Army Apprentices School

The Army Apprentices School (AAS) was established at Balcombe in 1948 and within a few years the number of young soldiers undergoing trade training swelled to over two hundred. The Officer Cadet School (OCS) was established at Portsea, 40km from Balcombe, in 1952. Except for sporting competitions the two establishments had little in common and initially the apprentices saw the cadets as ‘toffs’ and ‘one pippers’. Feelings often surfaced on the playing fields.

However, very quickly many apprentices saw OCS as an avenue to obtain a commission in the Army and a career outside the trade system. The first apprentice went to OCS in Jun 1953. The last OCS graduate was in December 1985. Others followed via the RMC stream.

This link provides some information on apprentices who attended OCS.