The Somerville Logistic Committee was established by General
Sir William Jackson the then
Quarter Master General
The Quartermaster-General to the Forces (QMG) is a senior general in the British Army. The post has become symbolic: the Ministry of Defence organisation charts since 2011 have not used the term "Quartermaster-General to the Forces"; they simply ...
(QMG) in 1974 to consider the re-structuring of the MOD (Army) Q Staffs and logistic services. It was chaired by
Major General RM Somerville the then
Vice Quarter Master General (VQMG).
It reported in March 1975.
Its principal recommendations were that, although there would be no change in logistic corps structure (this was to come later with the implementation of the
Logistic Support Review (LSR) in 1993), that a new logistic staff structure - to be called the
Logistic Executive (Army) (LE(A))- was to be set up and absorb the RAOC's HQ Base Organisation and REME's Support Group as well as the staff of
Deputy Quarter Master General (DQMG). LE(A) was to be set up outside London; Andover was eventually selected.
[Major General LTH Phelps 'A History of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps 1945-1982' RAOC, Didcot 1991. pp350-353]
The major change in staff working was the amalgamation of the
Directorate of Equipment Management with
Royal Engineers (RE),
Royal Corps of Transport
The Royal Corps of Transport (RCT) was a British Army Corps established to manage all matters in relation to the transport of men and material for the Army and the wider Defence community. It was formed in 1965 and disbanded in 1993; its units and ...
(RCT),
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 ...
(RAOC) and
Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) staff branches. For the first time a single point of contact would lead on an individual item or range of equipment. This produced much needed simplification. The main drawback was that the equipment inventory was divided somewhat arbitrarily. RE (Engineer Services) took over control of equipment, principally plant, operated solely by that corps. RCT took on railway and maritime (including port) equipment. The RAOC assumed responsibility for ranges not normally subject to base repair (principally non-armoured vehicles, small arms and clothing and general stores) and the REME the base repair range (principally armoured vehicles, larger weapon systems and communications and electronic equipment).
The other major change was a large scale exodus from London to the former
RAF Maintenance Command
RAF Maintenance Command was the Royal Air Force command which was responsible for controlling maintenance for all the United Kingdom-based units from formation on 1 April 1938 until being renamed RAF Support Command on 31 August 1973.
History ...
site at
Andover
Andover may refer to:
Places Australia
*Andover, Tasmania
Canada
* Andover Parish, New Brunswick
* Perth-Andover, New Brunswick
United Kingdom
* Andover, Hampshire, England
** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station
United States
* And ...
in Hampshire.
This rationalisation was designed to achieve cost savings of 20% and undoubtedly simplified staff procedures.
Footnotes
{{reflist
Military logistics of the United Kingdom