Royal Marine dies after beach training incident in Cornwall

A Royal Marine recruit has died following a training exercise on a beach in Cornwall, the group of trainee marines had been practising an assault from a landing craft on Tregantle beach near Plymouth when the man got into difficulty in the water.

His platoon were bailing out of the assault boat when they found the recruit lying face down in the water. Authorities said that the man who has not been named, was given CPR on the beach by his comrades.

South Western Ambulance Service said it had been alerted at 22:00 GMT on Tuesday after “a person had gone underwater”. The recruit, who had been in full kit, was immediately airlifted to Derriford Hospital, he had to be resuscitated after he was recovered unconscious by the landing craft crew.

The recruits, who had full kit, backpacks and rifles, exited a landing craft close to the shore and reportedly struggled in the water, which was said to be up to their necks and cold.

They were in the last phase of their 32-week training.

The Royal Marines’ principal military training centre is situated near Lympstone in Devon.