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Conductors’ Parchment Ceremony

Two of the Army’s serving Warrant Officers are the latest in a long long line of senior soldiers stretching back nearly 700 years, to be presented with the Honourable and Ancient Appointment of Conductor.

You have to go back to 1327 to the time of King Edward III when conductors were first mentioned in the statute of Westminster. In it they were described as men whose job it was to conduct soldiers
to places of assembly in times of conflict.

Later the appointment developed into the “Conductor of Ordnance” and as the name suggests they ensured the necessary armaments and weaponry were supplied.

Today, the British Army has a maximum of nine, each of which will be the head of a particular trade group within The Royal Logistic Corps.

As the most senior non-commissioned warrant officer rank in the British Army, it marks the pinnacle of a long and illustrious military career for those chosen to carry the appointment. Each recipient is
presented at a ceremony with a scrolled parchment entitled “The Honourable and Ancient Appointment of Conductor”.

One of the recipients this time is WO1 (Cdr), W Craig, the Army Command Master Photographer. He has spent most of his career capturing army life on film and memory card. His images
of active operations, ceremonial display and off-duty moments have graced newsprint and publications across the globe.

The other Parchment recipient is WO1 (Cdr) M Bloomfield, who is the Command Petroleum Warrant Officer of petroleum operations.

The Royal Logistic Corps

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