The Royal Logistic Corps provides logistic support functions to 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 ...

. It is the largest

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 ...

in the Army.

History

The Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) was formed on 5 April 1993, by the union of five British Army corps: *

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 ...

Postal and Courier Service * Royal Corps of Transport *

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

The RLC comprises both Regular and

Army Reserve A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve ...

units. The RLC is the only combat service support corps of the British Army with

battle honours A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In European military t ...

, derived from the usage of previous transport elements of

the Royal Waggon Train The Royal Waggon Train was the name originally given to the Supply and Transport branch of the British Armed Forces, which would eventually become the Royal Logistic Corps. Origins and the Royal Waggoners In 1793, Revolutionary French Forces invad ...

, and their successors as cavalry. The battle honours are: *

Peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

Taku Forts The Taku Forts or Dagu Forts, also called the Peiho Forts are forts located by the Hai River (Peiho River) estuary in the Binhai New Area, Tianjin, in northeastern China. They are located southeast of the Tianjin urban center. History The ...

Peking } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

Cap Badge

The RLC

cap badge A cap badge, also known as head badge or hat badge, is a badge worn on uniform headgear and distinguishes the wearer's nationality and/or organisation. The wearing of cap badges is a convention commonly found among military and police forces, as w ...

is an amalgamation of the cap badges of the forming corps: * The laurel and garter band is from the

* The Indian star is from the Royal Corps of Transport * The shield in the centre is from the

* The crossed axes are from the

* The

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...

, "We Sustain", is from the

The inscription on the garter band ''"

Honi soit qui mal y pense (, , ) is a maxim in the Anglo-Norman language, a dialect of Old Norman French spoken by the medieval ruling class in England, meaning "shamed be whoever thinks ill of it", usually translated as "shame on anyone who thinks evil of it" It ...

"'' can be translated as "Shame on anyone who thinks evil of it". It is the

of the

Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George C ...

Headquarters

The Corps Headquarters is at

Worthy Down Camp Worthy Down Camp is a tri-service establishment near Winchester, in Hampshire, England. It forms part of the wider Winchester Garrison and houses the headquarters of the Defence College of Logistics, Policing and Administration (DCLPA), as well ...

near Winchester. It is headed by a Colonel (Colonel RLC) as the professional head of the Corps. Col RLC is responsible for the Moral Component, regimental infrastructure and support and works to Commander Home Command. Col RLC remains responsible for the

Corps of Drums A Corps of Drums, also sometimes known as a Fife and Drum Corps, Fifes and Drums or simply Drums is a unit of several national armies. Drummers were originally established in European armies to act as signallers. The major historical distin ...

, which often parades with the RLC Band. (AG). The RLC Band was formed in 1993. It provides musical support while also representing the Royal Logistic Corps, and on occasion, the wider British Army. They are able to produce no more than 12 working ensembles at a time. These include a marching band, big band, fanfare team, and acoustic groups.

Museum

The

Royal Logistic Corps Museum The Royal Logistic Corps Museum is based at Worthy Down near Winchester. It tells story of logistic support to the British Army from Agincourt to the modern day. The museum holds the collection of the Royal Logistic Corps RLC and the collecti ...

was based at

Princess Royal Barracks, Deepcut The Princess Royal Barracks, Deepcut, commonly referred to as Deepcut Barracks, is a former British Army installation near Camberley, Surrey. It was the headquarters of the Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) and also the Defence College of Logistics, Pol ...

near

Camberley Camberley is a town in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, approximately south-west of Central London. The town is in the far west of the county, close to the borders of Hampshire and Berkshire. Once part of Windsor Forest, Cambe ...

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. ...

, but was closed prior to a move to Worthy Down near Winchester, where it re-opened in May 2021.

List of units

Regiments

, style="text-align:left; width:50%; vertical-align:top;", Regular regiments: * 1 Regiment RLC * 3 Regiment RLC * 4 Regiment RLC *

6 Regiment RLC 6 Regiment RLC is a regiment of the Royal Logistic Corps of the British Army. History The regiment was originally known as the 6th Ordnance Battalion, Royal Army Ordnance Corps. 6 Battalion deployed to the Middle East in 1990-91 as part of 1st ...

7 Regiment RLC 7 Regiment RLC is a regiment of the British Army's Royal Logistic Corps. History 7 Tank Transporter Column of the Royal Army Service Corps, was established in 1961, following the expansion of the transportation element of the British Army of the R ...

9 Regiment RLC 9 Regiment RLC is a regiment of the British Army's Royal Logistic Corps. History The regiment was formed on 5 April 1993 and has participated in several conflicts and operations in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan. Structure It is partner ...

* 10 Queen's Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment RLC * 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search Regiment RLC *

13 Air Assault Support Regiment RLC 13 Air Assault Support Regiment RLC is a regiment of the Royal Logistic Corps 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 ...

* 17 Port and Maritime Regiment RLC * 25 Training Regiment RLC * 27 Regiment RLC * 29 Regiment RLC *

ARRC Support Battalion The Gurkha Allied Rapid Reaction Corps Support Battalion, or simply the Gurkha ARRC Support Battalion (Gurkha ARRC Sp Bn) is a combat support unit of the British Army, and one of only threeThe other two being the ARRC MP Battalion (Army Reserve), ...

– (QOGLR personnel) , style="text-align:left; width:50%; vertical-align:top;", Reserve regiments: *

150 (Yorkshire) Regiment RLC 150 Regiment RLC is a regiment of the Royal Logistic Corps Army Reserve in the United Kingdom History The regiment was formed in the Royal Corps of Transport in 1967, as 150th (Northumbrian) Transport Regiment from seven territorial transport reg ...

* 151 (Greater London) Regiment RLC * 152 (North Irish) Regiment RLC * 154 (Scottish) Regiment RLC *

156 (North West) Regiment RLC 156 Regiment RLC is an Army Reserve Regiment of the British Army's Royal Logistic Corps. History The Regiment was first formed in the Royal Corps of Transport as 156th (Lancashire and Cheshire) Regiment, RCT (Volunteers) in 1967. 238 Squadron was ...

* 157 (Welsh) Regiment RLC * 158 (Royal Anglian) Regiment RLC * 159 Regiment RLC * 162 Regiment RLC *

165 Port and Maritime Regiment RLC 165 Port and Maritime Regiment RLC is an Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Army Reserve regiment of the British Army's Royal Logistic Corps. History The regiment was formed in Grantham as 165 Port Regiment, RLC (Volunteers) in 1995. 266 Squadron was ...

167 Catering Support Regiment RLC 167 Regiment is a reserve regiment of the British Army's Royal Logistic Corps. History The regiment was formed as the Catering Support Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps in 1993. Structure The current structure is as follows: *111 Catering Squadron * ...

Specialist sub-units

*Commando Logistic Support Squadron RLC – part of the

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 ...

383 Commando Petroleum Troop RLC 383 Commando Petroleum Troop is a reserve platoon of the British Army's Royal Logistic Corps. Operations The troop is responsible for the handling, supply and storage of bulk fuels from ship-to-shore and under front-line combat conditions. It is ...

*20 Transport Squadron RLC – part of

London District London District (LONDIST) is the name given by the British Army to the area of operations encompassing the Greater London area. It was established in 1870 as ''Home District''. History In January 1876 a ‘Mobilization Scheme for the forces in ...

*44 Support Squadron RLC – part of

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 ...

*105 Logistic Support Squadron – part of British Army Training Unit Suffield * 132 Aviation Supply Squadron RLC – part of 7 Aviation Close Support Battalion REME *821 EOD & Search Squadron RLC – part of 33 Engineer Regiment (EOD) * Joint Helicopter Support Squadron – part of

Joint Helicopter Command Joint Helicopter Command (JHC) is a tri-service organisation uniting battlefield military helicopters of the British Armed Forces for command and coordination purposes. History Background Over the years, the grouping of all battlefield suppo ...

*2 Operational Support Group

Master General of Logistics

There is also a ceremonial head (instituted in 2009), who heads the Corps and its wider family such as the Associations and Cadets, known as the Master General of Logistics (MGL). Holders of the post include: *General Sir

Kevin O'Donoghue General Sir Kevin O'Donoghue, (born 9 December 1947) is a retired British Army officer and former Chief of Defence Materiel. He retired from the service in December 2010, being succeeded as Chief of Defence Materiel by Bernard Gray. Early li ...

(2009–2012) *Lieutenant General Sir

Mark Poffley Lieutenant General Sir Mark William Poffley, (born 1960) is a former senior British Army officer. Military career Poffley was commissioned into the Royal Army Ordnance Corps in 1985. After seeing action in the Gulf War and then in the Bosnian W ...

(2012–2021) *Major General Simon T. Hutchings (2021–present)

Publications

''The Sustainer'' is the magazine of the RLC Association. ''The Waggoner'' remains the Journal of the RASC/RCT Association. ''The RAOC Gazette'' that of the RAOC Association and ''The Pioneer'' of the RPC Association. ''The Review'' is an annual magazine of essays published by the Corps. Royal Corps Transport Vessel, Arezzo

Victoria Cross

The RLC has five Victoria Cross holders; Five derive historically from establishments that eventually became the Royal Corps of Transport. *Private Samuel Morley VC. Military Train. 15 April 1858. *Private (Farrier) Michael Murphy VC (forfeited). Military Train. 15 April 1858. *Assistant Commissary

James Langley Dalton James Langley Dalton VC (1833 – 7 January 1887) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces for service ...

VC. Commissariat & Transport Department. 22 January 1879. *Second Lieutenant Alfred Cecil Herring VC. Army Service Corps. 23 March 1918. *Private Richard George Masters VC. Army Service Corps. 9 April 1918.

Order of precedence

References

Sources

External links

The Royal Logistic Corps

{{Authority control British administrative corps Military logistics of the United Kingdom Military units and formations established in 1993 1993 establishments in the United Kingdom