RAOC Gazette - page 199
Image details
| Corps | RAOC |
|---|---|
| Material type | Journals |
| Book page | |
| Chapter head | |
| Chapter key | |
| Chapter number | |
| Full title | RAOC Gazette |
| Page number | |
| Publication date | 1978 |
| Real page | |
| Colour | No |
| Grey | No |
| Early date | 1978 |
| Late date | 1978 |
| Transcription |
SPECIAL CORPS ORDER BY MAJOR GENERAL SIR II. D. E. PARSONS, K C M G , C » , DIRECTOR OF EQUIPMENT AND ORDNANCE STORES EXTRACT FROM DISPATCH DATED 15TH JUNE 1915, OF THE FIELD MARSHAL, COMMANDING-IN-CHIKF, THE BRITISH ARMY IN FRANCE TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR, WAR OFFICE, LONDON S.W.I GENERAL HEADQUARTERS, My Lord, 15th June, 1915. PARAGRAPH 9. In this despatch I wish again to remark upon the exception- ally good work done throughout this campaign by the Army Service Corps, and fay the Army Ordnance Department, not only in the field, but also on the Lines of Communication and at the Base Ports. To foresee and meet the requirements in the matter of Ammunition, Stores, Equipment, Supplies and Transport has entailed on the part of the Officers, non-commissioned Officers and men of these Services a sustained effort which has never been relaxed since the beginning of the War, and which has been rewarded by the most conspicuous success, The close co-operation of the Railway Transport Depart- ment, whose excellent work, in combination with the French Railway Staff, has ensured the regularity of the maintenance services, has greatly contributed to this success. The degree of efficiency to which these Services have been brought, was well demonstrated in the course of the Second Battle of Ypres, The roads between Poperinghe and Ypres, over which trans- port, supply and ammunition columns had to pass, were continually searched by hostile heavy artillery during the day and night; whilst the passage of the canal through the town of Ypres, and along the roads east of that town, could only be effected under most difficult and dangerous conditions as regards hostile shell fire. Yet, throughout the whole five or six weeks during which these conditions prevailed, the work was carried on with perfect order and efficiency, I have the honour to be, Your Lordship's most obedient Servant, (Sd.) J. D. P. FRENCH, Field-Marshal, Commanding-in-Chief, The British Army in France, ARMY ORDER 363/l918 Published on the 21th November, 19IS. GEORGE R J . Whereas we deem it expedient to alter in certain respects the conditions under which the Officers employed upon Ordnance duties of Our Army are at present serving. Our will and pleasure is that the Officers of Our Army Ordnance Department shall in future be amalgamated with, and form part of, Our Army Ordnance Corps. The Officers of Our Army Ordnance Corps shall continue to be subject in all respects to the provisions laid down for the Army Ordnance Department in the Warrant of Her late Majesty Queen Victoria, dated 16th June, 1896, as amended by subsequent Warrants. It is our further will and pleasure that in recognition of the splendid work which it has performed during the present war, Our Army Ordnance Corps shall be styled Our " Royal M Army Ordnance Corps and shall take precedence in Our Army immediately before Our Royal Army Veterinary Corps, Given at Our Court at St James's, this 25th day of Novem- ber, 1918, in the 9th year of Our Reign. By His Majesty's Command, MILNER. " In order to mark His appreciation of their splendid services during the War, His Majesty the King has been graciously pleased to confer the title of "Royal" upon the Officers of the Army Ordnance Department and upon the Army Ordnance Corps, which services have now been amalgamated into the " Royal Army Ord- nance Corps." "The Quartermaster-General to the Forces desires to con- gratulate the Royal Army Ordnance Corps upon the signal honour which has thus been conferred upon it. i( Thanks to its judgment and foresight, the wants of the Forces which have been raised, clothed and equipped during the war have been successfully met, and its businesslike administration has ensured to the troops at home and in all theatres of war and elsewhere, the supply of clothing, arms, guns, ammunition, stores and equipment, and has maintained the same in repair in its workshops. " The civilian subordinates of the Army Ordnance Services of all grades, both men and women, have by their loyal and devoted service contributed in no small measure to the successful results which have been attained. 1 ' In transmitting the foregoing deeply appreciated message from the Quartermaster-General to the Forces, I wish to add my own very hearty congratulations to the Officers, Warrant Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and Men of the Royal Army Ord- nance Corps upon this mark of His Majesty's gracious apprecia* tion of their magnificent work during the last four years. The fact that the greater part of it has been done " behind the scenes " in no way discounts its intrinsic value as a con- tribution to the final victory which has crowned the efforts of our Armed Forces. 1 also desire to felicitate the Officers of the late Army Ord- nance Department upon their amalgamation into the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, in that it constitutes an alteration which will, I feel confident, make for even greater efficiency and en- hanced esprit de corps. At the same time I wish to gratefully endorse the reference to our civilian subordinates, to whose wholehearted exertions I feel that we owe so much. H. D. E. PARSONS, Major-Genertd, Director of Equipment and Ordnance Stores* War Office, 28-11-18. EXTRACTS OF LETTERS FROM THE QMG'S OF THE BRITISH ARMIES IN FRANCE TO THE DEOS Lieutenant-Genera 1 Sir Ronald Maxwell wrote: — was delighted to see that your wonderful Corps had been enrolled in the " Royals," an honour richly deserved and nobly earned. You must be a very busy man directing the manifold activities of the R A O C I shall never forget those early days of 1914/15 and my satisfaction at the wonderful way in which you all coped with and surmounted the tremendous problems which assailed you from every side and the unfailing help I could always count upon from you all * * Lieutenant-General Sir Travers Clarke, The Quartermaster- General in France during 1917—1919 also wrote at the time, Were I to be asked by an intelligent military historian to send to him the one document which would best indicate the course of development of the World War, 191'4-19IS, I should choose the record of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. From that he could gain all the necessary clues to guide him to a knowledge of the British military effort in France, which was ultimately the decisive factor in the greatest struggle which man- kind has known. That document would show that at the outbreak of War the RAOC had in France 30 Officers and 1,360 other ranks: at the close it had 800 Officers and 15,000 other ranks: that, — 162 — * * |
| Book number | R0247 |