Senior Officers' School

Last updated

Senior Officers' School
Earlstoke Park House.jpg
Senior Officers' School at Earlstoke Park House (destroyed by fire in 1950)
Active19161961
CountryFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
BranchFlag of the British Army.svg  British Army
TypeTraining
RoleSenior Army Officer Training
Garrison/HQErlestoke Park, Wiltshire, England

The Senior Officers' School was a British military establishment established in 1916 by Brigadier-General R.J. Kentish for the training of Commonwealth senior officers of all services in inter-service cooperation. It was established as part of a wider attempt by the British Army to create a coherent training plan for its officers.

Contents

History

The School was originally intended for senior officers of the British Army who aspired to battalion command. It was taken as an affront by some senior officers of the day, who resented the implication—true in some cases—that they were incapable of delivering the necessary training. The School attempted to widen officers' outlook by including in its syllabus subjects that were not immediately military but led to an appreciation of the wider political, geographical and technological environment in which the British Army would operate. [1]

The School was originally based at Aldershot but in the 1920s, it was transferred to Sheerness. In 1939 it moved to Erlestoke Park, a country house at Erlestoke, Wiltshire, [2] where it continued to operate until June 1950 when a major fire caused it to move to the wings of the house; the school closed completely in 1961. [2] The site was then converted into a detention centre for young offenders, and is now HM Prison Erlestoke. [2]

There was also a parallel establishment, the Senior Officers' School, Belgaum, at Belgaum in India. [1]

Notable alumni

Commandants

The following officers commanded the school:

Related Research Articles

Distinguished Service Medal (U.S. Army) United States Army distinguished service medal

The Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a military decoration of the United States Army that is presented to soldiers who have distinguished themselves by exceptionally meritorious service to the government in a duty of great responsibility. The performance must be such as to merit recognition for service that is clearly exceptional. The exceptional performance of normal duty will not alone justify an award of this decoration.

Military of the Falkland Islands Military unit

The Falkland Islands are a British overseas territory and, as such, rely on the United Kingdom for the guarantee of their security. The other UK territories in the South Atlantic, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, fall under the protection of British Forces South Atlantic Islands (BFSAI), formerly known as British Forces Falkland Islands (BFFI), which includes commitments from the British Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy. They are headed by the Commander, British Forces South Atlantic Islands (CBFSAI), a brigadier-equivalent appointment that rotates among all three services.

General officer Military rank

A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.

Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In other countries, it is a non-commissioned rank.

John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort British Army officer (1886–1946)

Field Marshal John Standish Surtees Prendergast Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort, was a senior British Army officer. As a young officer during the First World War he was decorated with the Victoria Cross for his actions during the Battle of the Canal du Nord. During the 1930s he served as Chief of the Imperial General Staff. He is best known for commanding the British Expeditionary Force that was sent to France in the first year of the Second World War, only to be evacuated from Dunkirk the following year. Gort later served as Governor of Gibraltar and Malta, and High Commissioner for Palestine and Transjordan.

Air vice-marshal Two-star air-officer rank

Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. Air vice-marshals may be addressed generically as "air marshal".

A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which the officer exercises command.

John Northcott Australian general

Lieutenant General Sir John Northcott was an Australian Army general who served as Chief of the General Staff during the Second World War, and commanded the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in the Occupation of Japan. He was the first Australian-born Governor of New South Wales.

General is the highest rank achievable by serving officers of the British Army. The rank can also be held by Royal Marines officers in tri-service posts, for example, General Sir Gordon Messenger the former Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff. It ranks above lieutenant-general and, in the Army, is subordinate to the rank of field marshal, which is now only awarded as an honorary rank. The rank of general has a NATO-code of OF-9, and is a four-star rank. It is equivalent to a full admiral in the Royal Navy or an air chief marshal in the Royal Air Force.

Five-star rank Senior military rank used by some nations armed forces

A five-star rank is the highest military rank in the United States, with an insignia of five silver stars, and is also used to refer to the corresponding ranks in other countries. The rank is that of the most senior operational military commanders, and within NATO's standard rank scale it is designated by the code OF-10.

An officer of three-star rank is a senior commander in many of the armed services holding a rank described by the NATO code of OF-8. The term is also used by some armed forces which are not NATO members. Typically, three-star officers hold the rank of vice admiral, lieutenant general, or in the case of those air forces with a separate rank structure, air marshal.

Major General is a "two-star" rank in the British Army and Royal Marines. The rank was also briefly used by the Royal Air Force for a year and a half, from its creation to August 1919. In the British Army, a Major General is the customary rank for the appointment of division commander. In the Royal Marines, the rank of Major General is held by the Commandant General.

General is the second-highest rank, and the highest active rank, of the Australian Army and was created as a direct equivalent of the British military rank of general; it is also considered a four-star rank.

Major general is a senior rank of the Australian Army, and was created as a direct equivalent of the British military rank of major general. It is the third-highest active rank of the Australian Army, and is considered to be equivalent to a two-star rank. A major general commands a division or the equivalent.

Air Vice Marshal Kenneth Malise St. Clair Graeme Leask, was a senior officer of the Royal Air Force (RAF). He began his career in the British Army and served with the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War, being credited with eight aerial victories to become a flying ace. He flew over 100 sorties, and survived three forced landings. He attained the rank of captain, and position as flight commander, in No. 84 Squadron. He remained in the RAF after the war, being appointed Director-General of Engineering in the Air Ministry with the rank of air vice marshal after the Second World War.

The New Year Honours 1964 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1964 to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 1964.

The King's Birthday Honours 1950 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of the King, and were published in supplements to the London Gazette of 2 June 1950 for the British Empire, Australia, Ceylon and New Zealand.

The 1943 New Year Honours were appointments by King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the United Kingdom and British Empire. They were announced on 29 December 1942.

The Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (ACDS) is a senior British military officer. There are a number of ACDS appointments and they are held by officers of two-star rank. They work in the Ministry of Defence.

Brigadier John Alan Lyde Caunter was a senior British Army officer and a pioneer shark angler off the British coast. He published an account of his escape from Germany as a prisoner of war in World War I.

References

  1. 1 2 Kennedy, Gregory (2006). Military education: past, present, and future. Information Age Pub. Inc. ISBN   978-1-59311-407-7 . Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 Ide, Isabel (2000). ""A Very Pretty Seat": Erlestoke Park, 1780-1999". Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine. 93: 9–19. Retrieved 26 July 2021 via Internet Archive.
  3. "Caunter, Brig John Alan Lyde (1889–1981)". AIM25. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  4. "Admiral of the Fleet Sir Andrew Browne Cunningham". Royal Navy Flag Officers 1904-1945. 18 October 2007. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  5. "Air Vice-Marshal Kenneth Malise St. Clair Graeme Leask". Air of Authority. 7 July 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  6. "General Sir John Northcott, KCMG, KCVO, MVO, CB, KstJ". Unofficial history of the Australian & New Zealand Armed Services. 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  7. Coates, H. J. (2014). "Sir John Northcott". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  8. "Command of a Group". Flight . XXXI (1435): 355. 8 April 1937. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  9. Rickard, J. (19 February 2008). "John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort, 1886-1946". Military History Encyclopedia on the Web. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  10. "Major General D. N. Wimberley CB DSO MC DL LLD". The National Archives. 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2014.