What did cadets do at Royal Military Academy Woolwich?
In addition to their theoretical studies, the cadets shared (with all ranks of the Artillery) in what was called ‘the Practice’ of gunnery, bridge building, magazine technique and artillery work.
Where was the Royal Military Academy in London?
The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Signals and other technical corps.
When was the first Royal Military Academy cadet Register written?
Names and attendance dates of the earliest cadets, that is from 1741, are sadly not held in registers in the collection. The first volume in existence contains pages at the beginning apparently written retrospectively; the information is probably incomplete. The earliest dates are in the 1780s.
Is the Royal Military Academy and Sandhurst the same?
Following the demise of the Board of Ordnance, Parliament had explored the possibility of a merger between the Royal Military Academy and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst (which only trained officers for the Infantry and Cavalry ); although senior Army officers rejected the idea at the time it persisted into the twentieth century.
When was the Royal Military Academy Woolwich established?
The archives contain records of the academy and its predecessors; the Royal Military College Sandhurst 1799-1939 and the Royal Military Academy Woolwich 1741-1939. It also maintains the archive of the current academy which was established in 1947.
How old were the Gentlemen Cadets at Woolwich?
Its ‘gentlemen cadets’ initially ranged in age from 10 to 30. To begin with they were attached to the marching companies of the Royal Artillery, but in 1744 they were formed into their own company, forty in number (enlarged to forty-eight, two years later) overseen by a Captain-Lieutenant.
How many cadets went to the new Royal Military Academy?
128 cadets moved to the new Academy: these comprised the four senior years. Of the younger cadets, sixty were kept at the Warren (by then renamed the Royal Arsenal) and another sixty were sent to a new college for junior cadets at Great Marlow. Practical teaching continued to be given in the working context of the Arsenal.
Following the demise of the Board of Ordnance, Parliament had explored the possibility of a merger between the Royal Military Academy and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst (which only trained officers for the Infantry and Cavalry ); although senior Army officers rejected the idea at the time it persisted into the twentieth century.
