Royal Army Pay Corps Farewell Parade, 1992
Print from a watercolour by Kate Dicker, 1992
This picture records the last occasion that the Royal Army Pay Corps exercised its right to march through Winchester bearing arms before becoming part of the newly formed Adjutant General's Corps.
The Royal Army Pay Corps was formed in 1878 to distribute pay and allowance to all ranks in the army including their wives and dependents. Due to its services during the Peninsula War the association was granted the title of Royal. In 1992 the corps was merged with the Corps of Royal Military Police, the Military Provost Staff Corps, The Royal Army Educational Corps and the Army Legal Corps to form the Adjutant General's Corps.
The Freedom of Entry to the City of Winchester was originally bestowed upon the Royal Army Pay Corps in 1970 and the honour was transferred to the AGC with the merger. The Royal Army Pay Corps had been based in Devizes but after HMS Ariel closed in 1960 they moved to the former military airfield at Worthy Down near Winchester. Worthy Down continues to be the home of the Adjutant General's Corps headquarters. The Adjutant General's Corps have their own museum in the former Guard House to the Peninsula Barracks, Winchester.
Kate Dicker
Kate Dicker studied at West Sussex College of Design in 1979-80, Camberwell College of Arts, 1980-83 and Winchester School of art in 1992-94 and 2003-04 and is a member The Society of Wood Engravers and The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers. Kate's commissions have included the Winchester Health authority, Winchester City Council, and Hampshire County Council Archive and Museum Services.
This picture is copyright of the artist and has been reproduced here with their permission.
