A Brief History of the Royal Military Police

The office of the Provost Marshal is the oldest in the British Army. Prior to the formation of the Military Police, the Provost undertook the role of policing the army.  Their function was to enforce military law as well as maintaining the discipline of the troops.

In the 18th and early 19th Century, members of a Regiment were appointed Assistant Provost Marshal and undertook the duties of military police for that particular unit.  As they were unpopular with their former comrades, they were usually promoted into other Regiments at the end of their appointment.  When fighting the French in Spain (1807-14), Wellington saw the need for a well trained unit to maintain discipline following an incident where a soldier carrying an important orders got drunk and lost them. The Army’s single Provost Marshal had 24 senior NCOs acting as Assistant Provost Marshals and authorised to punish wrongdoers.  In 1813, the Staff Corps of Cavalry was formed from NCOs of good character.  The original establishment was four Troops (two serving at home, the other two in the Peninsular) each of 11 Officers and 132 Other Ranks. Disbanded in 1814, they were reformed the following year, but too late to serve in the Waterloo campaign. The SCC was finally disbanded in 1819.

MMP and MFP

The need for a military police force became evident at “the Cantonment of Aldershot”, where a garrison town housing 20,000 men was created between 1852-56.  In July 1855, the Corps of Mounted Police was raised from 21 NCOs and Men from four regular cavalry regiments “for the preservation of good order in the camp at Aldershot”.  These men, under the command of Troop Sergeant Major Thomas Trout of the 7th Queen’s Own Hussars, should possess “sober habits”, and be “intelligent, active and capable of exercising a sound discretion”.

In 1877, the unit was established as a Permanent Corps, the name changing to the Military Mounted Police, and Trout (from 1861 the Provost Marshal, and by this time with the rank of Honorary Major” established its HQ at Aldershot.  The MMP first saw active service in Egypt in 1882, serving with distinction at Tel-el-Kebir.   The same year, a complimentary Corps – the Military Foot Police – was created in Cairo under Major Broackes from Reservists with experience in the civilian police. On 13th September, these men came under fire at Tel-el-Kebir – 59 clasps for the battle were awarded to the MFP. In 1885, the MFP was established as a permanent Corps.

The Great War, WW1

In August 1914, there were 761 Military Police available for service. The huge number of troops and vehicles on the roads of Flanders created the traffic control role of the Military Police essential to the smooth running of operations.  They were also responsible for marshalling POWs and directing stragglers back to their units.  At the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in 1915, the MPs handled 1687 POWs in the three days of fighting, proving beyond doubt their usefulness on a modern battlefield. Captain Straughan, APM at Poperinghe, Belgium devised a one-way traffic signalling system using red & green flags during the day and red & green lamps at night. It was said of the Military Police that “in the battle zone, where they did their duty in exposed positions under heavy fire and suffered severe casualties, they solved an important part of the problem of traffic control by preventing the unavoidable congestion of troops and transport on roads in the vicinity of active operations, from degenerating in confusion”. 

The Military Police served as part of the Army of Occupation in Germany (which included an early form of the Special Investigations Branch – the SIB), and on 27th February 1926, the MMP and MFP were amalgamated to form the Corps of Military Police. Between 1918-39, Military Police saw worldwide service from Ireland during the struggle leading to partition, to the insurrections in Palestine.

WW2

The BEF of September 1939 was more Provost-aware than its 1914 counterpart, and the CMP was able to deploy 3,500 members.  The Corps served in all theatres from the deserts of North Africa to the jungles of Burma, and was often first in and last out – particularly at Dunkirk and on D-Day. The role of the MP is best summed up by General Dempsey who said:-  “The Military Policeman became so well known a figure on every road to the battlefield that his presence became taken for granted.  Few soldiers as they hurried over a bridge, which was a regular target for the enemy, gave much thought to the man whose duty it was to be there for hours on end, directing the traffic and ensuring its rapid passage”.

In 1946, in recognition of its outstanding war service, King George VI granted the prefix “Royal” to the Corps of Military Police. 
Since then, members of the RMP have seen service around the world including Korea, Suez, Cyprus, Malaya, Aden and Borneo – RMP served in Saigon guarding the British Embassy during the Vietnam War. The RMP has made a significant contribution in Northern Ireland, where they worked in close co-operation with the Royal Ulster Constabulary.  The Falklands conflict of 1982 once again saw RMP in action, particularly with the large number of prisoners captured during the fighting.  The Keep at Chichester housed Lt Cmdr Astiz of the Argentine Navy – the first and last POW to be held in the UK since WW2.  RMP has served in Rhodesia, in the first Gulf conflict - where a DCM was awarded to a platoon commander for outstanding bravery - and latterly in the Balkans under both UN and NATO command, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone and Iraq.

Provost’s vital role and function for the modern army is ‘To provide the Provost support that the Army requires meeting operational demands and legal obligations’.  To fulfil this role their functions are:

1. To provide operational support
2. To prevent crime
3. To enforce the law within the military community and assist with the maintenance of military discipline
4. To provide an assistance, advice and information service to the military community and public.

RMP officers and NCO’s currently serve in either General Police Duties (GPD), Special Investigations (SIB), Close Protection (CP) or Para Provost units.

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