Former Commandant General of the Royal Marines Lt Gen Sir Martin Garrod has died, aged 73.

A thanksgiving service will be held at St Mary’s Church, St Clare Road, Walmer, on Thursday, April 30, at 2pm.

Sir Martin lived in The Strand, Walmer, and leaves a widow Jill, two daughters and two grandchildren.

He joined the Royal Marines in 1953 and served around the world in a variety of roles within the Service.

In September 1989, a week after the IRA killed 11 musicians in an explosion at the School of Music in Walmer, he gave a speech on Deal seafront which hit headlines around the world.

He said the bombers were not freedom fighters nor idealists, but "thugs, extortionists, torturers, murderers and cowards."

Sir Martin was a special envoy in Bosnia in the 1990s, playing an important part in gaining peace for the area.

In Deal he was president of a number of ex-service organisations, including the RNA and the RMA.