One of Many

 R.A.S.C.

A Brief History of the R.A.S.C.

Before the 16th century, armies were supplied on a plunder basis, with each man searching the surrounding area for provisions.

This later became an official function with a foraging party searching the area just ahead of the advancing army, to procure the days requirements.

During the early history of the British Army, the provision of transportation was a Commissariat function and they contracted for services, as required.

As armies became more sophisticated and ceased to live off the land, their transportation requirements also increased. The need for a dedicated and reliable military transportation organization became obvious.

The first unit formed was the Royal Waggoners, which existed from 1794-1795.

The Royal Wagon Corps was then established in 1799 until 1802.

This changed to The Royal Wagon Train in 1802, and this unit served during the Napoleonic Wars in the Peninsula and at Waterloo. It was disbanded in 1833 as part of peacetime economies.

The next period of conflict was the Crimean War. The troops in the Crimea suffered dreadfully during the winter of 1854/55 because there was insufficient transport to move their supplies eight miles from the harbour to their encampments. This led to the formation of the Land Transport Corps in 1855. Working side by side with the Commissariat, which controlled the provision of stores, they quickly proved their worth by capably supporting the British Army during the remainder of the Crimean War.

Following the end of the war, the LTC was reorganized as the Military Train in 1856. Service in this title was seen at Luknow and Peking. The next thirty years saw several name changes occur as the departments wrestled with the relationship between the civilian Commissariat (later militarized) that controlled the supplies and the military transportation unit that moved them.

The transport and supply services were united in 1869 into the first Army Service Corps.

This was reorganized into the Commissariat and Transport Corps in 1881.

They finally formed the second Army Service Corps in 1888, which combined the responsibility for both the provision of supplies and their carriage into one military organization.

At the end of the 1914 -18 war, it was awarded the Royal prefix as a reward for the part played in the conflict. The Corps had been able to give tangible proof to the wisdom underlying its original charter. This implies that for an army to be successfully maintained with supplies and transport, the Corps responsible, must be fully combatant, with both officers and men fully trained soldiers and fully trained in their particular skill areas.

Finally the Corps incorporated with other units to form The Royal Corps of Transport in 1965, following reorganization and rationalization of the Armed Services to meet the modern international requirements.

Evolution

Royal Waggoners....................................1794-1795

Royal Wagon Corps................................1799-1802

Royal Wagon Train..................................1802-1833 Waterloo

Land Transport Corps............................1855-1856

Military Train..............................................1856-1869 Luknow Peking

Army Service Corps................................1869-1881

Commissariat and Transport Corps...1881-1888

Army Service Corps................................1888-1918

Royal Army Service Corps....................1918-1965

Royal Corps of Transport......................1965