Ewen Southby-Tailyour

Lieutenant Colonel Ewen Southby-Tailyour OBE is an author, sailor, and retired Royal Marine who served for 32 years in the Royal Marines retiring with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel specialising in (and often commanding) amphibious vessels from all the NATO countries. He has held various appointments in four Commando units and served in a number of RN ships as well as those from France and the United States. His father General Sir Norman Tailyour was Commandant General Royal Marines from 1965 to 1968.

His career included active service operations in Aden, Northern Ireland, Oman, the Falkland Islands, Hong Kong and thirteen winters in the Norwegian Arctic developing the use of fast raiding and assault craft for supporting commando operations. He also served in the United States, West Indies, the North Sea (oil-rig protection), Cyprus, Corsica, Malta, Bahrain, the Yemen, Kuwait and the South Atlantic 1977-1979 (before the Falklands War).

He was attached to the USMC in 1977 in the eastern Mediterranean and, earlier, to the French Commando Hubert in Toulon with which he attended their combatant nageur course. He was seconded for two years as a reconnaissance platoon and company commander with the Sultan of Muscat's Armed Forces during the Dhofar War where he was awarded the Sultan's Bravery Medal for gallantry in action - the approximate equivalent of the UK's Distinguished Service Order - DSO.