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A number of Indians received their pre-commission training at the Royal Military College Sandhurst in the early 1900s.
Brig M. P. Singh (retd) visits the famous academy in the UK which has artefacts and memorabilia of the British Indian Army
On October 1, last year, the day IMA started its first course 75 years ago, I sent a complimentary copy of my book History of the Indian Military Academy to the Commandant, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS), Major Gen D.J. Rutherford Jones. The Commandant reciprocated by inviting me to visit the academy in the UK. I accepted the offer and visited the academy on October 29. My fascination for the institution is due to the known Indian connection as prior to the establishment of the IMA, Dehra Dun, in 1932, some selected Indians got their pre-commission training at Sandhurst and its sister institution Royal Military Academy in Woolwich between 1919 and 1934. The entry to the RMAS is made from the majestic main gate opposite Camberley Town Centre, 39 miles from Central London. The guardroom at the gate was manned by armed sentries of the Royal Gorkha Rifles, a regiment which is retained in the British Army even after 1947. After signing the visitor book, Captain Louisa Clarke of Intelligence Corps and an alumnus of the academy, was my liaison officer throughout my visit. She took me to the Commandant’s Office located at the Academy HQ, after we skirted a beautiful lake in the car. My meeting with the Commandant lasted about 15 minutes during which we discussed the IMA and the RMAS over a cup of tea. Then we posed for a photograph against the background of a portrait of Field Marshal Slim (of Burma fame), which adorns the Commandant’s Office. Thereafter, I was taken to Old College, an imposing building which has a big drill square in front. The atmosphere was calm and serene and everything was spic and span and laid out as if in inspection order. Soon a drill class started and the drill instructor’s words of command brought the Gentlemen Cadet squad marching smartly and briskly up and down in ‘chase march’. The steps to the building have a French cannon on each side, which had been captured at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. I was told that the custom of the Adjutant riding a horse up the steps at the Sovereign’s Parade dates back to 1926. A similar custom is followed at the IMA after each Passing-out Parade by the adjutant entering the portals of the famous Chetwode Hall building on the horseback. The steps open into the porch which in turn opens into a big gallery followed by a big room called Indian Army Memorial Room. This room was once used as a dining room where Sir Winston Churchill dined while a Gentleman Cadet in the 1890s. The crests hanging from the walls, medals on display, portraits and other artefacts are also memorabilia of the British Indian Army. Adjoining the Memorial Room, there are panels which depict the role of several Indian Divisions, which fought during World War II. There is a big silver trophy on display to mark that service.
Behind Old College there is Addiscombe Block, which is named after Military College Addiscombe, which was started in 1810 and closed in 1858 after the Mutiny. This institution trained officers for the Presidency Armies of India. The pre-mutiny building was sold to developers in 1860. They razed it to the ground with dynamite in anger. Five parallel roads were laid out at the site, namely Canning, Clyde, Elgin, Havelock and Outram, all named after individuals who were prominent in the suppression of the Mutiny. But the Royal Military College Sandhurst and Royal Military Academy in Woolwich together were unable to meet requirement of officers of the three Presidency Armies in India. In 1862, a new block was completed to accommodate Cadets from Addiscombe and it was named Addiscombe Block, which still is in use by Gentlemen Cadets of Sandhurst. During my discussion with the Commandant, I learnt that the Royal Military College, established in 1802, was closed in September 1939 for permanent commissions. Thereafter it was re-appropriated for training officers for Short Service Commission. The IMA, which was established in 1932, also came to be re-appropriated partially as an Officer Training School for training British European subjects for national service. Post-War RMAS
The Royal Military Academy reopened at Sandhurst in 1947, emerging from the two pre-war institutions — the Royal Military College Sandhurst and the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich. The archives, pictures, status and silver were all brought to Sandhurst from Woolwich and formed part of the new academy. The institution completed 60 years in 2007 and is quietly but elegantly celebrating its diamond jubilee under its commandant Maj Gen DJ Rutherford Jones, an armoured Corps officer of ability. A unique feature of the RMAS is its new science block, called Faraday Hall, named after Sir Michael Faraday, a distinguished scientist who taught at the RMA in Woolwich. The RMAS started with 18-month courses, which were increased to two years later. The whole academy is controlled by Academy HQ under a Major General as commandant, and it was organised into three Colleges, called Old, New and Victory, each with a battalion and four companies. Each college consisted of cadets at different stages of training. The long course included military subjects of drill, physical training, tactics, field craft, and weapon training with stress on leadership qualities. The motto is to lead". The futility of running three separate courses at Sandhurst, that is, the Standard Miltary Course for non-graduates, the standard Graduates Course for graduates and the Women’s Standard Course necessitated numerous changes in the system. As a result, all these courses were discontinued in September 1992 and replaced by the Commissioning Course. Thereafter all graduate and non-graduate men and woman are trained on the same course at the RMAS. Colonel Roy Parkinson on the staff of the academy told me that there was no difficulty in running a common course for men and women and that the RMAS has adapted itself well to the new course.
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