Royal Army Physical Training Corps
| Royal Army Physical Training Corps | |
|---|---|
 Badge of the Royal Army Physical Training Corps | |
| Active | 1860–present |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  British Army |
| HQ | Aldershot Garrison |
| Motto(s) | Mens sana in corpore sano (A healthy mind in a healthy body) |
| March | Be Fit |
| Commanders | |
| Territorial commander | Major R.J. Morley |
| Insignia | |
| Tactical Recognition Flash |  |
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| Arms of the British Army |
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| Combat Arms |
| Combat Support Arms |
| Combat Services |
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The Royal Army Physical Training Corps (RAPTC) is the British Army corps responsible for physical fitness and physical education and has been headquartered in Aldershot since its foundation in 1860. Its members are all Royal Army Physical Training Corps Instructors (RAPTCIs).
History
During the Crimean War about 27,000 British troops died - the majority not as a result of wounds in battle but of disease.[1] Investigations after the War concluded that so many had died because of their poor physical condition, resulting in their inability to fight off the effects of the diseases. In 1860 a number of military reforms began, including an investigation of methods of improving the physical fitness of soldiers in the Army. In 1859 the War Office sent Colonel Frederick William Hamilton and Dr. Thomas Galbraith Logan, the Inspector General of Hospitals, to France and Prussia to report on the physical training systems in the armies in those countries. Their report stated that the French army had had a gymnastic physical training regime since the 1840s, with a central gymnastics training school founded in 1852; while the Prussian army had introduced military gymnastics training in 1842. Hamilton firmly advised that the War Office should institute a similar system of gymnastics training for the British Army.[2]
Major
Members of the AGS were based at the newly built military gymnasiums where they trained soldiers in the new physical training techniques. Other members of the AGS joined Army units where they trained soldiers in fencing, gymnastics and other elements of physical training in addition to organising recreational sporting activities. As a result of the new exercise regime the sickness and mortality rates in the British Army decreased and the reforms were approved in the 1864 Report on Gymnastic Instruction in the Army.[6]
The Army Gymnastic Staff was renamed the Army Physical Training Staff in 1918 and was given corps status as the Army Physical Training Corps by Army Order 165 in 1940.[6]
Notable former Army Physical Training Instructors include Nik Stuart, a former National Gymnastic Coach,[7] and Olympic medallists Kriss Akabusi[8] and Kelly Holmes.[9]
At the
Characteristics
The corps
It is not possible to join the RAPTC directly from civilian life. Prospective PTIs must first join another regiment or corps and then qualify as Regimental All Arms Physical Training Instructor (AAPTI) after an eight-week course at the ASPT. They then return to their own unit and only after further experience can they attend selection for the RAPTC. If they pass the selection course they follow a 30-week training course before qualifying as Advanced PTIs and transferring to the RAPTC as an RAPTCI.[11][12]
See also
References
- ^ Christodoulou, Glenn 'Nightingale at Scutari: death and disease in the Crimean War', Journal of the Crimean War Research Society, Volume 14, No. 2, July 1996
- ^ a b Campbell, James Dunbar "The army isn't all work": Physical culture in the evolution of the British army, 1860-1920, PhD Thesis - The University of Maine DigitalCommons@UMaine (2003), p. 43
- ^ Biography of Archibald MacLaren, ATHLOS: a website dedicated to athletics literature
- ^ History of the Oxford Gymnasium, Oxford History: Schools
- ^ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(ODNB) (subscription required)
- ^ a b c d "Corps History". Royal Army Physical Training Corps Museum. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
- ^ "Nik Stuart". The Telegraph. 29 June 2002. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- ^ "Kriss Akabusi MBE". Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- ^ "Royal Army Physical Training Corps". army.mod.uk. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
- ^ "Quick Marches of the British Armed Forces". Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- ^ "Royal Army Physical Training Corps: Recruiting". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- ^ "British Army Physical Training Instructor Course Overview". Boot Camp & Military Fitness Institute. 2013-03-31. Retrieved 2019-04-09.
Further reading
- Bogdanovic, Nikolai (2017-12-19). Fit to Fight: A History of the Royal Army Physical Training Corps 1860-2015. Bloomsbury. ISBN 9781472824219.
- Campbell, James D. (2016-03-16). 'The Army Isn't All Work': Physical Culture and the Evolution of the British Army, 1860–1920. Routledge. ISBN 9781317044536.
- Mason, Tony; Riedi, Eliza (2010-11-04). Sport and the Military: The British Armed Forces 1880–1960. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139788977.
External links
- Royal Army Physical Training Corps – on British Army official website
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