Greater Manchester Army Cadet Force Explained

Unit Name:Greater Manchester Army Cadet Force
Dates:before November 1974–present
Country: United Kingdom
Branch:
Type:Registered Volunteer Youth Organisation
Role:To provide pre-training and experience of life in the British Army
Size:County
Command Structure:Headquarters North West
Garrison:Manchester
Garrison Label:County HQ
Website:Greater Manchester ACF
Identification Symbol Label:Headquarters North West Badge
Identification Symbol 2 Label:Army Cadet Force Badge

The Greater Manchester Army Cadet Force (GMACF) is the county cadet force for Greater Manchester, which forms part of the wider Army Cadet Force, a youth organisation in the United Kingdom that offers learning and experiences around a military training theme. It is home to between 1400-1750 cadets and 200-230 adult volunteers in 45-47 detachments.[1] [2]

History

In 1863, along with the formation of the Volunteer Force, the first government sanctioned cadet groups were allowed to be formed. These groups would mostly be formed in connection with existing volunteer companies and battalions. Following the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 which organised the former Volunteer Force into a coherent organisation, known as the Territorial Force (TF), the cadets were expanded. Each company consisted of no less than 30 cadets, and four of these companies formed a "Cadet Battalion", the predecessors to the modern "Cadet County".[3]

Unlike their modern successors, the first cadet battalions were administered by their local County Territorial Force Associations, and rarely ever came under an "army command". However, following changes to the organisation of the Cadets, in 1923 all cadet forces were taken under complete control of the County Associations.

The first mention of the modern Greater Manchester Army Cadet Force appears in the 19th November 1974 edition of the London Gazette.

Organisation

The organisation of the Greater Manchester Army Cadet Force is as follows in 2021:[4]

DetachmentLocationAreaPostcodeCompanyAffiliated Regiment
Radcliffe ACFKnowles Street,RadcliffeM26 4DR1 MindenFUSILIERS
Crumpsall ACF2A Middleton Road,CrumpsallM8 5DS1 MindenFUSILIERS
Belle Vue ACFBelle Vue StBelle VueM12 5PWRA
Levenshulme ACFOsbourne RoadLevenshulmeM19 2DT3 SommeLANCS
Rusholme ACFNorman RoadRusholmeM14 5LH3 SommeR SIGNALS
Rochdale ACFNorman RoadRochdaleOL11 4HS1 MindenFUSILIERS
Heywood ACFBamford Road,HeywoodOL10 4TF1 MindenFUSILIERS
Middleton ACFAshton LaneWince BrookM24 1BN1 MindenFUSILIERS
Bury ACFCastle Street,BuryBL9 0LB1 MindenFUSILIERS
GMACF Corps of DrumsCastle Street,BuryBL9 0LBAllAll
Ramsbottom ACFSpenleach Lane HawkshawBL8 4JJ1 MindenFUSILIERS
Oldham ACFRifle StreetOL1 3DN2 KohimaRTR
Stalybridge ACFOff 107 Wakefield RodStalybridgeSK15 1AD2 KohimaMERCIAN
Manchester AcademyMoss Lane EastManchesterM14 4PX1 MindenAGC (SPS)
Hyde ACF29 Commercial StreetHydeSK14 2JD3 SommeMERCIAN
Royton ACFHillside AvenueRoytonOL2 6RE2 KohimaREME
Stockport ACFGreek StStockportSK3 8AB3 SommeMERCIAN
Cheadle Hulme ACFOak StCheadle HulmeSK8 5DR3 SommeMERCIAN
Bredbury ACFGoyt Valley RdBredburySK6 2JU3 SommeMERCIAN
Reddish ACFReddish RdReddishSK5 7JG3 SommeMERCIAN
Sale ACFWalton RdSaleM33 4DR4 KoreaMERCIAN
Flixton ACFPennybridge LnFlixtonM41 5DX4 KoreaRLC
Streford ACFKings Road (207 Field Hospital)StretfordM16 7RS4 KoreaFUSILIERS
Salford ACFHaldane RdSalfordM50 2TR4 KoreaRLC
Clifton ACFManchester RdCliftonM27 6TA4 KoreaREME
Collyhurst ACFManchester Communication AcademyHarpurheyM40 8NT1 MindenFUSILIERS
Tyldesley ACFFactory StTyldesleyM29 2GQ5 AnzioKRH
Wigan GREN GDSCanal StreetWiganWN6 7NQ5 AnzioGREN GDS
Wigan QOYCanal StreetWiganWN6 7NQ5 AnzioQOY
Hindley ACFLord StreetHindleyWN2 3EW5 AnzioKRH
Leigh ACFLeigh RdLeighWN7 1QY5 AnzioKRH
Failsworth ACFOldham RdFailsworthM35 0BH2 KohimaRE
Bolton LANCSNelson StBoltonBL3 2AH5 AnzioLANCS
Bolton RANelson StBoltonBL3 2AH5 AnzioRA
Eccles ACFHampden GrovePatricroftM30 0QU4 KoreaRLC
Chadderton ACFNewman RC CollegeOldhamOL9 9QY4 KoreaRAMC
GMACF County HQSpenleach LaneHawkshawBL8 4JJAllAll
Broughton ACFGordon StBroughtonM7 1RZGREN GDS

ACF Mission

The Army Cadet Force is a national, voluntary, uniformed youth organisation. It is sponsored by the British Army but not part of it and neither the cadets nor the adult volunteer leaders are subject to military call-up.  They offer a broad range of challenging adventurous and educational activities, some of them on a military theme. Their aim is to inspire young people to achieve success in life and develop in them the qualities of a good citizen.

The ACF can be compared to their counterparts in the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (USA), Hong Kong Adventure Corps, and Canadian Army Cadets, amongst others.

See also

External links

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Notes and References

  1. Web site: Greater Manchester ACF | Army Cadet Force . Armycadets.com . 2017-09-29.
  2. Web site: What is the Army Cadet Force? | The Official GMACF Blog . Armycadetsgreatermanchester.wordpress.com . 2017-09-29.
  3. Westlake 1984, pp. 1–3
  4. Web site: GMACF Locations .