The Royal Corps of Transport (RCT) was a

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 ...

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 ...

established to manage all matters in relation to the transport of men and material for the Army and the wider Defence community. It was formed in 1965 and disbanded in 1993; its units and trades were amalgamated into the

Royal Logistic Corps The Royal Logistic Corps provides logistic support functions to the British Army. It is the largest Corps in the Army. History The Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) was formed on 5 April 1993, by the union of five British Army corps: * Royal Engine ...

. The Depot and Training Regiment RCT was at the former Buller Barracks in

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

garrison.

History

The corps was formed in 1965 from the transport (land, water and air) elements of the

Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and dom ...

(RASC) and the movement control and transportation elements of the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

(RE). The Royal Army Service Corps’ functions of supply and transport were separated. The RCT became responsible for transport including ships and launches. whilst supplies became the responsibility of the

Royal Army Ordnance Corps The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) was a corps of the British Army. At its renaming as a Royal Corps in 1918 it was both a supply and repair corps. In the supply area it had responsibility for weapons, armoured vehicles and other military equip ...

. In 1993, following the

Options for Change Options for Change was a restructuring of the British Armed Forces in summer 1990 after the end of the Cold War. Until this point, UK military strategy had been almost entirely focused on defending Western Europe against the Soviet Armed Forces, ...

review, the

(RLC) was formed by the amalgamation of The Royal Corps of Transport, the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, the

Royal Pioneer Corps The Royal Pioneer Corps was a British Army combatant corps used for light engineering tasks. It was formed in 1939, and amalgamated into the Royal Logistic Corps in 1993. Pioneer units performed a wide variety of tasks in all theatres of war, in ...

, the

Army Catering Corps The Army Catering Corps (ACC) was a corps of the British Army, responsible for the feeding of all Army units. It was formed in 1941 and amalgamated into the Royal Logistic Corps in 1993. History In 1938 Leslie Hore-Belisha, the Secretary of ...

, and the Postal and Courier elements of the

Regiments

Regiments of the Royal Corps of Transport with regiment, with last name, before disbandment: * 1st Armoured Division Transport Regiment * 2nd Infantry Division Transport Regiment * 3rd Armoured Division Transport Regiment * 4th Armoured Division Transport Regiment * 7th Tank Transporter Regiment * 8th Transport Regiment * 10th Corps Transport Regiment * 14th Air Dispatch Regiment * 15th Air Dispatch Regiment * 17th Port Regiment * 20th Maritime Regiment * 21st (Northern Ireland) Transport and Movement Regiment * 23rd Transport and Movement Regiment * 24th Regiment * 25th Regiment * 26th Transport and Movement Regiment * 27th Regiment * 28th Transport and Movement Regiment * 29th Transport and Movement Regiment * 30th Regiment * 31st Regiment * 32nd Regiment * 33rd Maritime Regiment * ''Other Units part of the Royal Corps of Transport'' **Maritime Group, Royal Corps of Transport **Headquarters Air Dispatch Group **1st Regiment,

Royal Malta Artillery The Royal Malta Artillery (RMA) was a regular artillery unit of the British Army prior to Malta's independence. It was formed in 1889, having been called the Royal Malta Fencible Artillery from 1861 until 1889. Initially on the British Esta ...

**2nd Transport Group **Logistic Support Group Regiment **Gurkha Transport Regiment **Parachute Logistic Regiment **Cyprus Logistic Unit **395 Air Dispatch Troop **401 Troop **402 Troop **403 Troop **404 Troop **405 Troop **407 Troop **410 Troop **414 Pack Transport Troop **415 Maritime Troop **416 Troop **460 Port Troop (Falkland Islands) **486 Movement Control Troop **497 Movement Control Troop *''Reserve Regiment'' **'' 150 Transport Regiment'' **'' 151 Transport Regiment'' **''

152 Transport Regiment 152 Logistic Regiment RLC is a North Irish reserve British Army regiment of The Royal Logistic Corps. History The regiment was formed in the Royal Corps of Transport (RCT) in 1967 with two transport squadrons. It was redesignated 152 (Ulster) Ambu ...

'' **'' 153 Transport Regiment'' **'' 154 Transport Regiment'' **'' 155 Transport Regiment'' **''156 Transport Regiment'' **''157 Transport Regiment'' ** ''160 Transport Regiment'' **''161 Ambulance Regiment'' **''162 Movement Control Regiment'' **''163 Movement Control Regiment'' ***

Trades

The Royal Corps of Transport consisted of a number of different specialist trades. These included: *Driver was the primary trade of the RCT and as such private soldiers held the rank 'Driver'. **Driver (Responsible for General Duties and Driver tasks). **Driver Radio operator **Driver Tank Transporter **Driver Air Dispatcher In conversation, the 'Driver' element was often omitted from these other Driver roles, even though the rank abbreviation of Dvr remained. Clerical trades also completed basic driver training before going on to specialise *Clerk - Working within RCT Squadrons. *

Movement controller A movement controller is responsible for assisting in planning, preparation, documentation, coordination and control of military movements in support of operations, exercises and administrative deployments worldwide by road, rail, sea and air. They ...

previously referred to as Traffic Operator

Port and Specialised Support Trades, Port and Maritime specialists

Again basic driver training was required *

Driver Port Operator Driver may refer to: Transportion * A person whose occupation is driving ** Chauffeur, a person who drives an automobile as a job ** Motorman (locomotive), an electric vehicle driver ** Bus driver ** Truck driver * SS ''Empire Driver'' or SS ...

Driver Railwayman Driver may refer to: Transportion * A person whose occupation is driving ** Chauffeur, a person who drives an automobile as a job ** Motorman (locomotive), an electric vehicle driver ** Bus driver ** Truck driver * SS ''Empire Driver'' or SS ...

(79 Railway Squadron RCT) *Mariner (Seaman) *Marine Engineer *Pilot - Hovercraft - for a very short period. Pilot was not really a trade but an appointment

RCT personnel served in additional roles

*Staff car Driver could be carried out by any driver trade and additionally by those that carried out the Staff car Driver's course at the Army School of Mechanical Transport - (Later Defence School of Transport). *Airborne Forces as a Parachutist but stayed in trade, so not for sea, port and railway trades. N.B. Parachutist was never a trade in the RCT. However, 63 Parachute Squadron RCT was part of the Airborne Bde. *Royal Marines (

Commando Logistic Regiment The role of the Commando Logistic Regiment (CLR), Royal Marines is to provide second line Combat Service Support to 3 Commando Brigade. It is 3 Commando Brigade's dedicated logistic unit and provides all second line Combat Service Support to the f ...

) Having completed the 'Army Commando Course' *Special Duties Teams in Northern Ireland *Master Driver

Additional Officer Information

*The RCT provided the first Service Support Officer to the Commanding Officer 22 SAS (Brigadier Andrew Massey RCT, Later SAS, CO 22 SAS 1984–87) Andrew Christopher Massey, soldier: born

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

18 April 1943; MBE 1979, OBE 1987; Commanding Officer, 22 SAS Regiment 1984-87; Deputy Director, Special Forces 1990-91, Commandant, RCT Training Centre 1992-93; married 1977 Annabelle Cunningham (one son, one daughter); died

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

19 August 1998.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control British administrative corps Military units and formations disestablished in 1993 Military units and formations established in 1965 Royal Logistic Corps