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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
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:
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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.
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The Torch stands for learning and for training the mind and body on good sound health lines.
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The Crossed Swords stand for the Military virtues of discipline, steadfastness and devotion to duty.
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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
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.
AAS Chepstow - 'Where boys became men'
Notable Dates in the history of Beachley.
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 Early Years
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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.
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.
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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