Royal Military College Duntroon

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Royal Military College Duntroon

The Royal Military College Duntroon (RMC, often simply known as Duntroon ) is a military academy in the Australian capital of Canberra . It is located in the Duntroon district at the foot of Mount Pleasant , near the headquarters of the Department of Defense . The Australian Defense Force Academy is located next door . The task of the institution, founded in 1911, is to prepare candidates for a career as a professional officer.

history

William Bridges

The Royal Military College Duntroon was opened on June 27, 1911 by William Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley , the then Governor General of Australia . It was built on the site of the former homestead Duntroon of the family of Robert Campbell , which according Duntrune Castle in Argyll ( Scotland was named). The college was one of the first federal government institutions in the newly created capital. The government initially rented the one and a half square kilometer property from November 1910 and finally acquired it in July 1912.

The college's first in command was Brigadier General William Bridges , who later died on a hospital ship after being wounded by a sniper on the Gallipoli coast . On his recommendations, the college was modeled on the Royal Military College of Canada , the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and the United States Military Academy . Several British officers, including Lieutenant Colonel Charles Gwynn as director of military arts, were assigned to the newly formed college as lecturers. During Bridges' frequent absence, Gwynn served as the assistant commandant.

The First World War gave the college the first chance to prove his worth. When the war broke out in August 1914, however, the first class had not had enough time to complete the full Duntroon course. However, the government decided to complete the class early so that it could be sent to Gallipoli, where General Ian Hamilton , Commander of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, said that "... every officer trained in Duntroon ... was worth his weight in gold". During the war, 158 Duntroon graduates had been sent on active duty overseas, 42 of whom were killed and another 58 wounded. In 1927 the Duke of York (later King George VI ) presented the college with the royal standard.

Parade of the Kadattten (ca.1920)

Initially, the college offered a four-year course, with the first two years focused on civilian subjects and the last two on military subjects. However, there was military-specific training throughout the course, including physical training, drill, signaling, and weapon handling. However, with the effects of the two world wars, the duration and focus of the course changed over the years, as the demands of the army made it necessary. Due to the economic downturn, by the global economic crisis was caused, the college had to save money from 1931 to 1936 in the Victoria Barracks in Sydney move.

During the Second World War the college ran short courses from six months to a year. Eventually, 696 graduates were in active service overseas, in either the Australian, British, or New Zealand armed forces, while a further 122 non-graduate cadets served in various roles. Of these 122, three had remarkable careers: one rose to the rank of brigadier in the Australian army, another to that of brigadier in the New Zealand army, and a third to the rank of lieutenant general in the British-Indian army and chief of staff in the newly formed army of Pakistan .

After the end of the war, the duration of the course was again fixed at four years and efforts were made to increase the academic rigor in the college's programs. This culminated in 1967 when the college partnered with the University of New South Wales (UNSW) to offer undergraduate courses in arts, science or technology from the 1968 academic year . In 1971 the first RMC degrees were awarded under this program. To graduate, the cadets had to pass both military and academic studies and leadership positions. Relations with UNSW nearly ended in 1969 when the college was the focus of an investigation: Gerry Walsh, a member of the academic staff, uncovered details of systematic harassment reported to him by a college student. The investigation resulted in the end of at least one military career while other employees received severe sentences. In 1983 a similar scandal was exposed.

With the closure of the Officers' Cadet School in Portsea in December 1985 and the officer training department for women in Georges Heights near Sydney a year earlier, Duntroon had become the only training facility for officers in the Australian Army. All regular army officers who served in combat units, combat support, or service support corps were required to complete training courses in Duntroon to enter service. In 1986 the role of the college changed again with the establishment of the Australian Defense Force Academy (AFDA). As a result of this change, Duntroon no longer offered university degrees, as the ADFA was now responsible for the academic training of cadets in the Army as well as the Air Force and the Navy. That same year the college celebrated its 75th anniversary. In recognition of this, the Australian Post issued a 33-cent stamp with the head of a male officer cadet; the first issue date was June 27, 1986.

As of 1995, the college was responsible for the initial military training of all full-time, part-time and special duty officers in the Australian Army. This led to the centralization of all officer training courses under the auspices of the college. This also included short courses for special duty officers such as doctors, nurses, lawyers and chaplains, as well as the implementation of the last module of the training continuum for reserve officers. For a short period of time, reserve officers completed an abbreviated six-month version of the full-time course. For the full-time general course cadets, however, the program remained essentially unchanged from the program introduced after the ADFA was founded, when the course was reduced to 18 months and divided into three different classes.

Anonymous reviews of officer training in 2007 uncovered racism and harassment of female recruits. In 2011, future MP Andrew Wilkie admitted being both a victim and a perpetrator while in Duntroon. Also in 2011 the college celebrated its centenary. As part of the celebrations, Queen Elizabeth II presented the college with a new standard.

building

Officers mess
Anzac Memorial Chapel of St Paul
Changi Chapel

The college is located at the foot of Mount Pleasant on the Duntroon Estate. The base is one of the few military facilities in Australia that is open to the public and includes a large area with a golf course, library, residential area for military personnel and their families, various logistics and infrastructure units, a military hospital, a retail area, extensive sports facilities and the Australian Defense Force Academy .

The ship's bell of the MV Duntroon (which served as a troop transport ship from 1942 to 1949) was removed when the ship was sold by its Australian owners in 1960 and given to the college in 1978. It is rung daily as part of the Cadets' flag parade. Many of the original buildings from the time the college opened in 1911 still exist, are still in use, and are listed buildings. An example of this is the officers' mess known as Duntroon House , an imposing stone building originally built as the home of the Campbell family.

On April 30, 1966, the Anzac Memorial Chapel of St Paul was opened. The chapel has a common foyer with two specific chapels: on the one hand Anglican / Protestant, on the other hand Roman Catholic. Standards that are no longer used will be displayed in the foyer. There is also an eternal light in the foyer that shines while former cadets are on duty with the Australian Defense Force . Next door is the Changi Chapel, which was built in Singapore in 1944 by Australian prisoners of war, reconstructed on the site and re-inaugurated in August 1988.

Commanders

Some of the most famous commanders of the Royal Military College Duntroon include:

  • 1910–1914: William Bridges , first chief of the Australian General Staff
  • 1933–1935: John Lavarack , Commander in Chief of the First Australian Army and Governor of Queensland
  • 1949–1951: Henry Wells , Chief of the Australian General Staff
  • 1997–1998: Peter Cosgrove , Governor General of Australia

literature

  • Jason Hedges: Royal Military College of Australia 1911-2011: Celebrating 100 Years at Duntroon . Big Sky Publishing, Newport 2012, ISBN 978-1-921941-47-4 .
  • Steve Hart: Duntroon: Its Heritage and Sacred Legacy . Defense Publishing Service, Canberra 2009, ISBN 978-0-642-29697-9 .
  • Jeffrey Gray : A Military History of Australia . Cambridge University Press, Melbourne 2008, ISBN 978-0-521-69791-0 .
  • Darren Moore: Duntroon: The Royal Military College of Australia 1911-2001 . Royal Military College of Australia, Canberra 2001, ISBN 978-0-7315-1377-2 .
  • Peter Dennis, Jeffrey Gray, Ewan Morris, Robin Prior: The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History . Oxford University Press, Melbourne 1995, ISBN 0-19-553227-9 .
  • Chris Coulthard-Clark: Duntroon. The Royal Military College of Australia, 1911-1986 . Allen & Unwin, Sydney 1986, ISBN 978-0-86861-883-8 .

Web links

Commons : Royal Military College, Duntroon  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Dennis et al .: The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History. P. 521.
  2. ↑ Hart: Duntroon: Its Heritage and Sacred Legacy. P. 18.
  3. ^ Coulthard-Clark: Duntroon. The Royal Military College of Australia, 1911-1986. P. 32.
  4. ^ Gray: A Military History of Australia. P. 79.
  5. ^ Gavin Long: Gwynn, Sir Charles William (1870–1963) . In: Douglas Pike (Ed.): Australian Dictionary of Biography . Volume 9. Melbourne University Press, Carlton (Victoria) 1983, ISBN 0-522-84273-9 (English).
  6. ^ Ernest Scott: Australia during the war . In: Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918 . tape XI . Angus and Robertson, Sydney 1941.
  7. ^ Hedges: Royal Military College of Australia 1911-2011: Celebrating 100 Years at Duntroon. P. 273.
  8. ↑ a b Dennis et al .: The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History. P. 522.
  9. ↑ George Odgers: Army Australia: An Illustrated History . Child & Associates, Frenchs Forest 1988, ISBN 0-86777-061-9 , pp. 108 .
  10. ^ Coulthard-Clark: Duntroon. The Royal Military College of Australia, 1911-1986. P. 152.
  11. ^ Moore: Duntroon: The Royal Military College of Australia 1911-2001. P. 402.
  12. ^ Coulthard-Clark: Duntroon. The Royal Military College of Australia, 1911-1986. Pp. 140, 210.
  13. ^ Ross Eastgate: Bully tactics indefensible. Townsville Bulletin April 25, 2011, archived from the original September 13, 2012 ; accessed on February 27, 2020 (English).
  14. ^ Coulthard-Clark: Duntroon. The Royal Military College of Australia, 1911-1986. P. 252.
  15. ^ Dennis et al .: The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History. P. 523.
  16. ^ Pre-Stamped Envelope - Australia - 75th Anniversary Royal Military College. Indian Stamp Ghar, December 28, 2009, accessed February 27, 2020 .
  17. ↑ Hart: Duntroon: Its Heritage and Sacred Legacy. P. 19.
  18. ^ Moore: Duntroon: The Royal Military College of Australia 1911-2001. P. 140.
  19. ↑ Cynthia Banham: Racism, abuse: army training in time warp. The Sydney Morning Herald , May 3, 2007, accessed February 27, 2020 .
  20. ^ Wilkie, Defense to Combat Bullying Together. Australian Broadcasting Corporation , April 19, 2011, accessed February 27, 2020 .
  21. ↑ Queen presents new royal colors to mark Duntroon's 100th anniversary year. The Australian , October 22, 2011; archived from the original on June 1, 2012 ; accessed on February 27, 2020 (English).
  22. ↑ Map. (PDF, 1 MB) Royal Military College Duntroon, accessed on February 27, 2020 (English).
  23. ^ Coulthard-Clark: Duntroon. The Royal Military College of Australia, 1911-1986. P. 240.
  24. ^ Bill MacMahon: The Architecture of East Australia . Edition Axel Menges, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-930698-90-0 , p. 139 .
  25. ^ Hedges: Royal Military College of Australia 1911-2011: Celebrating 100 Years at Duntroon. P. 215.
  26. ^ Coulthard-Clark: Duntroon. The Royal Military College of Australia, 1911-1986. P. 266.
  27. ^ Moore: Duntroon: The Royal Military College of Australia 1911-2001. P. 428.

Coordinates: 35 ° 17 ′ 59 ″  S , 149 ° 9 ′ 54 ″  E