The Officer Training Corps - a Royal Centenary

PA 64/09 Officer cadets from across the East Midlands joined His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester KG GCVO on March 11 to mark a special centenary. His Royal Highness was the guest of honour at an event at The University of Nottingham, celebrating 100 years since the foundation of the then University College Nottingham Officer Training Corps (OTC) — now the East Midlands Universities OTC. More than 70 officer cadets took part in a parade and service of commemoration in the Trent Building quadrangle. His Royal Highness then unveiled a plaque to mark the centenary of the OTC and the contribution made by its members to the nation's armed forces over the last century. The East Midlands branch dates back to April 1909, when a number of students from University College Nottingham petitioned the University's Senate Council to form an OTC unit. Their petition was accepted by the War Secretary — the equivalent of today's Ministry of Defence — and later that same year, the University College Nottingham OTC unit was formed. Hundreds of students have joined the unit in the years since, including many who served in the First and Second World Wars.