said he was “really keen … to help contain things”, not least to help his widow Lea.
Lt Gen Magowan said she was “very upset” at how Maj Gen Holmes’ relationship with Admiral Sir Tony Radakin “is being publicly portrayed”.
It was announced last week that Sir Tony, the First Sea Lord, is being promoted to Chief of the Defence Staff at the end of next month.
In reference to the colours of the shirts worn by the Navy and the Marines, Lt Gen Magowan said: “The ‘dispute’ is serving to drive a wedge between white shirts and lovat, which helps nobody. It is making my job harder as CGRM. I’ll manage that but it is also impacting the serving Corps, just as we mature an integrated relationship across the Navy in pursuit of the Future Commando Force.”
He added: “The focus this coming week is to celebrate Matt’s amazing career, and to support his family. Anything else is a straight distraction. So I am asking all of us to work together, for Matt, his family and the Corps.”
The funeral will take place today at Winchester Cathedral, a day after the opening of the inquest into the 54-yearold’s death.
A year before he died Maj Gen Holmes said in a message to a friend he felt “beaten down” by Sir Tony, and that he had been undermined during a wellpublicised spat over the future of the Royal Marines.
He said he felt he had been “run over by someone with no military judgment” after Sir Tony sent emails “imposing his authority and keeping me constrained”.
The MOD has declined to comment on the content of the messages.
A senior military source said: “There is a huge amount of resentment at the way he [Matt] was treated, and people are very angry about the tragic circumstances surrounding his death.”
But a Navy source suggested that disaffected former Royal Marines “are using this tragic event to their own ends”. The insider said General Magowan’s letter is “simply him leading the organisation and seeking to prevent distorted truths from being interpreted as anything else”.
‘The focus this week is to celebrate Matt’s amazing career and to support his family – anything else is a straight distraction’