Royal Military Academy, Woolwich

The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Signals and other technical corps.

The RMA was founded in 1741. It was intended to provide an education and produce "good officers of Artillery and perfect Engineers". RMA Woolwich was commonly known as "The Shop" because its first building was a converted workshop of the Woolwich Arsenal.

Notable teachers at Woolwich included Frederick Augustus Abel, Peter Barlow, Samuel Hunter Christie, Adair Crawford, Percy MacMahon, Paul Sandby and James Joseph Sylvester.

A second academy, known as the Royal Military College (RMC), was opened at Sandhurst, Berkshire in 1799 to train officers for the infantry and cavalry.

Both were closed at the start of the Second World War in 1939. The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst opened in 1947 as an amalgamation of both institutions. As of 2008 the Woolwich buildings are being converted and extended into 334 houses and apartments, including 150 for a housing association. [1]

The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Collection contains displays the history of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, The Royal Military College and the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. The collection includes the Royal Military Academy's gentlemen cadet registers, historic archive, uniforms, paintings, photographs and other artifacts. Visits are by appointment only. There is also an Army Museum.

External links

• Inside the RMA after closure
• History of the Royal Military Academy
• A dozen images of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst