A Royal Marine sergeant's duties began long before any battle. Aboard a ship of the line the marines were quartered between the officers aft and the sailors forward, stood sentry over the magazine and the spirit room, and served as the captain's guarantee of order — a role thrown into sharp relief by the great naval mutinies at Spithead and the Nore in 1797, where marine steadiness helped restore discipline to the fleet. Granted the title "Royal" in 1802, the Marines then fought in every major action of the Napoleonic Wars — the Nile, Copenhagen, Trafalgar — and in the boat-borne "cutting-out" raids that seized enemy ships from under the guns of their own harbors.

W. Britain stands the sergeant at attention with his musket shouldered and bayonet fixed. He wears the scarlet coatee with the blue facings granted with the "Royal" title, white crossbelts and breeches, black gaiters, and the tall shako with its plume, an NCO's sword at his side. He forms the backbone of the detachment under the Royal Marine Officer, keeps the ranks dressed alongside the Royal Marine Bugler sounding the calls, and stands in the same line as the Royal Marine in Full Dress on the quarterdeck or parade.

W. Britain model 13069. 1/30 scale (approximately 60mm), solid metal hand-painted in a matte finish. Single foot figure on a plain rectangular display base. Boxed.