History
The first "paymasters" have existed in the army before the formation of the corps. Prior to the 19th century, each regiment had its own civilian paymaster and the first commissioned paymaster was introduced in 1792. In 1870 a Pay Sub-Department of the Control Department was formed before it was organised into a corps. In 1919 the financial responsibilities was split between the RAPC, which handled salaries, and the Corps of Military Accountants (CMA), which handled the army's finances. The CMA was disbanded in 1925 and its functions and some personnel were transferred to the RAPC. During the Second World War, members of the Auxiliary Territorial Service and men of a "lower medical category" were often conscripted into the corps. Initially they received very little military training but after a discussion in Parliament were trained in armed combat, especially for those posted closest to the frontlines, to prepare for surprise attacks on headquarters. With the amalgamations into the Adjutant General's Corps in 1992, its functions is now carried out by the Staff and Personnel Support (SPS) Branch.
Headed by a Paymaster-in-Chief, the corps was responsible for keeping the army financially accountable to the servicemen and Inland Revenue.
Read more about this topic: Royal Army Pay Corps
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