Senior Officers' School
| Senior Officers' School | |
|---|---|
 Senior Officers' School at Earlstoke Park House (destroyed by fire in 1950). | |
| Active | 1916–1961 |
| Country |
 United Kingdom |
| Branch |
 British Army |
| Type | Training |
| Role | Senior Army Officer Training |
| Garrison/HQ | Erlestoke Park, Wiltshire, England |
The Senior Officers' School was a British military establishment established in 1916 by Brigadier-General R.J. Kentish for the training of Commonwealth senior officers of all services in inter-service cooperation. It was established as part of a wider attempt by the British Army to create a coherent training plan for its officers.
The School was originally intended for senior officers of the British Army who aspired to battalion command and to ensure that all such candidates received suitable training. It was taken as an affront by some senior officers of the day, who resented the implication–true in some cases–that they were incapable of delivering the necessary training. The School attempted to widen officers' outlook by including in its syllabus subjects that were not immediately military but led to an appreciation of the wider political, geographical and technological environment in which the British Army would operate.[1]
The School was originally based at Aldershot but in the 1920s, it was transferred to Sheerness. It then moved to Erlestoke Park in Wiltshire in 1939 where it continued to operate until June 1950 when a major fire caused it to move to the wings of the house; the school closed completely in 1961.[2]
There was also a parallel establishment, the Senior Officers' School, Belgaum, at Belgaum in India.[1]
Alumni
- John Caunter, Brigadier, British Army[3]
- Andrew Cunningham, Admiral of the Fleet, Royal Navy[4]
- Kenneth Leask, Air Vice-Marshal, Royal Air Force[5]
- John Northcott, Lieutenant General, Australian Army[6][7]
- Evered Poole, Major General, South African Army
- Edmond Schreiber, Lieutenant-General
- John Tovey, Admiral of the Fleet, Royal Navy
- John Tyssen, Air Commodore, Royal Air Force[8]
- John Vereker, Field Marshal, British Army[9]
- Douglas Wimberley, Major General, British Army[10]
References
- 1 2 Kennedy, Gregory (2006). Military education: past, present, and future. Information Age Pub. Inc. ISBN 978-1-59311-407-7. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
- ↑ "Wiltshire Archives". Retrieved 11 January 2015.
- ↑ "Caunter, Brig John Alan Lyde (1889-1981)". AIM25. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
- ↑ "Admiral of the Fleet Sir Andrew Browne Cunningham". Royal Navy Flag Officers 1904-1945. 18 October 2007. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
- ↑ "Air Vice-Marshal Kenneth Malise St. Clair Graeme Leask". Air of Authority. 7 July 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
- ↑ "General Sir John Northcott, KCMG, KCVO, MVO, CB, KstJ". Unofficial history of the Australian & New Zealand Armed Services. 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
- ↑ Coates, H. J. (2014). "Sir John Northcott". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
- ↑ "Command of a Group". Flight. XXXI (1435): 355. 8 April 1937. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
- ↑ Rickard, J. (19 February 2008). "John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort, 1886-1946". Military History Encyclopedia on the Web. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
- ↑ "Major General D. N. Wimberley CB DSO MC DL LLD". The National Archives. 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2014.