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Royal Army Medical Corps




  unit Name Royal Army Medical Corps
  caption Cap badge of the Royal Army Medical Corps
  country United Kingdom
  branch British Army
  motto In Arduis Fidelis
  anniversaries Corps Day (23 June)
  nickname ''The Linseed Lancers''
  march Quick: ''Here's a Health unto His Majesty'' (arr JA Thornburrow)<br>Slow: ''Her bright smile haunts me still'' (J Campbell)


The Royal Army Medical Corps ('''RAMC''') is a specialist Corps in the British Army which provides Medical services to all British Army personnel and their families in war and in peace. Together with the Royal Army Veterinary Corps , the Royal Army Dental Corps and Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps , the RAMC forms the British Army's essential Army Medical Services .

The RAMC does not carry a Regimental Colour or Queen's Colour , although it has a Regimental Flag. Nor does it have Battle Honour s, as elements of the corps have been present in almost every single war the army has fought. Because it is not a fighting arm, under the Geneva Conventions , members of the RAMC may only use their weapons for self-defence. For this reason, there are two traditions that the RAMC perform when on parade:
  • Officers do not draw their swords - instead they hold their scabbard with their left hand while saluting with their right.

  • Other Ranks do not fix Bayonets .


Unlike medical officers in some other countries, medical officers in the RAMC (and the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force ) do not use the "Dr" prefix, in parentheses or otherwise, but only their rank, although they may be addressed informally as "Doctor".


INSIGNIA

The RAMC, like every other British regiment, has its own distinctive unit insignia.
  • Dark blue Beret , the default Army colour worn by units without distinctive coloured berets. The exception is members of 225 Scottish General Support Medical Regiment (previously Field Ambulance), who wear the traditional Scottish Tam O' Shanter headdress with Corps badge on tartan backing, and medical personnel attached to field units with distinctive coloured berets, who usually wear the beret of that unit (e.g. maroon for The Parachute Regiment and sky blue for the Army Air Corps ).

  • Cap Badge depicting the Rod Of Asclepius , surmounted by a crown, enclosed within a laurel wreath, with the regimental motto ''In Arduis Fidelis'', translated as "Faithful in Adversity" in a scroll beneath. The cap badge is worn 1 inch above the left eye on the beret. The cap badge of the other ranks must also be backed by an oval patch of dull cherry-red coloured cloth sewn directly to the beret. Officers do not use the backing, but have a sewn-on cloth cap badge instead.

  • Silver regimental collar pins (collar dogs), a miniature of the cap badge.

  • Stable Belt comprising equal horizontal bands of (from top to bottom) dull cherry, royal blue, and old gold, reflecting the old uniform worn in the 1900s (dull cherry and royal blue), the gold depicting the royal in the title.

  • Silver belt buckle with engraved regimental badge




HISTORY


Medical services in the British military go as far back as the formation of the Standing Regular Army after the Restoration of Charles II in 1660 . This was the first time a career was provided for a Medical Officer (MO), known as the Regimental Surgeon, both in peacetime and in war. The Army was formed entirely on a regimental basis, and a MO with a Warrant Officer as his Assistant Surgeon was appointed to each regiment, which also provided a hospital. The MO was also for the first time concerned in the continuing health of his troops, and not limited to just Battlefield Medicine . This regimental basis of appointment for MOs continued until it was abolished in 1873.

In 1898 , Officer s and Soldier s providing medical services were incorporated into one body known by its present name, the Royal Army Medical Corps.

The RAMC began to develop during the Boer War, but it was during the First World War that it reached its apogee both in size and experience. During Britain's colonial days the RAMC had set up clinics and hospitals in countries where British troops could be found.

In modern times it has once again contracted and its main bases, the Queen Alexandra Hospital Millbank, and the Cambridge Military Hospital, Aldershot, have now closed.


COLONELS-IN-CHIEF




ORDER OF PRECEDENCE


  Before Royal Logistic Corps
  Title Order Of Precedence



SUCCESSIVE CHANGES IN TITLE


  • Medical Staff Corps (1855–1857) (other ranks only)

  • Army Hospital Corps (1857–1884) (other ranks only)

  • Army Medical Department (1873–1898) (officers only)

  • Medical Staff Corps (1884–1898) (other ranks only)

  • Royal Army Medical Corps (1898–present)



GALLANTRY AWARDS



TRADES/CAREERS IN THE 21ST CENTURY


RAMC Officer Careers:

RAMC Soldier Trades:


SEE ALSO




REFERENCES


  • Blair, J.S.G. ''Centenary History of the Royal Army Medical Corps, 1898–1998''. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press, 1998.

  • Brereton, F.S. ''The Great War and the RAMC.'' London: Constable, 1919.

  • Lovegrove, P. ''Not Least in the Crusade.'' A Short History of the RAMC. Gale and Polden, 1955.




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