The King recalled his own Royal Marines training - including navigating an underwater tunnel nicknamed the Sheep Dip - as he watched Kenyan marines stage an amphibious beach landing complete with gunfire and smoke grenades.
The marines, who are being trained by the Royal Marines as well as the US Marine Corps, are part of a five-year programme to create a marine corps which can help combat the al Qaeda-inspired al-Shabaab on the Somali border.
The King and Queen, who are on the third day of their state visit, watched as 18 Kenyan marines in inflatable boats landed on a beach at Mtongwe naval base near Mombasa where they laid down a barrage of fire - blanks only - from their M4 carbines after coming under attack from a defensive position on the beach.
After they overwhelmed the enemy Captain Sam Powell of 40 Commando, who provided the commentary as the sound of gunfire and the smell of cordite filled the air, told the King and Queen: “Now they have fought through the position they will move into the re-org where they will conduct a headcount of their marines.”
For the King, who wore his Royal Marines ties in his role as their Captain General, the exercise brought back memories of 1974 when, as Prince of Wales, he did part of the Royal Marines all arms course in Lympstone while qualifying as a helicopter pilot with the Royal Navy.
He told one Kenyan marine: “Have the Royal Marines put you through quite a lot? Have they put you through as assault course? They are quite testing!”
He asked another if they had intercepted any drug smugglers. “You know exactly what to do with them!”
Captain Powell, who spoke to the King after the training exercise, which was there to highlight defence collaboration between Britain and Kenya, said: “We talked about Lympstone and the all arms course. The King’s done part of that course before. He was reminiscing about the sheep dip, which is part of the endurance course. It is essentially a submerged tunnel that you dive through and underneath and then come out the other side. So you have to hold your breath as you go underneath it.”
The King and Queen, who was wearing an Anna Valentine pink chiffon tunic with white palazzo trousers, arrived the training exercise by boat before walking up the gangway. During the formal welcome ceremony the King, wearing a pair of dark glasses, stood on a dais with Kenya’s president William Ruto before inspecting a guard of honour from the Kenyan navy.
After the exercise they spoke to the families of Kenyan military personnel. Talking to one woman about how long her husband has been in the navy, he said: “Has he been there for some years?” Thirty-four, she replied. “That’s pretty good!” said the King. “It’s vital to the whole process.”
The King also spoke to a Royal Marine instructor, saying: “When you get back do you get a nice bit of leave?”
“I hope so, sir,” he replied.
The first Kenyan Marine Commando Unit passed out in May after completing basic training which included the use of an obstacle course almost identical to the one at Lympstone.
The British High Commission said at the time: “The KCMU will be an elite fighting force with the ability to conduct specialised amphibious operations to weaken and disrupt threats to Kenya, and take the fight to al-Shababb by land and by sea.”
