Ed Davis (Royal Marines officer)


Edward Grant Martin Davis, is a British senior Royal Marines officer. He was Commandant General Royal Marines from December 2011 to June 2014. He was the Deputy Commander of NATO's Allied Land Command at Izmir, Turkey. He was Governor of Gibraltar from 2016 to 2020.

Early life

Davis was born in Hereford, Herefordshire. He was educated at Coleraine Academical Institution, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland and King's College London.

Military career

Davis was commissioned into the Royal Marines in 1981 and joined 40 Commando with whom he undertook a six-month tour in the Falkland Islands and then a six-month tour in Cyprus. In 1996, he attended the Army Command and Staff Course at Staff College, Camberley. In the same year, he became Chief of Staff at the Headquarters of the Combat Service Support Group in which role he took part in the Bosnian War. He was appointed Chief of Staff to the Commander of the UK’s Amphibious Forces in 2007 and was deployed to Afghanistan as Chief of Joint Effects for ISAF. He was appointed Commander of 3 Commando Brigade in January 2010 and again deployed to Afghanistan – this time as the Commander of Task Force Helmand. He became Commandant General Royal Marines in December 2011.
He was promoted to major general on 10 January 2012, with seniority from 28 November 2011. Davis succeeded Lieutenant General Gordon Messenger as Deputy Commander of NATO Allied Land Command -Izmir in July 2014.

Civilian career

On 1 October 2015, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office announced that Davis was the designated Governor of Gibraltar after the resignation of Sir James Dutton.

Honours and awards