Category: Warminster: The School Of Infantry

Written by Major Frederick Myatt; from The School Of Infantry & Salisbury Plain, a booklet published in 1976:

The School of Infantry in its present form is largely a product of the Second World War, although some of its components have very much longer histories. The new organization had its origins in a GHQ Battle School, set up at Barnard Castle in County Durham in 1941. This school moved to [Imber Road at] Warminster in 1945, when it assumed its present title and functions. At that stage the only elements actually at Warminster were the Headquarters and the Tactical Wing, but it also incorporated various other infantry training establishments; these became wings of the main school but remained in their existing locations.

The oldest of them by far was the Small Arms Wing. This had been formed at Hythe, Kent, in 1853 as the School of Musketry, its principal function being to train instructors in the new and effective Enfield muzzle-loading percussion rifle which was then just coming into use, to test and evaluate new Infantry weapons, and to evolve a doctrine on everything pertaining to military small arms; with brief wartime intermissions it was to remain at Hythe for well over a hundred years. During this period it had, as we shall see, several changes of title but its role remained substantially unchanged, although it naturally extended its scope to cover the various other infantry small arms as they were adopted.

Support Weapons Wing started as a machine-gun school at Grantham in 1916, and moved in 1920 to Netheravon where it took over the barracks originally occupied by the old Cavalry School. It was thus the first element of the present School of Infantry to have had any direct connection with Salisbury Plain.

The School of Musketry changed its title to The Small Arms School in 1919, and in 1926 it was placed under command of Netheravon when it again changed its title to The Small Arms Wing. Three years later the two corps of Instructors were also amalgamated to form the modern Small Arms School Corps. In the 1930s Netheravon broadened its scope to cover the 2” mortar and the new 2-pounder anti-tank gun then just coming into service.

Soon after the outbreak of war the newly-amalgamated establishment was split back into its original constituents, becoming the Small Arms School and the Infantry Heavy Weapons School respectively. In 1947 the Small Arms School became the Platoon Weapons Wing but three years later changed its title to the more familiar Small Arms Wing. The Infantry Heavy Weapons School was closed briefly in 1947, but re-opened the next year in its old location with the new title of Support Weapons Wing. By that time, of course, both wings had become integral parts of the School of Infantry. Wartime improvements in communication had shown the need for specialized infantry training in this sphere and in 1950 a new Signal Wing was set up at Hythe, where suitable accommodation happened to be available.

Soon after the war it had been agreed in principle that tactical and weapon training should ideally be taught in the same location, and in 1968/9 Hythe was finally closed; when this happened the Small Arms Wing and the Signal Wing both moved to Warminster, the change being preceded by a major rebuild to provide the extra accommodation. It also involved the construction of several new rifle ranges which made serious inroads into the already rather limited area available for tactical training. It was originally planned to move Support Weapons Wing to Warminster and although this plan had to be shelved temporarily it is still proposed to implement it at some period in the future.

The role of the School of Infantry is to give advanced training to officers, warrant, and non-commissioned officers, principally in tactics, weapon training, and communications; the bulk of the students are infantrymen, but some all-arms courses are run. Many overseas students also attend courses at the School. A tactical wing for senior NCOs is also maintained at Brecon so as to take advantage of the facilities afforded by the Brecon Beacons. Until 1975 the School also ran a Jungle Warfare Wing in Malaya but this is now closed.

The land available to the School for training is known as the Salisbury Plain Training Area (West) and consists of a total of some 23,000 acres, all of it lying west of the Devizes-Tilshead road. Not all this is available for training however because the perimeter consists of an almost continuous protective belt of scheduled land which is rented to farmers; the total area of this is about 5,000 acres which reduces the true training area accordingly. Although the School has priority on the area it has no monopoly of it so that many other units, regular, TAVR, and Cadet Force, also use it regularly.

The School of Infantry has its own Demonstration Battalion. This was originally accommodated in a hutted camp at Knook, but in 1964 it moved into a new barracks standing just below the ancient Iron Age fortress of Battlesbury Hill from which it takes its title. There is also a resident Armoured Squadron detached from its parent regiment at the Royal Armoured Corps Centre at Bovington, while Gunner support is provided when required by the Royal School of Artillery at Larkhill.

In 1943 the Infantry received its own Director. At first this officer (a Major-General) and his staff were situated in the Ministry of Defence in London, but in 1965 the various Arms Directorates were dispersed to their Schools, the Directorate of Infantry coming to Warminster. The Directorate includes an Infantry Trials & Development Unit, and this too is located in Warminster.

In 1969 the Staff College set up a Junior Division to teach young captains the elements of Staff duties. This Division, although a part of the main Staff College at Camberley is also situated at Warminster. The only other major unit in the area is No.27 Command Workshops REME; this however is completely independent of the School of Infantry and will not therefore be referred to again.

The end of the Second World War gave the British Army surprisingly little respite. The war-time veterans, mostly temporary soldiers, went home thankfully to their civilian occupations leaving a vast number of post-war problems to their raw successors, whom a relatively small handful of experienced officers, warrant and non-commissioned officers were busily trying to train up to the required standards. The operations threw a great strain on the Army, and not least on its various Schools of Instruction, which worked unceasingly, and not unsuccessfully, to maintain the necessary efficiency. Memories are short, so that it may be as well to note from 1945 the British Army was actively occupied in Indonesia, India, Palestine, Eritrea, Malaya, Korea, Egypt, Kenya, Cyprus, Borneo, Radfan, and Aden. This list does not include minor interventions of a precautionary nature; nor of course does it mention Ulster where a large part of the Army, and in particular the Infantry, has been heavily involved since 1969.

The operations which took place in the quarter-century after the end of the war were very much in the nature of an Imperial rearguard, and when they were completed the British Army found itself split between the United Kingdom and Germany with only a few out-lying commitments. This necessarily involved the abandonment of the many vast training areas in North and East Africa and in the Far East, and it is principally this factor which has placed such a strain on the remaining small training grounds in the United Kingdom.

The British Army has a major commitment in NATO, and in view of the strength and attitude of the Eastern Bloc few will deny the need for strong and well trained forces in this role. One of the important factors in modern warfare is the need for mobility. Tanks are vulnerable without infantry, but tanks can move swiftly and safely over bullet swept ground where the infantryman could hardly hope to pass without heavy casualties. During the war it was customary to carry infantry actually on the tanks but this was in many ways unsatisfactory. It was not until 1944 that the 2nd Canadian Corps in Normandy improvised suitable infantry vehicles by removing the turrets from obsolete Honey tanks, which at a stroke gave the infantrymen the speed and protection which he had previously lacked. A section could ride relatively comfortably in one of these strange hybrids which had the additional advantage of a machine gun and a reliable wireless set.

The infantry now has its own purpose-built Armoured Personnel Carriers which offer speed, protection and communications comparable to those of a tank. The existence of these vehicles however poses a very real problem over space, for now a mixed force of Armour and Infantry (and of course Artillery if necessary) can roll across reasonable country at 15-20 mph. The Salisbury Plain Training Area (West) is roughly oval in shape and about 7 miles from East to West and about 4 miles North to South, so that its limitations in this respect are obvious. The situation is much aggravated by the range and power of modern weapons. All ranges point inwards towards the centre of the training area, of which large areas behind the targets have to be left clear when firing is in progress. People sometimes ask why the Army needs certain areas, because nothing seems to happen there; the answer to this is of course that quite often something is happening; bullets are falling into the area, and although they are invisible they are nevertheless lethal.

Another important requirement for the modern soldier is that he must be properly trained to fight amongst buildings, a fact that a glance at almost any television newsreel will instantly confirm. It is this fact which makes Imber village important, so important indeed that it has actually become necessary to construct new buildings to offer realistic conditions.

Written by Major Frederick Myatt; from The School Of Infantry & Salisbury Plain, a booklet published in 1976:

The School of Infantry in its present form is largely a product of the Second World War, although some of its components have very much longer histories. The new organization had its origins in a GHQ Battle School, set up at Barnard Castle in County Durham in 1941. This school moved to Warminster in 1945, when it assumed its present title and functions. At that stage the only elements actually at Warminster were the Headquarters and the Tactical Wing, but it also incorporated various other infantry training establishments; these became wings of the main school but remained in their existing locations.

The oldest of them by far was the Small Arms Wing. This had been formed at Hythe, Kent, in 1853 as the School of Musketry, its principal function being to train instructors in the new and effective Enfield muzzle-loading percussion rifle which was then just coming into use, to test and evaluate new Infantry weapons, and to evolve a doctrine on everything pertaining to military small arms; with brief wartime intermissions it was to remain at Hythe for well over a hundred years. During this period it had, as we shall see, several changes of title but its role remained substantially unchanged, although it naturally extended its scope to cover the various other infantry small arms as they were adopted.

Support Weapons Wing started as a machine-gun school at Grantham in 1916, and moved in 1920 to Netheravon where it took over the barracks originally occupied by the old Cavalry School. It was thus the first element of the present School of Infantry to have had any direct connection with Salisbury Plain.

The School of Musketry changed its title to The Small Arms School in 1919, and in 1926 it was placed under command of Netheravon when it again changed its title to The Small Arms Wing. Three years later the two corps of Instructors were also amalgamated to form the modern Small Arms School Corps. In the 1930s Netheravon broadened its scope to cover the 2” mortar and the new 2-pounder anti-tank gun then just coming into service.

Soon after the outbreak of war the newly-amalgamated establishment was split back into its original constituents, becoming the Small Arms School and the Infantry Heavy Weapons School respectively. In 1947 the Small Arms School became the Platoon Weapons Wing but three years later changed its title to the more familiar Small Arms Wing. The Infantry Heavy Weapons School was closed briefly in 1947, but re-opened the next year in its old location with the new title of Support Weapons Wing. By that time, of course, both wings had become integral parts of the School of Infantry. Wartime improvements in communication had shown the need for specialized infantry training in this sphere and in 1950 a new Signal Wing was set up at Hythe, where suitable accommodation happened to be available.

Soon after the war it had been agreed in principle that tactical and weapon training should ideally be taught in the same location, and in 1968/9 Hythe was finally closed; when this happened the Small Arms Wing and the Signal Wing both moved to Warminster, the change being preceded by a major rebuild to provide the extra accommodation. It also involved the construction of several new rifle ranges which made serious inroads into the already rather limited area available for tactical training. It was originally planned to move Support Weapons Wing to Warminster and although this plan had to be shelved temporarily it is still proposed to implement it at some period in the future.

The role of the School of Infantry is to give advanced training to officers, warrant, and non-commissioned officers, principally in tactics, weapon training, and communications; the bulk of the students are infantrymen, but some all-arms courses are run. Many overseas students also attend courses at the School. A tactical wing for senior NCOs is also maintained at Brecon so as to take advantage of the facilities afforded by the Brecon Beacons. Until 1975 the School also ran a Jungle Warfare Wing in Malaya but this is now closed.

The land available to the School for training is known as the Salisbury Plain Training Area (West) and consists of a total of some 23,000 acres, all of it lying west of the Devizes-Tilshead road. Not all this is available for training however because the perimeter consists of an almost continuous protective belt of scheduled land which is rented to farmers; the total area of this is about 5,000 acres which reduces the true training area accordingly. Although the School has priority on the area it has no monopoly of it so that many other units, regular, TAVR, and Cadet Force, also use it regularly.

The School of Infantry has its own Demonstration Battalion. This was originally accommodated in a hutted camp at Knook, but in 1964 it moved into a new barracks standing just below the ancient Iron Age fortress of Battlesbury Hill from which it takes its title. There is also a resident Armoured Squadron detached from its parent regiment at the Royal Armoured Corps Centre at Bovington, while Gunner support is provided when required by the Royal School of Artillery at Larkhill.

In 1943 the Infantry received its own Director. At first this officer (a Major-General) and his staff were situated in the Ministry of Defence in London, but in 1965 the various Arms Directorates were dispersed to their Schools, the Directorate of Infantry coming to Warminster. The Directorate includes an Infantry Trials & Development Unit, and this too is located in Warminster.

In 1969 the Staff College set up a Junior Division to teach young captains the elements of Staff duties. This Division, although a part of the main Staff College at Camberley is also situated at Warminster. The only other major unit in the area is No.27 Command Workshops REME; this however is completely independent of the School of Infantry and will not therefore be referred to again.

The end of the Second World War gave the British Army surprisingly little respite. The war-time veterans, mostly temporary soldiers, went home thankfully to their civilian occupations leaving a vast number of post-war problems to their raw successors, whom a relatively small handful of experienced officers, warrant and non-commissioned officers were busily trying to train up to the required standards. The operations threw a great strain on the Army, and not least on its various Schools of Instruction, which worked unceasingly, and not unsuccessfully, to maintain the necessary efficiency. Memories are short, so that it may be as well to note from 1945 the British Army was actively occupied in Indonesia, India, Palestine, Eritrea, Malaya, Korea, Egypt, Kenya, Cyprus, Borneo, Radfan, and Aden. This list does not include minor interventions of a precautionary nature; nor of course does it mention Ulster where a large part of the Army, and in particular the Infantry, has been heavily involved since 1969.

The operations which took place in the quarter-century after the end of the war were very much in the nature of an Imperial rearguard, and when they were completed the British Army found itself split between the United Kingdom and Germany with only a few out-lying commitments. This necessarily involved the abandonment of the many vast training areas in North and East Africa and in the Far East, and it is principally this factor which has placed such a strain on the remaining small training grounds in the United Kingdom.

The British Army has a major commitment in NATO, and in view of the strength and attitude of the Eastern Bloc few will deny the need for strong and well trained forces in this role. One of the important factors in modern warfare is the need for mobility. Tanks are vulnerable without infantry, but tanks can move swiftly and safely over bullet swept ground where the infantryman could hardly hope to pass without heavy casualties. During the war it was customary to carry infantry actually on the tanks but this was in many ways unsatisfactory. It was not until 1944 that the 2nd Canadian Corps in Normandy improvised suitable infantry vehicles by removing the turrets from obsolete Honey tanks, which at a stroke gave the infantrymen the speed and protection which he had previously lacked. A section could ride relatively comfortably in one of these strange hybrids which had the additional advantage of a machine gun and a reliable wireless set.

The infantry now has its own purpose-built Armoured Personnel Carriers which offer speed, protection and communications comparable to those of a tank. The existence of these vehicles however poses a very real problem over space, for now a mixed force of Armour and Infantry (and of course Artillery if necessary) can roll across reasonable country at 15-20 mph. The Salisbury Plain Training Area (West) is roughly oval in shape and about 7 miles from East to West and about 4 miles North to South, so that its limitations in this respect are obvious. The situation is much aggravated by the range and power of modern weapons. All ranges point inwards towards the centre of the training area, of which large areas behind the targets have to be left clear when firing is in progress. People sometimes ask why the Army needs certain areas, because nothing seems to happen there; the answer to this is of course that quite often something is happening; bullets are falling into the area, and although they are invisible they are nevertheless lethal.

Another important requirement for the modern soldier is that he must be properly trained to fight amongst buildings, a fact that a glance at almost any television newsreel will instantly confirm. It is this fact which makes Imber village important, so important indeed that it has actually become necessary to construct new buildings to offer realistic conditions.

1957

The Urban District Of Warminster Official Guide 1957/8 noted that:

The formation of the School Of Infantry in Warminster at the modern barracks on the Imber Road, makes it the frequent venue for many important foreign and other important visitors.