The Royal Army Pay Corps (RAPC) was the

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

responsible for administering all financial matters. It was amalgamated into the Adjutant General's Corps in 1992.

History

The first "paymasters" have existed in the army before the formation of the corps. Prior to the 19th century, each regiment had its own civilian paymaster and the first commissioned paymaster was introduced in 1792. In 1870 a Pay Sub-Department of the Control Department was formed; an officer-only establishment, it gained autonomy as the Army Pay Department in 1878. In 1893 an Army Pay Corps was formed, composed of other ranks, to support the work of the Department. In 1920 the Army Pay Department and the Army Pay Corps were amalgamated to form the Royal Army Pay Corps (the prefix 'Royal' having been conferred in recognition of valuable services provided during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

). In 1919 the financial responsibilities were split between the RAPC, which handled salaries, and the

Corps of Military Accountants The Corps of Military Accountants was a short-lived corps of the British Army. It was formed in November 1919 and disbanded in July 1925. Its members handled financial matters, although matters relating to pay continued to be handled by the Royal A ...

(CMA), which handled the army's finances. The CMA was disbanded in 1925 and its functions and some personnel were transferred to the RAPC. Before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the RAPC did not accept recruits directly from civilian life, but only transfers from serving soldiers who had been in the Army for at least six months. During the Second World War, members of the Auxiliary Territorial Service and men of a "lower medical category" were often conscripted into the corps. Initially they received very little military training but after a discussion in Parliament were trained in armed combat, especially for those posted closest to the frontlines, to prepare for surprise attacks on headquarters. The Pay Corps requisitioned Dalewood House in Mickleham near

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England, about south of London. It is in Mole Valley District and the council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs roughly east–west, parallel to the Pipp Br ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

as their headquarters during the Second World War. The House now acts as the main building of Box Hill School, a

Public School Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...

established in the village in 1959. With the amalgamations into the Adjutant General's Corps in 1992, its functions are now carried out by the Staff and Personnel Support (SPS) Branch. Headed by a Paymaster-in-Chief, the corps was responsible for keeping the army financially accountable to the servicemen and Inland Revenue.

Alliances

The corps had the following alliances: * – Royal Canadian Army Pay Corps * – South African Administrative and Pay and Clerical Corps * – Pay Section, Royal Hong Kong Defence Force * – Fiji Army Pay Corps

Footnotes

External links

# Website of the Royal Army Pay Corps Regimental Association https://rapc-association.org.uk/ British administrative corps Adjutant General's Corps Military units and formations established in 1878 Military units and formations disestablished in 1992 {{UK-mil-stub