The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...

, in south-east

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, 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 ...

military academy A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned. ...

for the training of

commissioned officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

s of the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

and

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 ...

. It later also trained officers of the

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communi ...

and other technical

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 ...

. RMA Woolwich was commonly known as "The Shop" because its first building was a converted workshop of the Woolwich Arsenal.

History

Origins in the Royal Arsenal

An attempt had been made by the

Board of Ordnance The Board of Ordnance was a British government body. Established in the Tudor period, it had its headquarters in the Tower of London. Its primary responsibilities were 'to act as custodian of the lands, depots and forts required for the defence ...

in 1720 to set up an academy within its Arsenal (then known as the Warren) to provide training and education for prospective officers of its new

Regiment of Artillery The Regiment of Artillery is a combat/fighting arm of the Indian Army, which provides massive firepower during all ground operations of the Indian Army. It is a successor to the Royal Indian Artillery (RIA) of British Indian Army, which itsel ...

and Corps of Engineers (both of which had been established there in 1716). A new building was being constructed in readiness for the Academy and funds had been secured, seemingly, through investment in the

South Sea Company The South Sea Company (officially The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America, and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in Ja ...

; but the latter's collapse led to plans for the Academy being placed on hold. After this false start, the academy was opened by authority of a Royal Warrant in 1741: it was intended, in the words of its first charter, to produce "good officers of

Artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

and perfect

Engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

s". Its 'gentlemen cadets' initially ranged in age from 10 to 30. To begin with they were attached to the marching companies of the Royal Artillery, but in 1744 they were formed into their own company, forty in number (enlarged to forty-eight, two years later) overseen by a Captain-Lieutenant. To begin with the cadets were accommodated in lodgings in the town of Woolwich, but this arrangement was deemed unsatisfactory (the cadets gained a reputation for riotousness) so in 1751 a Cadets' Barracks was built just within the south boundary wall of the Warren and the cadets had to adjust to a more strict military discipline. (The Cadets' Barracks was demolished in the 1980s for road widening.) Education in the Academy focused at first on mathematics and the scientific principles of gunnery and fortification; French was also taught, for a small fee. In addition to their theoretical studies, the cadets shared (with all ranks of the Artillery) in what was called 'the Practice' of gunnery, bridge building, magazine technique and artillery work. While an Artillery officer attended each class to keep order, teaching in the Academy was provided by civilians: a First Master (later called Professor of Fortification and Gunnery), a Second Master (later Professor of Mathematics) and additional tutors in French, Arithmetic, Classics and Drawing. In 1764 the Royal Academy (as it had been known) had the word 'Military' added to its title, and at the same time a senior officer was appointed to serve as Lieutenant-Governor (''de facto'' head of the institution). Moreover, the institution was split: younger cadets entered the Lower Academy, where they were taught reading, writing, arithmetic, Latin, French and drawing. If they performed well in examinations they were allowed to proceed to the Upper Academy, where they learned military skills and sciences (as well as fencing and dancing – required skills for prospective officers).

Relocation to Woolwich Common

The possibility of moving the Royal Military Academy out of the Warren was mooted as early as 1783, as it was fast outgrowing the available accommodation. At first costs precluded this possibility, but (with the Academy continuing to grow)

James Wyatt James Wyatt (3 August 1746 – 4 September 1813) was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1785 and was its president from 1805 to 1806. Early life W ...

, the Board of Ordnance Architect, was commissioned to design a new complex of buildings to stand, on a site facing the

Royal Artillery Barracks Royal Artillery Barracks, Woolwich, is a barracks of the British Army which forms part of Woolwich Garrison. The Royal Regiment of Artillery had its headquarters here from 1776 until 2007, when it was moved to Larkhill Garrison. History In 17 ...

, at the southern edge of

Woolwich Common Woolwich Common is a common in Woolwich in southeast London, England. It is partly used as military land (less than 40%) and partly as an urban park. Woolwich Common is a conservation area. It is part of the South East London Green Chain. It is al ...

; it was built between 1796 and 1805 and opened for use the following year. 2015 London-Woolwich, Royal Military Academy 01

Wyatt's Academy was built of yellow brick in the Tudor Gothic style. It consisted of a central block (reminiscent of the Ordnance Board's headquarters in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

) flanked by a pair of accommodation blocks, linked by arcaded walkways. The central block contained classrooms, a library and offices; the accommodation blocks housed officers in the three-storey central sections and cadets in the two-storey wings. Behind the central block Wyatt placed a large dining hall flanked by spacious quadrangles having service buildings around the sides. 128 cadets moved to the new Academy: these comprised the four senior years. Of the younger cadets, sixty were kept at the Warren (by then renamed the Royal Arsenal) and another sixty were sent to a new college for junior cadets at

Great Marlow Great Marlow is a civil parishes in England, civil parish within Wycombe district in the England, English county of Buckinghamshire, lying north of the town of Marlow, Buckinghamshire, Marlow and south of High Wycombe. The parish includes the Ha ...

. Practical teaching continued to be given in the working context of the Arsenal. In 1810, military cadets of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

, who had previously been educated at the Academy, were moved to a new college at Addiscombe. During the years that followed the status of the cadets changed: rather than being considered (albeit junior) military personnel, as had previously been the case, they were removed from the

muster roll The term muster means the process or event of accounting for members in a military unit. This practice of inspections led to the coining of the English idiom , meaning being sufficient. When a unit is created, it is "mustered in" and when it is d ...

and they (or their parents) began to be charged fees for attendance. In this way the Academy took on something of the ethos of an English public school. In 1844 the Academy was described by Edward Mogg as accommodating: :"about one hundred and thirty young gentlemen, the sons of military men, and the more respectable classes, who are here instructed in mathematics, land-surveying, with mapping, fortification, engineering, the use of the musket and sword exercise, and field-pieces; and for whose use twelve brass cannon, three-pounders, are placed in front of the building, practising with which they acquire a knowledge of their application in the field of battle. This department is under the direction of a lieutenant-general, an instructor, a professor of mathematics, and a professor of fortification; in addition to which there are French, German, and drawing masters". Following the demise of the Board of Ordnance in the wake of the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

the Academy was inspected by a commission which recommended changes: the minimum age for cadets was raised to fifteen and more specialist training was added. As part of these reforms the Academy complex was enlarged in the 1860s, with a view to accommodating all cadets on the same site (although some would remain in the Arsenal through to the 1880s): the frontage was extended with the addition of new pavilions at either end, in similar style to Wyatt's work but in red brick rather than yellow;

William Jervois Lieutenant General Sir William Francis Drummond Jervois (10 September 1821 – 17 August 1897) was a British military engineer and diplomat. After joining the British Army in 1839, he saw service, as a second captain, in South Africa. In 18 ...

was the architect. These contained new classrooms, with accommodation provided in similar new blocks behind. Sports facilities were also added along with gun batteries for training. In 1873 Wyatt's central block had to be entirely rebuilt following a devastating fire.

Gallery

File:London, Woolwich-Shooters Hill, former Royal Military Academy 04.jpg, North-west Gate on Academy Road File:London-Woolwich, Royal Military Academy 06.jpg, Accommodation block (1806) File:2019 Woolwich, Royal Military Academy 2.jpg, Roofs and turrets accommodation block (1806) File:London, Woolwich-Shooters Hill, former Royal Military Academy 11.jpg, North-east accommodation block (1862) from the north File:London-Woolwich, Royal Military Academy 13.jpg, North-west accommodation block (1862) from the west File:London-Woolwich, Royal Military Academy 14.jpg, South-west accommodation block (1877) File:London, Woolwich-Shooters Hill, former Royal Military Academy 12.JPG, South-east accommodation block (1892) File:London, Woolwich-Shooters Hill, former Royal Military Academy 01.jpg, South-west Gate on Academy Road

Closure and aftermath

Following the demise of the Board of Ordnance,

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

had explored the possibility of a merger between the Royal Military Academy and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry a ...

(which only trained officers for the

Infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

and

Cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

); although senior Army officers rejected the idea at the time it persisted into the twentieth century. Arguments in favour of a merger gained momentum in the 1920s when the specialist and scientific training which had been Woolwich's preserve began to be outsourced to other locations. In 1936 it was decided that the merger should take place; but 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 ...

intervened and in 1939 both institutions closed as their cadets were called up for active service. The Royal Military Academy Woolwich closed in 1939 and in 1947 the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town of ...

was formed on the site of the former Royal Military College with the objective of providing officer training for all arms and services. Thereafter, the old Academy site became part of Woolwich Garrison, housing troops of various types in the years that followed. The central block was taken over by the Royal Artillery Institution and housed a museum, archives and offices. The chapel (commissioned in 1902 by Commandant Richard Henry Jelf, commemorated by a brass plaque in the chapel) became the Garrison Church (replacing the bombed out Garrison Church of St George). In this way the old Academy continued in military use through the 20th century, but with the number of personnel based in Woolwich having steadily decreased, the site was in 2002 declared surplus to requirements. It closed the following year; two stained glass windows from the chapel – one by

Christopher Whall Christopher Whitworth Whall (1849 – 23 December 1924) was a British stained-glass artist who worked from the 1880s and on into the 20th century. He is widely recognised as a leader in the Arts and Crafts Movement and a key figure in t ...

, an Arts & Crafts artist – were moved to the Garrison Church of St Alban the Martyr at

Larkhill Larkhill is a garrison town in the civil parish of Durrington, Wiltshire, England. It lies about west of the centre of Durrington village and north of the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge. It is about north of Salisbury. The settlement ...

, where they are displayed in lightboxes.

Sale and redevelopment

Durkan Group bought the Woolwich site by public tender in 2006 and redevelopment started in 2008. The Woolwich buildings, several of which are

grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, were converted and extended into 334 houses and apartments, including 150 for a

housing association In Ireland and the United Kingdom, housing associations are private, Non-profit organization, non-profit making organisations that provide low-cost "Public housing in the United Kingdom, social housing" for people in need of a home. Any budge ...

. In 2017 the scaffolding around the main facade was removed as refurbishment neared completion. Since 2013 the RMA

cricket field A cricket field is a large grass field on which the game of cricket is played. Although generally oval in shape, there is a wide variety within this: some are almost perfect circles, some elongated ovals and some entirely irregular shapes with l ...

, one of the oldest in the UK, has been used by the 3rd and 4th teams of Blackheath Cricket Club.

Legacy

Education and training

Until 1870 prospective officers in the

had for the most part to purchase their commissions, and education or training was not seen as a requirement for the rôle. The Board of Ordnance's establishment of a Military Academy represented a very different approach, whereby training and education were obligatory for aspiring officers of its corps, and promotion was offered according to merit (those with highest achievement in their exams being given the first choice of opportunities).

Architecture

The main Academy buildings are described by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...

as "an outstanding example of Wyatt's Gothick style, and one of the most important pieces of military architecture in the country".

Slang

A phrase said to have entered common parlance from the Academy is "talking shop" (meaning "to discuss subjects not understood by others"). The name of the

cue game Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . There are three major subdivisions ...

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...

" (reputedly invented by a former cadet of the Academy) is said to derive from a slang term for newly arrived cadets: the French term "les neux", which was later corrupted into "snooks".

Commandants

Commandants have included: * 1846–1851 Major-General

John Boteler Parker Major-General John Boteler Parker (29 May 1786 – 25 March 1851) was a notable British Army general of the early 19th century. He saw action at the Battle of Waterloo, and later became Commandant of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. Career ...

, CB ''(Lieutenant-Governor)'' * 1887–1901 Major-General Francis Thomas Lloyd, CB ''(Governor and Commandant)'' * 1901–1912 Major-General Richard Henry Jelf, CMG ''(Governor and Commandant)'' * 1912–1914 Brigadier-General Arthur Holland * 1914–1918 Major-General

William Cleeve Major-General William Frederick Cleeve (24 January 1853 – 31 January 1922) was a British Army officer who became Commandant of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. Military career Cleeve was commissioned into the Royal Artillery as a li ...

* 1918–1920 Major-General Geoffrey White * 1920–1924 Major-General

Webb Gillman General Sir Webb Gillman, (26 October 1870 – 20 April 1933) was a British Army general during the First World War. Personal life Webb Gillman was born on 26 October 1870 in Galle, Ceylon, the second son of Herbert Webb Gillman CCS and Anni ...

* 1924–1926 Major-General

Ronald Charles Lieutenant General Sir James Ronald Edmondston Charles, (26 June 1875 – 24 December 1955) was a senior British Army officer in the Royal Engineers. Family Charles was born in Calcutta, British India, the son of Thomas Edmondston Charles, la ...

* 1926–1930 Major-General

Hugo de Pree Major General Hugo Douglas de Pree, (25 December 1870 – 30 March 1943) was a British Army officer who served as Commandant of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. Military career Educated at Eton College and the Royal Military Academy, Wool ...

* 1930–1934 Major-General

Cyril Wagstaff Major General Cyril Mosley Wagstaff (5 March 1878 – 21 February 1934) was a British Army officer who became Commandant of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. Military career Educated at the United Services College, Wagstaff was Commission ...

* 1934–1938 Major-General

Arthur Goschen Major-General Arthur Alec Goschen (6 January 1880 – 28 June 1975) was a British Army officer who served as an Area Commander during the Second World War. Family and education Goschen was born in London, the child of Henry Goschen (1837–1932 ...

* 1938–1939 Major-General

Philip Neame Lieutenant General Sir Philip Neame, (12 December 1888 – 28 April 1978) was a senior British Army officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Common ...

Notable teachers

Notable teachers at Woolwich include (in alphabetical order by surname): * Sir Frederick Abel, appointed lecturer in chemistry in 1852Encyclopædia Britannica Online: Sir Frederick Augustus Abel
/ref> * Peter Barlow, appointed assistant mathematics master in 1801Encyclopædia Britannica Online: Peter Barlow
/ref>
/ref> and who retained this post until 1847Lance Day and Ian McNeil, ''Biographical dictionary of the history of technology'', Routledge, 1995, page 42. *

Francis Bashforth Francis Bashforth (8 January 1819 – 12 February 1912) was an English Anglican priest and mathematician, who is known for his use of applied mathematics on ballistics. Early life and education Bashforth was born on 8 January 1819 in Thurnsc ...

, professor of applied mathematics *

John Bonnycastle John Bonnycastle (baptized 29 December 1751 in Hardwick or Whitchurch, England – 15 May 1821 in Woolwich, England) was an English teacher of mathematics and author. Life John Bonnycastle was born in Buckinghamshire, in about 1750. Nothing ...

, professor of mathematics, 1807–1821 *

Charles Booth Brackenbury Charles Booth Brackenbury (7 November 1831 – 20 June 1890) was a British major general and military correspondent, part of a Lincolnshire family whose members fought in nearly all of Britain's wars of the 19th century. He saw service in the Crim ...

, assistant instructor in artillery (1860), assistant director of artillery studies (1864), director of artillery studies (1887) *

Samuel Hunter Christie Samuel Hunter Christie FRS (22 March 1784 – 24 January 1865) was a British physicist and mathematician. Life He studied mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he won the Smith's Prize and was second wrangler. He was particularly i ...

was mathematical assistant in 1806 and professor of mathematics, 1838–1854 *

Adair Crawford Adair Crawford Royal Society#Fellows, FRS FRSE (174829 July 1795), a chemist and physician, was a pioneer in the development of calorimetry, calorimetric methods for measuring the specific heat capacity of substances and the heat of chemical rea ...

, professor of chemistry in the late 18th century *

Morgan Crofton Morgan Crofton (1826, Dublin, Ireland – 1915, Brighton, England) was an Irish mathematician who contributed to the field of geometric probability theory. He also worked with James Joseph Sylvester and contributed an article on probability to ...

, an Irish mathematician, was professor of mathematics from 1870 to 1884 * William Cruickshank, assistant to Adair Crawford (qv) and later professor of chemistry c.1795–1804. * The Reverend Lewis Evans, mathematics master 1799–1820. *

Thomas Simpson Evans Thomas Simpson Evans (1777–1818) was a British mathematician. Life Evans, eldest son of the Rev. Lewis Evans (1755–1827), by his wife, Ann Norman, was baptised in August 1777. He was named after Thomas Simpson, the mathematician. In or abo ...

, mathematics assistant 1802–1810 *

Michael Faraday Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...

, professor in chemistry 1829–52 *

Thales Fielding Thales Fielding (1793–1837) was an English watercolour painter. Life Fielding was the third son of Nathan Theodore Fielding, and like his brothers is mainly known as a painter in watercolours. He was an associate exhibitor of the Royal Soci ...

, drawing master, 1828–1837. * Sir

George Greenhill Sir Alfred George Greenhill, FRS FRAeS (29 November 1847 in London – 10 February 1927 in London), was a British mathematician. George Greenhill was educated at Christ's Hospital School and from there he went to St John's College, Cambridge ...

was professor of mathematics from 1876 to 1908 *

Olinthus Gregory Olinthus Gilbert Gregory (29 January 17742 February 1841) was an English mathematician, author, and editor. Biography He was born on 29 January 1774 at Yaxley in Huntingdonshire, the son of Robert, a shoemaker, and Ann, who also had three you ...

, mathematics master from 1802, professor of mathematics 1821–1838. *

Charles Hutton Charles Hutton FRS FRSE LLD (14 August 1737 – 27 January 1823) was a British mathematician and surveyor. He was professor of mathematics at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich from 1773 to 1807. He is remembered for his calculation of th ...

, professor of mathematics from 1773 to 1807. * James Marsh, chemist, assistant to Michael Faraday (qv) 1829–1846 * Major-General

Richard Clement Moody Richard Clement Moody Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Military Merit of France (13 February 1813 – 31 March 1887) was a British governor, engineer, architect and soldier. He is best known for being the founder and the first Lieutenant ...

, professor of fortifications from July 1838 to October 1841 * William Rutherford, assistant master of mathematics, 1838–1865 *

Paul Sandby Paul Sandby (1731 – 7 November 1809) was an English map-maker turned landscape painter in watercolours, who, along with his older brother Thomas, became one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768. Life and work Sandby was ...

was chief drawing master from 1768 to 1799 *

Henry Young Darracott Scott Henry Young Darracott Scott RE (2 January 1822 – 16 April 1883) was an English Major-General in the Corps of Royal Engineers, best known for the construction of London's Royal Albert Hall. Early life The fourth son of Edward Scott of Plymouth, ...

, assistant instructor in field works, 1848 to 1851, senior instructor, 1851 to 1855 *

Thomas Simpson Thomas Simpson Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (20 August 1710 – 14 May 1761) was a British mathematician and inventor known for the :wikt:eponym, eponymous Simpson's rule to approximate definite integrals. The attribution, as often in mathe ...

, assistant to the chief master of mathematics from 1743 to 1761. *

James Joseph Sylvester James Joseph Sylvester (3 September 1814 – 15 March 1897) was an English mathematician. He made fundamental contributions to matrix theory, invariant theory, number theory, partition theory, and combinatorics. He played a leadership ro ...

, professor of mathematics from 1855 to 1870.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Woolwich

Education in the Royal Borough of Greenwich History of the Royal Borough of Greenwich Military history of London Housing in London 1741 establishments in Great Britain Buildings and structures completed in 1805 James Wyatt buildings Gothic Revival architecture in London Grade II* listed buildings in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Grade II listed buildings in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Military units and formations in Woolwich