The Royal Logistic Corps provides
logistic support functions to the
British Army
The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
. 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 formally introduced March 1, 1800, when Napoleon ordered Gener ...
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 the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...
Postal and Courier Service
*
Royal Corps of Transport
*
Royal Army Ordnance Corps
*
Royal Pioneer Corps
*
Army Catering Corps
The RLC comprises both Regular and
Army Reserve units.
The RLC is the only combat service support corps of the British Army with
battle honours, derived from the usage of previous transport elements of
the Royal Waggon Train, and their successors as cavalry. The battle honours are:
*
Peninsula
A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula.
Etymology
The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...
*
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...
*
Lucknow
Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...
*
Taku Forts
*
Peking
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 ...
is an amalgamation of the cap badges of the forming corps:
* The laurel and garter band is from the
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...
* The Indian star is from the
Royal Corps of Transport
* The shield in the centre is from the
Royal Army Ordnance Corps
* The crossed axes are from the
Royal Pioneer Corps
* The
motto, "We Sustain", is from the
Army Catering Corps
The inscription on the garter band ''"
Honi soit qui mal y pense
(, ; ) is a maxim (philosophy), 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 think ...
"'' can be translated as "Shame on anyone who thinks evil of it".
[ It is the motto of the Order of the Garter.
]
Headquarters
The Corps Headquarters is at Worthy Down Camp 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, 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 was based at Princess Royal Barracks, Deepcut near Camberley in Surrey
Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
, but was closed prior to a move to Worthy Down near Winchester, where it re-opened in May 2021.
List of units
Regiments
Specialist sub-units
*Commando Logistic Support Squadron RLC – part of the Commando Logistic Regiment
**383 Commando Petroleum Troop RLC
*20 Transport Squadron RLC – part of London District
*44 Support Squadron RLC – part of Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
*96 (Duke of Gloucester) Squadron RLC - part of 1st Army Training Regiment Pirbright
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 (2009–2012)
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.
Victoria Cross
The RLC has five Victoria Cross holders. All five derive historically from establishments that eventually became the Royal Corps of Transport.
*Private Samuel Morley. Military Train. 15 April 1858.
*Private (Farrier) Michael Murphy. Military Train. 15 April 1858 (later forfeited).
*Assistant Commissary James Langley Dalton. Commissariat & Transport Department. 22 January 1879.
*Second Lieutenant Alfred Cecil Herring. Army Service Corps. 23 March 1918.
*Private Richard George Masters. Army Service Corps. 9 April 1918.
Order of precedence
See also
* Royal Logistic Corps Museum
* Royal Army Service Corps
* Options for Change
* Loss of Strength Gradient
* British logistics in the Boer War
* British logistics in the Falklands War
* Hong Kong Logistic Support Regiment RLC
* List of roles in the British Army
References
Sources
*
External links
The Royal Logistic Corps
(archived 18 December 2006)
{{Authority control
British administrative corps
Military logistics of the United Kingdom
Military units and formations established in 1993
1993 establishments in the United Kingdom