The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at which point its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD).[1] Equivalent to the Admiralty at that time, the War Office was responsible for the Royal Navy (RN) and (much later) the Air Ministry, which oversaw the Royal Air Force (RAF). The name 'War Office' is also given to the former home of the department, located at the junction of Horse Guards Avenue and Whitehall in central London. The landmark building was sold on 1 March, 2016 by HM Government for more than £350million, on a 250year lease for conversion into a luxury hotel and residential apartments.
The term War Department was initially used for the separate office of the Secretary of State for War; in 1855, the offices of Secretary at War and Secretary of State for War were merged, and thereafter the terms War Office and War Department were used somewhat interchangeably.[2]
History
The War Office developed from the Council of War, an ad hoc grouping of the King and his senior military commanders which managed the Kingdom of England's wars and campaigns. The management of the War Office was directed initially by the Secretary at War, whose role had originated during the reign of King Charles II as the secretary to the Commander-in-Chief of the Army. In the latter part of the 17th century, the office of Commander-in-Chief was vacant for several periods, which left the Secretary at War answering directly to the Sovereign; and thereafter, even when the office of Commander-in-Chief was restored on a more permanent basis, the Secretary at War retained his independence.[2]
The department of the Secretary at War was referred to as the 'Warr Office' (sic) from as early as 1694;[2] its foundation has traditionally been ascribed to William Blathwayt, who had accompanied King William III during the Nine Years' War and who, from his appointment as Secretary in 1684, had greatly expanded the remit of his office to cover general day-to-day administration of the Army.[3]
After Blathwayt's retirement in 1704, Secretary at War became a political office. In political terms, it was a fairly minor government job (despite retaining a continued right of access to the monarch) which dealt with the minutiae of administration, rather than grand strategy. The Secretary, who was usually a member of the House of Commons, routinely presented the House with the Army Estimates, and occasionally spoke on other military matters as required. In symbolic terms, he was seen as signifying parliamentary control over the Army. Issues of strategic policy during wartime were managed by the Northern and Southern Departments (the predecessors of today's Foreign Office and Home Office).[4]
From 1704 to 1855, the post of Secretary remained occupied by a minister of the second rank (although he was occasionally part of the Cabinet after 1794). Many of his responsibilities were transferred to the Secretary of State for War after the creation of that more senior post in 1794 (though the latter was also responsible for Britain's colonies from 1801, and renamed Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, an arrangement which only ceased with the establishment of the Colonial Office in 1854).[5]
From 1824, the British Empire (excepting India, which was administered separately by the East India Company and then the India Office) was divided by the War and Colonial Office into the following administrative departments:[6]
The War Office, after 1854 and until the 1867 confederation of the Dominion of Canada, was to split the military administration of the British Empire much as the War and Colonial Office had:[7][8]
BRITISH COLONIAL AND FOREIGN MILITARY DISTRICTS AND STATIONS
† Bermuda and Halifax were linked, under the Commander-in-Chief at Halifax, with units and strength at Bermuda included in figures for Halifax
In February 1855, the new Secretary of State for War was additionally commissioned as Secretary at War, thus giving the Secretary of State oversight of the War Office in addition to his own department. The same procedure was followed for each of his successors, until the office of Secretary at War was abolished altogether in 1863.[9]
In 1855, the Board of Ordnance was abolished as a result of its perceived poor performance during the Crimean War. This powerful independent body, dating from the 15th century, had been directed by the Master-General of the Ordnance, usually a very senior military officer who (unlike the Secretary at War) was often a member of the Cabinet. The disastrous campaigns of the Crimean War resulted in the consolidation of all administrative duties in 1855 as subordinate to the Secretary of State for War, a Cabinet job.[10] He was not, however, solely responsible for the Army; the Commander-in-Chief had a virtually equal degree of responsibility. This was reduced in theory by the reforms introduced by Edward Cardwell in 1870, which subordinated the Commander-in-Chief to the Secretary for War. In practice, however, a large influence was retained by the conservative Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Prince George, 2nd Duke of Cambridge, who held the post between 1856 and 1895. His resistance to reform caused military efficiency to lag well behind that of Britain's rivals, a problem that became obvious during the Second Boer War. The situation was only remedied in 1904, when the job of Commander-in-Chief was abolished, and replaced with that of the Chief of the General Staff, which was replaced by the job of Chief of the Imperial General Staff in 1908. An Army Council was created with a format similar to that of the Board of Admiralty, directed by the Secretary of State for War, and an Imperial General Staff was established to coordinate Army administration. The creation of the Army Council was recommended by the War Office (Reconstitution) Committee, and formally appointed by Letters Patent dated 8 February 1904, and by Royal Warrant dated 12 February 1904.[11]
The management of the War Office was hampered by persistent disputes between the civilian and military parts of the organisation. The government of H.H. Asquith attempted to resolve this during the First World War by appointing Lord Kitchener as Secretary for War.[12] During his tenure, the Imperial General Staff was virtually dismantled. Its role was replaced effectively by the Committee of Imperial Defence, which debated broader military issues.[13]
The War Office decreased greatly in importance after the First World War, a fact illustrated by the drastic reductions of its staff numbers during the inter-war period. Its responsibilities and funding were also reduced. In 1936, the government of Stanley Baldwin appointed a Minister for Co-ordination of Defence, who was not part of the War Office. When Winston Churchill became Prime Minister in 1940, he bypassed the War Office altogether, and appointed himself Minister of Defence (though there was, curiously, no ministry of defence until 1947).[14]Clement Attlee continued this arrangement when he came to power in 1945, but appointed a separate Minister of Defence for the first time in 1947. In 1964, the present form of the Ministry of Defence was established, unifying the War Office, Admiralty, and Air Ministry.[15]
The Old War Office building
View of the former War Office building from Whitehall.The former War Office building facing Horse Guards Avenue.
As early as 1718 letters from the Secretary at War were addressed from "The War Office". His department had several headquarters in London until it settled at Horse Guards in Whitehall during 1722. It remained there until 1858. Then, following the dissolution of the Board of Ordnance, the War Office moved into the Board's former offices in Cumberland House, Pall Mall. Over the ensuing years it expanded into adjacent properties on Pall Mall before it was relocated to purpose-built accommodation, in what is now known as the Old War Office Building, in 1906.[16]
Between 1906 and its abolition in 1964 the War Office was based in a large neo-Baroque building designed by William Young, completed during 1906, and located on Horse Guards Avenue at its junction with Whitehall in Central London. The construction of the building required five years to complete, at a cost of more than 1.2 million pounds.[17] The building is somewhat oddly shaped, forming a trapezoid in order to maximise the use of the irregularly shaped plot of land on which it was built: its four distinctive domes were designed as a decorative means of disguising the shape.[17] It has around 1,100 rooms on seven floors.[18]
After 1964 the building continued to be used, under the name The Old War Office, by the Ministry of Defence.[17]
On 1 June 2007 the building, other than the steps that give access to it, was designated as a protected site for the purposes of Section 128 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. The effect was to make it a specific criminal offence for a person to trespass on the building.[19]
In August 2013 it was announced that the building would be sold on the open market, with a goal of realising offers above 100 million pounds.[20] On 13 December 2014 the Ministry of Defence confirmed that the building would be sold to the Hinduja Group for an undisclosed amount.[21] The building was sold on 1 March 2016 for more than 350 million pounds, on a 250-year lease, to the Hinduja Group and OHL Developments for conversion to a luxury hotel and residential apartments.[18] Hinduja and Raffles plan to open the hotel in the building, the Raffles London at the OWO, on 29 September 2023.[22][23]
The Tatmadaw, also known as Sit-Tat, is the armed forces of Myanmar. It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force. Auxiliary services include the Myanmar Police Force, the Border Guard Forces, the Myanmar Coast Guard, and the People's Militia Units. Since independence in 1948, the Tatmadaw has faced significant ethnic insurgencies, especially in Chin, Kachin, Kayin, Kayah, and Shan states. General Ne Win took control of the country in a 1962 coup d'état, attempting to build an autarkic society called the Burmese Way to Socialism. Following the violent repression of nationwide protests in 1988, the military agreed to free elections in 1990, but ignored the resulting victory of the National League for Democracy and imprisoned its leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The 1990s also saw the escalation of the conflict involving Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State due to RSO attacks on the Tatmadaw forces, which saw the Rohingya minority facing oppression and, starting in 2017, genocide.
The British Armed Forces are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, support international peacekeeping efforts and provide humanitarian aid.
The Ministry of Defence is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for implementing the defence policy set by the government and serves as the headquarters of the British Armed Forces.
The Board of Ordnance was a British government body. Established in the Tudor period, it had its headquarters in the Tower of London. Its primary responsibilities were 'to act as custodian of the lands, depots and forts required for the defence of the realm and its overseas possessions, and as the supplier of munitions and equipment to both the Army and the Navy'. The Board also maintained and directed the Artillery and Engineer corps, which it founded in the 18th century. By the 19th century, the Board of Ordnance was second in size only to HM Treasury among government departments. The Board lasted until 1855, at which point it was disbanded.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, later Commander-in-Chief, British Army, or just the Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C), was (intermittently) the professional head of the English Army from 1660 to 1707 and of the British Army from 1707 until 1904. In 1904 the office was replaced with the creation of the Army Council and the appointment of Chief of the General Staff.
The Federal Ministry of Defence, abbreviated BMVg, is a top-level federal agency, headed by the Federal Minister of Defence as a member of the Cabinet of Germany. The ministry is headquartered at the Hardthöhe district in Bonn and has a second office in the Bendlerblock building in Berlin, which is occasionally used as a metonym to denote the entire Ministry.
The United Kingdom's Strategic Command (StratCom), previously known as Joint Forces Command (JFC), manages allocated joint capabilities from the three armed services.
The Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) was a department of the British War Office.
The Ministry of Defence (MINISDEF) is the department of the Government of Spain responsible for planning, developing and carrying out the general guidelines of the Government about the defence policy and the managing of the military administration. It is the administrative and executive body of the Spanish Armed Forces.
The King's Birthday Honours 1936 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of King Edward VIII 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. They were published on 19 June 1936.
The King's Birthday Honours 1941 were appointments in the British Empire of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of various countries. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were published on 6 June 1941.
The Director of the Royal Artillery is the professional head of the Royal Regiment of Artillery the artillery arm of the British Army. The title and the responsibility of the Director of the Royal Artillery have varied over time and at times the title has been abandoned.
The 1947 King's Birthday Honours were appointments by many of the Dominions of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made "on the occasion of the Celebration of His Majesty's Birthday." They were announced in supplements to the London Gazette of 6 June 1947.
The 1947 New Year Honours were appointments by 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. They were published on 31 December 1946.
The 1946 New Year Honours were appointments by 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, and to celebrate the passing of 1945 and the beginning of 1946. They were announced on 1 January 1946 for the United Kingdom, and Dominions, Canada, the Union of South Africa, and New Zealand.
The King's Birthday Honours 1942 were appointments by King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by members of the British Empire. They were published on 5 June 1942 for the United Kingdom and Canada.
The King's Birthday Honours 1930 were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by members of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King. They were published on 30 May 1930.
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 1939 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 30 December 1938.
The 1928 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were published in The London Gazette on 4 June 1928.
↑ Young, Douglas MacMurray (1961). The Colonial Office in The Early Nineteenth Century. London: Published for the Royal Commonwealth Society by Longmans. p.55.
↑ METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS AT THE FOREIGN AND COLONIAL STATIONS OF THE ROYAL ENGINEERS AND THE ARMY MEDICAL DEPARTMENT 1852—1886. London: Published by the authority of the Meteorological Council. PRINTED FOR HER MAJESTY’S STATIONERY OFFICE BY EYRE AND SPOTTISWOODE, East Harding Street, Fleet Street, London E.C. 1890.
↑ "Stations of the British Army". The London Gazette. London. 3 February 1855.
↑ Johnson, Franklyn Arthur (1960). Defence by Committee: The British Committee of Imperial Defence, 1885-1959. London, New York: Oxford University Press.
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