The Royal Army Pay Corps (RAPC) was the

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 ...

of 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 ...

responsible for administering all financial matters. It was amalgamated into the

Adjutant General's Corps The Adjutant General's Corps is a corps in the British Army responsible for many of its general administrative services, named for the Adjutant-General to the Forces (now the Commander Home Command). As of 2002, the AGC had a staff of 7,000 peop ...

in 1992.

History

The first "paymasters" existed in the army before the formation of the corps. Prior to the 19th century, each regiment had its own civilian paymaster and the first commissioned paymaster was introduced in 1792. In 1870 a Pay Sub-Department of the Control Department was formed; an officer-only establishment, it gained autonomy as the Army Pay Department in 1878. In 1893 an Army Pay Corps was formed, composed of

other ranks Other ranks (ORs) in the Royal Marines (RM), the British Army, and the Royal Air Force (RAF), along with the navies, armies, and air forces of many other Commonwealth countries and Ireland, are those personnel who are not commissioned officers, bu ...

, to support the work of the Department. In 1920 the Army Pay Department and the Army Pay Corps were amalgamated to form the Royal Army Pay Corps (the prefix 'Royal' having been conferred in recognition of valuable services provided during the

First World War 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 ...

). In 1919 the financial responsibilities were split between the RAPC, which handled salaries, and the Corps of Military Accountants (CMA), which handled the army's finances. The CMA was disbanded in 1925 and its functions and some personnel were transferred to the RAPC. Before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the RAPC did not accept recruits directly from civilian life, but only transfers from serving soldiers who had been in the Army for at least six months. During the Second World War, members of the

Auxiliary Territorial Service The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS; often pronounced as an acronym) was the women's branch of the British Army during the World War II, Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existe ...

and men of a "lower medical category" were often conscripted into the corps. Initially they received very little military training but after a discussion in Parliament were trained in armed combat, especially for those posted closest to the frontlines, to prepare for surprise attacks on headquarters. The Pay Corps requisitioned Dalewood House in Mickleham near

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England about south-west of London. It is in Mole Valley, Mole Valley District and the non-metropolitan district, council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs ro ...

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 ...

as their headquarters during the Second World War. The House now acts as the main building of

Box Hill School Box Hill School was a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private coeducational Boarding school, boarding and day school until they merged with Reigate Grammar School and became RGS Surrey Hills in 2025. It was situated in the village of Mic ...

, a Public School established in the village in 1959. With the amalgamations into the

in 1992, its functions are now carried out by the Staff and Personnel Support (SPS) Branch. Headed by a Paymaster-in-Chief, the corps was responsible for keeping the army financially accountable to the servicemen and

Inland Revenue The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation ta ...

Alliances

The corps had the following alliances: * –

Royal Canadian Army Pay Corps The Royal Canadian Army Pay Corps (RCAPC) was an administrative corps of the Canadian Army with its own cap badge, and other insignia and traditions. It was established in 1906 as the Canadian Army Pay Corps. It was responsible for administering ...

* – South African Administrative and Pay and Clerical Corps * – Pay Section, Royal Hong Kong Defence Force * – Fiji Army Pay Corps

Footnotes

External links

# Website of the Royal Army Pay Corps Regimental Association https://rapc-association.org.uk/ British administrative corps Adjutant General's Corps Military units and formations established in 1878 Military units and formations disestablished in 1992 {{UK-mil-stub