The Army Apprentices College was a college system in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

that offered military training, education and common core skills, leadership and adventurous training, character development and trade training.

History

The advent of mechanised warfare during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

left the Army requiring technically- skilled tradesmen in large numbers. Realising that not enough qualified tradesmen would be able to be recruited from civilian life, the Army Council resolved in 1919 to develop a system to train boys as tradesmen directly after leaving school. There were already a few boys' training establishments in existence; but the decision was taken to establish a new central school, which would be able to accommodate around a thousand boys. This led to the opening of the Boys' Technical School at

Chepstow Chepstow () is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the western end of the ...

on 28 February 1924. Five years later in 1929 it was renamed Army Technical School (Boys). Recruits in the 1930s joined as Apprentice Tradesmen at age 14 or 15, and usually spent three to four years at the school before being posted to one of the Army's technical corps (mainly

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 ...

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 ...

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 do ...

and

Royal Tank Regiment The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the World War I, First World War. Today, it is an Armoured warfare, armoured regiment equipped with Challenger 2 main battle tanks ...

). Certain other army establishments also trained boys in the mid-1930s, including the Military College of Science at

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, 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 mainta ...

(for Royal Artillery Artificers), 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 equi ...

Schools of Instruction at

Hilsea Hilsea is a district of the city of Portsmouth in the English county of Hampshire. Hilsea is home to one of Portsmouth's main sports and leisure facilities – the Mountbatten centre. Trafalgar School (formerly the City of Portsmouth Boys' Scho ...

and Bramley (for

RAOC 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 equi ...

Armourers) and Chatham (for the Royal Engineers). In 1937, however, the decision was taken to open three more full-scale Army Technical Schools, each to accommodate a thousand boys. It was envisaged that the schools would be located at Arborfield (for the

), Chatham (for the Engineers) and

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

(for the RASC); however, although Arborfield opened in May 1939, the Chatham school did not materialise and the Jersey school closed when the island fell to the Germans. In 1947, new schools opened in Harrogate and Taunton and (together with Chepstow and Arborfield) they were collectively renamed as Army Apprentices Schools. Taunton closed just two years later, but another new school was opened in 1960 in

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

. In the 1960s, Apprentice Tradesmen for the Royal Engineers were trained at Chepstow, those for the

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

at Harrogate, and those for the

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is the maintenance arm of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the Army uses. The corps is described as the "British Army's professional engineers". History Prior t ...

at both Arborfield (which focused on electrician and electronics trades) and Carlisle (which focused on training armourers, gun fitters, instrument technicians and vehicle mechanics). The schools were once more renamed as the Army Apprentices Colleges in 1966. Following Carlisle's closure three years later, apprenticeship training for REME all took place at Arborfield (which was known as Princess Marina College between 1981 and 1995).

List of schools/colleges

The following locations are listed on the Army Apprentice National Memorial at the

National Memorial Arboretum The National Memorial Arboretum is a British site of national remembrance at Alrewas, near Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. Its objective is to honour the fallen, recognise service and sacrifice, and foster pride in the British Armed Forces and ...

(dates are indicated where known): *

Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...

(1923–1924) * Arborfield (1939–2004) * Ashvale ( RAMC/ RADC Apprentices College) (1964–1985) * Bramley (1936–1939) *

(1960–1969) * Catterick * Chatham (1939) *

(1924–1994) *

Church Crookham Church Crookham is a large suburban village and civil parish, contiguous with the town of Fleet, in northeast Hampshire, England. It is west-southwest of London. Formerly a separate village, it figures as a southern suburb of Fleet. Histor ...

(RAMC Apprentices) (–1964) * Deepcut (RAOC Apprentices College) (1970–1985) *

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...

(1947–1996) *

(RAOC Boys School) (1925–1953) *

(1938–1940) *

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

(1947–1949) *

* Worthy Down (RAPC Apprentices College) (1964–1985)RAPC Apprentice College
/ref>

References

{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1924 Military academies of the United Kingdom Further education colleges in the United Kingdom 1924 establishments in the United Kingdom

History

List of schools/colleges

See also

References