military_branch john frederick maurice
The Royal ___MASK34___ of Artillery , commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery ( RA ), is the artillery arm of the ___MASK29___ . Despite its name , it comprises a number of regiments . ___MASK87___ is a class of large military weapons built to fire munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry ' s small arms . Early ___MASK87___ development focused on the ability to breach fortifications , and led to heavy , fairly immobile siege engines . As technology improved , lighter , more mobile field ___MASK87___ developed for battlefield use . This development continues today ; modern self - propelled ___MASK87___ vehicles are highly mobile weapons of great versatility providing the largest share of an army ' s total firepower . The Royal Corps of Signals ( often simply known as the Royal Signals - abbreviated to R SIGNALS ) is one of the combat support arms of the ___MASK29___ . Signals units are among the first into action , providing the battlefield communications and information systems essential to all operations . Colloquially referred to by some as " Siggies ". Royal Signals units provide the full telecommunications infrastructure for the ___MASK44___ wherever they operate in the world . The Corps has its own engineers , logistics experts and systems operators to run radio and area networks in the field . It is responsible for installing , maintaining and operating all types of telecommunications equipment and information systems , providing command support to commanders and their headquarters , and conducting electronic warfare against enemy communications . The Corps of ___MASK1___ , usually just called the ___MASK1___ ( RE ), and commonly known as the " Sappers ", is one of the corps of the ___MASK29___ . It is highly regarded throughout the military , and especially the ___MASK44___ . The ___MASK29___ is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom . The force was initially administered by the War Office from London , which in 1964 was subsumed into the Ministry of Defence . The professional head of the ___MASK29___ is the Chief of the General Staff . A military academy or service academy ( in " American English ") is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps of the ___MASK44___ , the navy , marine corps , air force or coast guard . It normally provides education in a military environment , the exact definition depending on the country concerned . The Royal Military Academy ( RMA ) at Woolwich , in south - east London , was a ___MASK29___ military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal ___MASK87___ and Royal Engineers . It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Signals and other technical corps . RMA Woolwich was commonly known as " The Shop " because its first building was a converted workshop of the Woolwich Arsenal . Major - General Sir John Frederick Maurice ( 1841 -- 1912 ) was an English soldier , born in London . He studied at the Royal India Military College , Addiscombe , and the Royal Military Academy , Woolwich , and entered the Royal ___MASK87___ in 1861 . He was private secretary to Sir Garnet Wolseley in the Ashanti Campaign of 1873 -- 1874 ; served in the Zulu War in 1880 ; was deputy assistant adjutant general of the Egyptian expedition in 1882 ; and was brevetted colonel in 1885 . In 1885 -- 1892 Maurice was professor of military history at the Staff College and in 1895 he was promoted to major general . Later in his career he was commander of the Woolwich District until 1902 . His reputation depends chiefly on his military writings , which include : Hostilities without Declaration of War ( 1883 ) Popular History of Ashanti Campaign ( 1874 ) a life of his father , John Frederick Denison Maurice ( 1884 ) The Balance of Military Power in Europe ( 1888 ) War ( 1891 ) National Defenses ( 1897 ) The Franco - German War , 1870 -- 1871 ( 1900 ) Diary of Sir John Moore ( 1904 ) History of the War in South Africa , an official account ( four volumes , 1906 -- 1910 ) A ___MASK34___ is a military unit . Their role and size varies markedly , depending on the country and the arm of service .