Staff College, Camberley,
Surrey, was a
staff college
Staff colleges (also command and staff colleges and War colleges) train military officers in the administrative, military staff and policy aspects of their profession. It is usual for such training to occur at several levels in a career. For e ...
for 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 ...
and the
presidency armies
The presidency armies were the armies of the three presidencies of the East India Company's rule in India, later the forces of the British Crown in India, composed primarily of Indian sepoys. The presidency armies were named after the presiden ...
of
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
(later merged to form the
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...
). It had its origins in the
Royal Military College, High Wycombe
The Royal Military College, High Wycombe was a military training facility for British Army officers in High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire.
History
The college was founded by Colonel John Le Marchant at the Antelope Inn in 1799 as a facility for tr ...
, founded in 1799, which in 1802 became the Senior Department of the new
Royal Military College. In 1858 the name of the Senior Department was changed to "Staff College", and in 1870 this was separated from the Royal Military College. Apart from periods of closure during major wars, the Staff College continued to operate until 1997, when it was merged into the new
Joint Services Command and Staff College
Joint Services Command and Staff College (JSCSC) is a British military academic establishment providing training and education to experienced officers of the Royal Navy, Army, Royal Air Force, Ministry of Defence Civil Service, and serving offic ...
. The equivalent in the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
was the
Royal Naval Staff College, Greenwich, and the equivalent in the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
was the
RAF Staff College, Bracknell
The RAF Staff College at Bracknell was a Royal Air Force staff college active for most of the second half of the 20th century. Its role was the training of staff officers in the administrative, staff and policy aspects of air force matters. ...
.
Origins
In 1799, Colonel
John Le Marchant submitted a proposal to the
Duke of York, the
Commander-in-Chief of the Forces
The Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, later Commander-in-Chief, British Army, or just the Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C), was (intermittently) the professional head of the English Army from 1660 to 1707 (the English Army, founded in 1645, was succ ...
, for a Royal Military College. A private officer training school, based on the idea of a senior or staff department in the proposed college, was opened in the same year by Colonel Le Marchant, at the Antelope Inn,
High Wycombe
High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...
, and designated the
Royal Military College, High Wycombe
The Royal Military College, High Wycombe was a military training facility for British Army officers in High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire.
History
The college was founded by Colonel John Le Marchant at the Antelope Inn in 1799 as a facility for tr ...
, with himself as
commandant
Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...
. This facility was officially recognised by
royal warrant in 1801 as the senior department of the
Royal Military College which was to open at a
large house in 1802 in
Great Marlow
Great Marlow is a civil parish within Wycombe district in the English county of Buckinghamshire, lying north of the town of Marlow and south of High Wycombe. The parish includes the hamlets of Bovingdon Green, Burroughs Grove, Chisbridge Cro ...
. Le Marchant was now appointed as
Lieutenant-Governor
A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a " second-in-com ...
and Superintendent-General of the College.
The course lasted for two years and in 1808 was specifically stated as intended to train future commanding officers and staff officers. Until 1858, students were required to pay to attend. The senior department of the Royal Military College moved to a building in West Street in
Farnham,
Surrey, in 1813 and in 1820 joined the junior department (which trained aspiring officers before they were commissioned) at
Sandhurst.
Decline, independence and growth
The college underwent a decline and by 1857 the annual admissions had fallen to just six.
In 1858 the name was changed to "the Staff College" and it was made independent of the Royal Military College in 1870.
It now had its own
commandant
Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...
and
adjutant, although continued to be administered by Sandhurst until 1911. Proper entry and final examinations had been introduced for the primarily military subjects taught. Purpose-built premises were approved in 1858 and built between 1859 and 1863 to a design by
James Pennethorne, adjacent to the Royal Military College (but over the county boundary in
Camberley). During the 1870s there were just forty students although numbers increased to sixty students in the 1880s.
In 1903 officers of the colonial forces were allowed to join the college, and in 1905 naval officers were introduced.
With the threat of a second war with Germany, the college was expanded and restructured in 1938, with a junior wing at
Camberley for officers of an average age of 29 years, and a senior wing at
Minley Manor
Minley Manor is a Grade II* listed country manor house, located within a Grade II registered garden, built in the French Gothic style by Henry Clutton in the 1860s with further additions in the 1880s. The Manor is situated 2 miles north of juncti ...
,
Farnborough, for graduates of the school returned for further training, and aged about 35 years.
In 1994 it was announced that a new
Joint Services Command and Staff College
Joint Services Command and Staff College (JSCSC) is a British military academic establishment providing training and education to experienced officers of the Royal Navy, Army, Royal Air Force, Ministry of Defence Civil Service, and serving offic ...
would replace the Staff College, the
Royal Naval Staff College
The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, providing courses for naval officers. It was the home of the Royal Navy's staff college, which provided advanced training for officers. The equiv ...
,
RAF Staff College
The RAF Staff College may refer to:
*RAF Staff College, Andover (active: 1922 to 1940 and 1948 to 1970)
*RAF Staff College, Bulstrode Park
The RAF Staff College, Bulstrode Park, was a satellite staff college for the Royal Air Force based at Buls ...
, and
Joint Service Defence College
The Joint Service Defence College (JSDC) was a training academy for British military personnel from 1983 to 1997. It has since been amalgamated into the Joint Services Command and Staff College.
History
The college was established as the Combined ...
in 1997.
The building is now known as Robertson House, and houses the Gurkha Brigade Association and the Army Medical Services.
Current use
The buildings were retained by the Ministry of Defence, and are used by a number of occupants, including the following:
*Headquarters,
Brigade of Gurkhas
*Headquarters,
Army Medical Services
The Army Medical Services (AMS) is the organisation responsible for administering the corps that deliver medical, veterinary, dental and nursing services in the British Army. It is headquartered at the former Staff College, Camberley, near the ...
**Regimental Headquarters,
Royal Army Medical Corps
**Regimental Headquarters,
Royal Army Dental Corps
The Royal Army Dental Corps (RADC) is a specialist corps in the British Army that provides dental health services to British Army personnel and their families in war and in peace. The corps is a part of the British Army's Army Medical Services.
...
**Regimental Headquarters,
Royal Army Veterinary Corps
The Royal Army Veterinary Corps (RAVC), known as the Army Veterinary Corps (AVC) until it gained the royal prefix on 27 November 1918, is an administrative and operational branch of the British Army responsible for the provision, training and ca ...
**Regimental Headquarters,
Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps
Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC; known as ''the QAs'') is the nursing branch of the British Army Medical Services.
History
Although an "official" nursing service was not established until 1881, the corps traces its heritage ...
Commandants
Commandant, Staff College, Sandhurst
*1858–1861: Colonel
Patrick Leonard McDougall
*1861–1864: Colonel
William Craig Emilius Napier
Major-General William Craig Emilius Napier (18 March 1818 – 23 September 1903) was a British Army officer who became Governor of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.
Military career
Born the son of Lieutenant-General Sir George Thomas Napier ...
*1865–1870: Colonel
Thomas Edgar Lacy
Commandants since the College gained its independence in 1870 have been:
*1870–1878 Major-General
Edward Bruce Hamley
Lieutenant General Sir Edward Bruce Hamley (27 April 182412 August 1893) was a British general and military writer and a Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1892.
Early life
Hamley was the youngest son of Vice- ...
*Feb–May 1878 Major-General
Sir Archibald Alison
*1878–1885 Major-General
Charles Creagh-Osborne
*1885–1888 Major-General
Edward Clive
Commandant, Staff College, Camberley
*1888–1893 Colonel
Francis Clery
*1893–1898 Colonel
Henry Hildyard
General Sir Henry John Thoroton Hildyard (5 July 1846 – 25 July 1916) was a British Army officer who saw active service in the Anglo-Egyptian War of 1882 and the Second Boer War. He was General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, South Africa, fr ...
[Whitaker's Almanack 1894]
*1898–1903 Colonel
Herbert Miles
Lieutenant General Sir Herbert Scott Gould Miles, (31 July 1850 – 6 May 1926) was a senior British Army officer. He was Quartermaster-General to the Forces from 1908 to 1912, and Governor of Gibraltar from 1913 until 1918 during the First Worl ...
*1903–1906 Colonel
Sir Henry Rawlinson
Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, 1st Baronet, KLS (5 April 1810 – 5 March 1895) was a British East India Company army officer, politician and Orientalist, sometimes described as the Father of Assyriology. His son, also Henry, was to bec ...
*1907–1910 Brigadier-General
Henry Wilson
Henry Wilson (born Jeremiah Jones Colbath; February 16, 1812 – November 22, 1875) was an American politician who was the 18th vice president of the United States from 1873 until his death in 1875 and a senator from Massachusetts from 1855 to ...
*1910–1913 Major-General
Sir William Robertson
*1913–1914 Brigadier-General
Launcelot Kiggell
Lieutenant-General Sir Launcelot Edward Kiggell, (2 October 1862 – 23 February 1954) was an Irish-born British Army officer who was Chief of the General Staff (CGS) for the British Armies in France under Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig from la ...
:''Note the college was closed during the War''
*1919–1922 Major-General
Hastings Anderson
Lieutenant General Sir Warren Hastings Anderson (9 January 1872 – 11 December 1930) was Quartermaster-General to the Forces.
Military career
Anderson was born the first son of General David Anderson, Colonel-in-Chief of the Cheshire Regiment ...
*1922–1926 Major-General
Sir Edmund Ironside
*1926–1931 Major-General
Charles Gwynn
Major General Sir Charles William Gwynn, KCB, CMG, DSO, FRGS (4 February 1870 – 12 February 1963) was an Irish born British Army officer, geographer, explorer and author of works on military history and theory.
Birth and education
Charles ...
*1931–1934 Major-General
John Dill
Sir John Greer Dill, (25 December 1881 – 4 November 1944) was a senior British Army officer with service in both the First World War and the Second World War. From May 1940 to December 1941 he was the Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS ...
*1934–1936 Major-General
Clement Armitage
General Sir (Charles) Clement Armitage, (12 December 1881 – 15 December 1973) was a British Army officer who commanded 1st Division during the 1930s.
Early life
The son of Charles Ingram Armitage, Armitage was born in Honley, West Yorkshire ...
*1936–1937 Major-General
Viscount Gort
Viscount Gort is the title of two peerages in British and Irish history. Gort is a small town in County Galway in the West of Ireland. The original title was in the Peerage of Ireland and is extant. A viscountcy with the same title as the Irish ...
*1937–1938 Major-General
Sir Ronald Adam
*1938–1939 Major-General
Bernard Paget
General Sir Bernard Charles Tolver Paget, (15 September 1887 – 16 February 1961) was a senior British Army officer who served with distinction in the First World War, and then later during the Second World War. During the latter, he command ...
*1939–1941 Major-General
Robert Collins
*1941–1942 Major-General
Montagu Stopford
General Sir Montagu George North Stopford (16 November 1892 – 10 March 1971) was a senior British Army officer who fought during both World War I and World War II. The latter he served in with distinction, commanding XXXIII Indian Corps in t ...
*1942–1943 Major-General
Sir Alan Cunningham
*1943–1944 Major-General
Douglas Wimberley
Major-General Douglas Neil Wimberley, (15 August 1896 – 26 August 1983) was a British Army officer who, during the Second World War, commanded the 51st (Highland) Division for two years, from 1941 to 1943, notably at the Second Battle of El ...
*1944–1946 Major-General
Philip Gregson-Ellis
*1946–1948 Major-General
Richard Hull
Field Marshal Sir Richard Amyatt Hull, (7 May 1907 – 17 September 1989) was a senior British Army officer. He was the last Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), holding the post from 1961 to 1964, and the first Chief of the General Sta ...
*1948–1951 Major-General
Dudley Ward
*1951–1954 Major-General
Gerald Lathbury
General Sir Gerald William Lathbury, (14 July 1906 – 16 May 1978) was a senior British Army officer who fought during the Second World War, serving with distinction with the British Army's airborne forces, commanding the 1st Parachute Briga ...
*1954–1956 Major-General
Charles Jones
*1957–1958 Major-General
Nigel Poett
*1958–1961 Major-General
Reginald Hewetson
*1961–1963 Major-General
Charles Harington
*1963–1966 Major-General
John Worsley
*1966–1967 Major-General
Mervyn Butler
*1967–1970 Major-General
John Sharp
*1970–1972 Major-General
Allan Taylor
*1972–1974 Major-General
Patrick Howard-Dobson
General (United Kingdom), General Sir Patrick John Howard-Dobson, (12 August 1921 – 8 November 2009) was a senior British Army officer and Quartermaster-General to the Forces.
Early life
Patrick Howard-Dobson was born on 12 August 1921 in Le ...
*1974–1975 Major-General
Hugh Beach
General Sir William Gerald Hugh Beach, (20 May 1923 – 4 September 2019) was a British Army officer who, in retirement, researched and advised on defence policy, arms control and disarmament, with an interest in promoting concerns about ethical ...
*1975–1978 Major-General
John Stanier
*1978–1980 Major-General
Frank Kitson
General Sir Frank Edward Kitson, (born 15 December 1926) is a retired British Army officer and writer on military subjects, notably low intensity operations. He rose to be Commander-in-Chief UK Land Forces from 1982 to 1985 and was Aide-de- ...
*1980–1982 Major-General
David Alexander-Sinclair
Major-General David Boyd Alexander-Sinclair (2 May 1927 – 7 February 2014) was a British Army officer who commanded 1st Division.
Military career
Educated at Eton College,Debrett's People of Today Alexander-Sinclair was commissioned into th ...
*1982–1984 Major-General
John Akehurst
*1984–1986 Major-General
Patrick Palmer
*1986–1988 Major-General
John Waters
John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...
*1988–1989 Major-General
John Learmont
General Sir John Hartley Learmont (born 10 March 1934) is a former British Army officer who served as Quartermaster-General to the Forces.
Military career
Learmont was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1954. He served in Northern Irel ...
*Mar–Dec 1989 Major-General
Jeremy Mackenzie
General Sir Jeremy John George Mackenzie, (born 11 February 1941) is a retired senior British Army officer who served as Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe from 1994 to 1998.
Early life
Mackenzie was born on 11 February 1941 in Nairobi, K ...
*1989–1991 Major-General
William Rous
*1991–1993 Major-General
Michael Rose
*1993–1994 Major-General
Christopher Wallace
*1994–1996 Major-General
Anthony Pigott
Lieutenant-General Sir Anthony David Pigott, KCB, CBE (23 December 1944 – 19 March 2020) was a British Army officer. He also served as Independent Member of Steering Board at the Intellectual Property Office.
Early life
Pigott was the s ...
See also
*
psc (military)
References
{{Coord, 51.3408, N, 0.7485, W, source:wikidata, display=title
Training establishments of the British Army