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Description

Army Apprentice School Collar Badges

This Sale is for a pair of Collar Badges as formerly worn by the Army Apprentices School.

Brand new and unissued pair of anodised/staybrite Collar Badges in an all Gold finish, complete with their mounted lugs, brass backing plates and brass split pins.

Guaranteed new/unissued and in mint condition. 

 

Brief Army Apprentices School's/College History

The Army Apprentices College was a college system in the United Kingdom that offered military training, education and common core skills, leadership and adventurous training, character development, and trade training. 

Name changes 

On February 28, 1924 the Boy's Technical Schools were opened by the War Office. Five years later in 1929 these schools were renamed "Army Technical Schools (Boys)." In 1947 they changed their names to being the "Army Apprentices Schools." The schools were finally renamed as the "Army Apprentices Colleges" in 1966. 

Boy Soldiers 

Army Apprentices and Junior Leaders were often referred to as "Boy Soldiers". The real "Boy Soldiers" were actually the predecessors of Apprentices and Junior Leaders. In fact, there really was an army rank called "Boy". It referred to those soldiers in the British Army that had not yet reached the minimum age for enlistment. 

Boys Uniforms & Badges

The first uniform worn by Army Apprentices was Service Dress with stiff peaked Cap with a large 'General Service Corps' Cap Badge and Buttons as standard. With brass Boys Technical School (B.T.S.) Shoulder Titles, later changing to 'Army Technical School' (A.T.S.) 
One could sympathise with the apprentices in their aversion to wearing brass A.T.S. insignia on their epaulettes, thus confusing them with the then familiar female element of the war-time Army. After the January 1943 intake, the powers-that-be took the point, and cloth shoulder flashes ‘Army Technical School’, in gold lettering on a black background was approved, giving a more dignified title.
At some time during W.W.II (believed to be about 1943) Battle Dress with at first a Khaki Woolen Beret were issued, later changing to a navy blue Beret.
In 1947 a Cap Badge was designed for the Army Apprentice Schools which continued in use till c1966 when Corps or Regimental Badges were adopted.

The AAS Collar Badge continued to be worn when in Service or No. 2 Dress however.
The Apprentices’ Cap Badge, which has been worn by so many thousands of apprentice tradesmen, was first worn on parade on 19th August 1947. It was designed by Sergeant Jack Bolden R.E.M.E. from ideas and suggestions from the Commandant. Now that it is no longer in use, it is fitting to include some of the words written about it in ‘The Arborfield Apprentice’ in December 1946 by the Commandant of the School:

 

  • The Cross and the Crown stand respectively for character and loyalty; character based on the principles of Christianity and loyalty to the School, the Army, the Nation and the King.

  • The Torch stands for learning and for training the mind and body on good sound health lines.

  • The Crossed Swords stand for the Military virtues of discipline, steadfastness and devotion to duty.

  • The Great Wheel, which forms the basis and background of the whole design, stands for technical knowledge and skill.

 

Service Dress 

Service Dress was again issued from 1951 onwards. 

Boy soldiers continued to wear Khaki Service Dress until the 1960s, although the inconvenient Puttees had been discontinued. Whilst adult soldiers were clad in the utilitarian Battledress, boys paraded in the much smarter Service Dress, with its high-necked tunic, brass buttons and peaked Cap, also wearing Denim trousers and jackets, at first in the Battledress style for (dirty) working dress or Field Training. 

Adult soldiers exchanged Battledress for the more presentable new No. 2 Dress in the early 1960s, but the powers that be then decided to put boy soldiers into the now obsolete serge Battledress, again without Puttees or Anklets. (Junior Leaders at Deepcut continued to wear Service Dress till the late 60's). 

By the mid to late 1960s boy soldiers had at last started to graduate to the smart No.2 Dress, At least for 'Best Dress' to start with. This uniform, with its 'easypress' cloth and 'staybright' buttons and badges, was much easier to maintain than the scratchy serge uniforms which preceded it, as well as being rather more comfortable. Battledress continued to be worn until the early 1970's in other forms of dress, being replaced by Barrack dress/Lightweight trousers with Pullovers, and Combat dress when on duty or exercise. Always one step behind the Regular Army, it would take a little longer to obtain the DPM combats of course! 

In 1963 it was decided to adopt the Red & Black Chevrons of the Light Infantry & Gurkha's to identify Junior NCO's (The rational being that the Cap & Collar badges would tell them apart!), and these were being worn by Army Apprentices and Junior Leaders by 1965.

  

Army Apprentices Colleges

 

 

AAS Arborfield 

Between 1936 and 2004 some 50,000 young men and women passed through the gates of the Arborfield Army Apprenticeship establishment, during the years 1939 to 2004. 
Arborfield, known affectionately as 'The Boys’ School', was the last surviving of Army Junior Soldier trade-training establishments, with a history stretching back some 65 years.  However, during its long life, the establishment was known by a number of different names: - 
 
Army Technical School (Boys)                         1939 - 1946
Army Apprentices School                                 1946 - Oct 1966
Army Apprentices College                         Oct 1966 - 1981
Princess Marina College                                  1982 - Aug 1995
Army Apprentices College (Once more!)  Aug 1995 - Sep 2000
Army Technical Foundation College         Sep 2000 - Aug 2004

 

In 2004, it was decided that apprentice training at Arborfield would cease completely. And so it was, that on the 12th August 2004, the last intake of Arborfield Army Apprentices passed out from the College, to move into man’s service. 
However, the Arborfield Old Boys’ Association have stated that they will continue to serve all those who served at Arborfield, whether boy or girl Army Apprentices, as well as all those Military and Civilian members of the permanent staff.

Information Kindly Provided by The Arborfield Old Boys' Association 

 

AAS Carlisle

It is 50 years since Colonel Fane Gladwin and his small staff assembled at Hadrian's Camp, to open the new Apprentices' School in 1960. Their enthusiasm, hard work and imagination in those early days laid the foundations for the well established School that greeted all of the Boy Soldiers on arrival at Hadrian's Camp.  

In 1966 the School became a College and the traditional three year Apprentice course were changed to complete the training in only two years.     

College closure 

Extract from Ministry of Defence letter dated 17 May 1968. 

"I am commanded by the Army Board of the Defence Council to inform you that the Army Apprentice College REME at Carlisle is to be closed and the REME apprentice training is to be concentrated in one college at Arborfield." 
In the nine years of its existence the College trained 2378 Apprentices, and the good image of the Army that was created in Hadrian's Camp has been reflected throughout the World, wherever the British soldier was to be found. 

 

AAS Chepstow - 'Where boys became men' 

Notable Dates in the history of Beachley. 

25th Sep 1923  - Central Training School for boys set up at Aldershot.
28th Feb 1924  - Moved to Beachley and name changed to Boy's Technical School.
May 1926          - Old Robot Society formed.
1929                  - Name changed to Army Technical School (Boys).
Sep 1931           - A school flag was adopted - a red, green and blue horizontal tricolour, from which came the Association tie and later on the School tie.
May 1939           - Beachley Old Boys' Association formed.
Sep 1946            - First BOBA Reunion held.
1st  Feb 1947     - Name changed to Army Apprentices School, and a new badge adopted.
Sep 1966            - Name changed again to Army Apprentices College
Apr 1994             - "New BOBA" formed.
Jun 1994             - Closure of College.
Sep 1994             - First Reunion Weekend at the Old Course Hotel (now renamed 'The Chepstow Hotel')
Sep 1999             - Celebration of 'Beachley - 75 Years' - Message from H.M. The Queen.
Nov 1999             - BOBA Veterans first London Cenotaph Parade (now an annual event).

 

AAS Deepcut 

Junior Leaders/Army Apprentices College RAOC was based at Deepcut, Surrey. 

Boys Training

In September 1949 the Boys Training School had moved from Aldershot to Haslar in Gosport, Hampshire under a new OC, Major R A J Wiggins, himself an ex-boy soldier. Major Wiggins set about improving standards, both in sports, for which there were excellent facilities, and in military and trade training and education. Recruiting improved as (for a time) did the quality and, in one case in particular, the physical size. The particular case was Boy Tett, who on joining at 15 years of age, was already 6’ 6” tall. 

Under Major Wiggins’s direction the famous “ToySoldiers” were formed in late 1950. They gave their first performance at a searchlight display on Portsmouth United’s football ground, Fratton Park, the curtain-raiser of some five years of publicity and recruiting displays up and down the country, including an appearance at the Royal Tournament in June 1952. Reporting on a display by the Toy Soldiers a year later, the London Star commented: Their precision drill in thestyle of uniform of Wellington’s day, has given them a reputation of being one of the Army’s best showpieces for recruiting boys over 15”.

But by 1955 the demand on the Toy Soldiers has become such that it was interfering with training, and with reluctance that particular activity had be discontinued. 

By 1953 the urge to recruit increased numbers of boy soldiers at the expense of quality caused overcrowding of the accommodation at Haslar, in Gosport , and discouraged intakes of a high standard. The error was put right by a purge of certain unsatisfactory elements, and by moving the unit back to Deepcut, Surrey in early 1954, to become a Company of 9 (Regular) Training Battalion, with Major W R Eccles taking command of the Company. In the autumn of the following year, the Company was divorced from 1 Battalion, once again becoming a separate unit as the Junior Leaders Battalion RAOC Boys’ School. At the same time the School became responsible for training REME boy entrants for the trades of clerk, store men and regimental duty men. 

There had been for some time dis-satisfaction within the Army over the term “boy soldier”. It was a dis-incentive to recruiting, and did not give a true image of the potential of the junior soldiers as the future NCOs of the Army and indeed, for a sizeable percentage, commissioned officers. Hence in 1957 the term “boy” was replaced by “Junior Leader” and the RAOC Boys’ School was re-titled the RAOC/REME Junior Leaders School. That this change was well-conceived is borne out by the fact that the RAOC junior leader recruiting figures for 1958 were double those for 1957.

A further change came in 1959 with the name of the establishment being changed again, this time to the RAOC/REME Junior Leaders Battalion. The appointment of CO was upgraded to Lieutenant Colonel, with Lieutenant Colonel J W Harley-Peters being appointed to the command.

Yet, while all those changes were occurring, there followed a decision made by the War Office in 1956, to group Boys’ units into large units of around 1,000. 

End of an Era

On 31st December 1985 the Junior Leaders/Army Apprentices College RAOC which was based at Deepcut, in Surrey, was disbanded. This marked the end of an era in which the Royal Army Ordnance Corps had its own cap badged junior service unit. 

 

AAS Harrogate

The Army Apprentices School, Harrogate (AAS Harrogate), established in 1947, was sited either side of Penny Pot Lane, outside Harrogate, North Yorkshire ... utilising Uniacke and Hildebrande Barracks. 
The first British Military Unit known to occupy the site on Penny Pot Lane was the 9th Field Training Regiment, Royal Artillery. They apparently used to fire their guns on the moors near Blubberhouses. They were disbanded in 1943. 
The next known use was by 116th General Hospital of the United States Army, from 28 July, 1944 to 11 May, 1945, for the purpose of clearing war casualties. 
Uniacke barracks was named after a Lieutenant General Sir Herbert Uniacke KCB KCMG, who was an Artillery Officer. He was born in 1866 & died in 1934. 
Hildebrand barracks was named after a Brigadier General Arthur Blois Ross Hildebrand CB CMG DSO. He was a Signals Officer who was born in 1870 & died in 1937. (Today's rank of Brigadier was actually titled Brigadier General in those times.) 
The School was renamed the Army Apprentices College, Harrogate (AAC Harrogate) in 1966 (in line with other such establishments) and thus remained so until its eventual closure after the Final Graduation Parade on 2 August, 1996.  

The Early Years  

Initially the School was housed in wooden huts until new purpose built accommodation was opened in 1965.


The College was established in 1947 as "The Army Apprentices School" and in its early years trained Apprentices for the RA, RE and R Sigs. In 1961 training for the RA and RE was transferred elsewhere, and since then the College trained apprentice tradesmen solely for telecommunications trades in the Royal Corps of Signals. 
In 1966 its title was changed from "The Army Apprentice School" to "The Army Apprentice College" and the badge of the College was changed to that of the Royal Corps of Signals. 
One of the College's greatest honours came in 1956 when it was adopted by the Borough of Harrogate in recognition of the close ties, which still exist, between the people of Harrogate and the college. In 1972 the College was granted the Freedom of the Borough of Harrogate. 

End of Army Apprentice training  

Although Army Apprentice training in the British Army has now ceased, there is still the opportunity for young men to join the Army's Technical Corps.  As Junior Soldiers they start their career at the Army Foundation College (AFC) in Harrogate.  

 

At the Army Foundation College, Harrogate (AFC(H)) they train the future soldiers from a wide variety of cap badges. For school leavers aged between 16 and 17 years and one month of age on joining, the AFC(H) offers a unique opportunity. Through first class military training and vocational education, the AFC(H) help recruits gain the soldiering skills needed in the modern Army, and to get a head start in a challenging and fulfilling career.  
Here, to start off with, they share a common Cap Badge, that of the AFC, with those recruits destined for the teeth arms. All Junior Soldiers spend 42 weeks at Harrogate, with the emphasis being on Military training, education, fitness and sports.  After an initial period of eight to ten weeks, those destined for the technical Corps such as REME, Royal Signals and Royal Engineers, exchange their College Cap Badges for those of the Corps they hope to join.  During the remainder of the year spent at Harrogate, each Junior Soldier has the opportunity to request a change of cap badge.   

Our thanks to 'Association of Harrogate Apprentices'  for allowing us to use some  of their data.

 

 

 

 

This Memorial stands just inside the entrance to the new Uniacke Barracks, now housing the Army Foundation College Harrogate.


MILITARY - BRITISH ARMY 

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