General Service Corps

The General Service Corps (GSC) is a corps of the British Army.

General Service Corps
Cap Badge of the General Service Corps
Active	1942–
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Role	For specialists, not allocated to a regiment or corps.
Beret	Dark blue
Insignia
Tactical recognition flash

Role

The role of the corps is to provide specialists, who are usually on the Special List or General List.^[1] These lists were used in both World Wars for specialists and those not allocated to other regiments or corps.^[2] In World War II, they were used for male operatives of the Special Operations Executive (female operatives joined the FANY).^[3][4]

History

The General Service Corps itself was formed in February 1942.^[5] From 2 July 1942, army recruits were enlisted in the corps for their first six weeks so that their subsequent posting could take account of their skills and the Army's needs.^[6][7] A similar role, holding some recruits pending allocation to their units, continues today.^{[8][9][10][11]} Bermuda Militia Infantry soldiers absorbed into the Bermuda Militia Artillery before demobilisation in 1946 wore the General Service Corps cap badge instead of the Royal Artillery cap badge.^[12]

Insignia

Bermuda Militia Infantry soldiers wearing the General Service Corps cap badge

From 1914, for the General List and later the General Service Corps, the cap badge has been the Royal Arms, with variously a king's or a queen's crown, depending on the reigning monarch. It bears the motto of the monarch Dieu et mon droit and the Order of the Garter motto Honi soit qui mal y pense.^[13] As a result, a GSC nickname was "Crosse and Blackwell" after the firm whose tins and jar labels had a prominent royal coat of arms.^[14] The same capbadge has been used for other British Army regiments and corps for which no unique badge has been authorised, including the Royal Reserve Regiments, the later Royal Garrison Regiment, and the Bermuda Militia Infantry.^[15]

Notable personnel

Notable members of the General List/General Service Corps include:

• Terence Atherton^[16]
• Walter Freud^[17]
• Peter Lake^[18][19]
• T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia)^[20]
• Bob Maloubier^[21]
• John Pendlebury^[22]
• Tracy Philipps^[23]
• Arthur Staggs^[24]
• Enoch Powell^[25]

Order of precedence

The corps is twenty-second in the British Army's order of precedence.^[26]

Preceded by Royal Army Physical Training Corps

Order of Precedence

Succeeded by Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps

References

1. "Combat Service Support". armedforces.co.uk. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
2. Imperial War Museum. "Badge, Headdress, British, General Service Corps". Retrieved 8 November 2017.
3. Foot, M R D (2006). SOE in France: An Account of the Work of the British Special Operations Executive in France 1940–1944. Routledge.
4. Tillotson, M (2001). SOE and the Resistance as Told in the Times Obituaries. London: Continuum. p. xii.
5. "New General Service Corps Created", The Times, 21 February 1942
6. William H. Beveridge (2014) [1943]. The Pillars of Security (Works of William H. Beveridge). Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-317-57304-3.
7. "Sorting Out Recruits: Work of General Service Corps", The Times, 17 July 1942
8. Vila, Maurice. "WW2 People's War". BBC. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
9. Pigott, A J K (1960). Manpower Problems: The Second World War 1939–1945. London: The War Office.
10. Crang, J A (2000). The British Army and the People's War 1939–1945. Manchester University Press. p. 14. ISBN 978-0719047411.
11. Heyman, C (2012). The British Army Guide 2012–2013. Pen and Sword Military. p. 144.
12. The Bermuda Regiment website: Brief History of the Bermuda Regiment
13. Imperial War Museum. "Badge, Headdress, British, General Service Corps". Retrieved 8 November 2017.
14. Waugh, Evelyn (1977). Put Out More Flags. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 978-0316926157.
15. Metcalfe, Nick (4 November 2016). "The Royal Reserve Regiments and The Royal Garrison Regiment". Nick Metcalfe: Author & Researcher. Nick Metcalfe. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
16. Williams, Heather (2002). Parachutes, patriots and partisans: the Special Operations Executive and Yugoslavia, 1941 - 1945. C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd. pp. 65–69. ISBN 1-85065-592-8.
17. van den Vat, Dan (9 March 2004). "Walter Freud Obituary". THe Guardian. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
18. Lake, Peter (12 July 2009). "Daily Telegraph Obituary". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
19. Perrin, Nigel. "Peter Lake". Retrieved 9 November 2017.
20. "Major Thomas Edward LAWRENCE". The National Archives. The National Archives. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
21. Davidson, Phil (27 April 2015). "Bob Maloubier Obituary". The Independent. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
22. Grundon, Imogen (2007). The Rash Adventurer: A Life of John Pendlebury. Libri. ISBN 978-1901965063.
23. "Supplement to the London Gazette, 6 February, 1922" (PDF). The London Gazette. p. 1062. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
24. Staggs, Arthur (20 October 2013). "Arthur Staggs Obituary". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
25. The London Gazette, Issue 34855 (Supplement), 24 May 1940, 3097, 3101
26. The Queen's Regulations for the Army, Chapter 8, Ceremonial (PDF). Retrieved 9 November 2017.