Allegiance United Kingdom Rank Lieutenant colonel | Role Author Name Ewen Southby-Tailyour Other work Author | |
Birth name Simon Ewen Southby Tailyour Awards Sultan of Muscat's Bravery MedalOfficer of the Order of the British Empire Books 3 Commando Brigade, Jane's Special Forces R, Reasons in writing, Blondie: A Biography of Lieuten, The Next Moon: The Remarka | ||
Lieutenant Colonel Ewen Southby-Tailyour OBE is an author, sailor, and retired Royal Marine. He served for 32 years in the Royal Marines and retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel. After retiring from the Royal Marines he concentrated on his sailing and writing careers and has written a number of books on military history and the Royal Marines.
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Early life
The son of the late General Sir Norman Tailyour, former Commandant General Royal Marines, Southby-Tailyour comes from a family with strong ties to the Royal Marines; an uncle, two cousins and a step-brother have previously served in the Corps. He attended Stubbington House School, Nautical College Pangbourne (where he was captain of sailing) and the University of Grenoble in France.
Military career
Southby-Tailyour's early career included active service operations in Aden, Northern Ireland, Oman, the Falkland Islands, Hong Kong and 13 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, India, Djibouti, the 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 and served in a submarine, a helicopter carrier and ashore in Corsica. Following Arabic language courses at the Berlitz School of Languages in London and the Command Arabic Language School in Aden 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).
In 1978, he was the officer commanding a small Royal Marines detachment that was posted to the Falkland Islands. The following year he was promoted to major. It was then that on his own initiative he sailed around and extensively charted the waters around the islands, and had a 100+ page notebook filled with data on harbours, inlets and landing spots. This work and his personal knowledge of the area would later prove valuable in the Falklands War.
Southby-Tailyour's final four years service were spent on the staffs of the Commandant General, Royal Marines, and the Director General Surface Ships (Amphibious Group), helping to design and procure the next generation of amphibious shipping and craft, most notably Ocean, the Albion-class landing platform dock, the LCVP Mk 4 and the LCU Mk 10.
Post-military career
On retirement he was employed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for duties in the Republic of Serbian Krajina and, subsequently, in Croatia along the Dalmatian Coast. He was retained by ABS Hovercraft Limited as their amphibious and military adviser while also learning to 'fly' hovercraft. Currently he is believed to be aligned to Griffon Hovercraft.
In 1991, he established an amphibious consultancy that advised builders and governments on the design of amphibious vessels and the procedures for their operation. For ten years he was a member of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution's boat committee .
He has published 15 books on amphibious-related subjects (including two novels) and is a commercial yacht skipper and amateur explorer. In 2006 he founded the Jester Challenge yacht 'event' for vessels under 30 feet in length.
His book 3 Commando Brigade: Helmand Assault reached number seven in the Sunday Times best selling list. He has also written an historical novel of the Falklands that has been optioned for a full-length feature film. His other interests include watercolour painting, shooting and snorkelling. He is a member of the World Ship Trust, the National Maritime Historical Society of America, the Society for Nautical Research, the Royal Institute of Navigation and the Society of Authors. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation.
He sat on the Royal National Lifeboat Institute boat committee for ten years, was the South West area governor of the Ocean Youth Club and the south-west area member of the Royal Yachting Association's cruising committee.
Personal life
He lives in south Devon and the French Pyrenees. His wife, Patricia Anne de Gascoigne Southby-Tailyour, JP, DL is Plymouth's longest serving magistrate and a Deputy Lieutenant for Devon.