Back War Office German Γραφείο Πολέμου Greek Oficina de Guerra Spanish Gerra Bulegoa Basque War Office Finnish Bureau de la Guerre French משרד המלחמה HE Ufficio della Guerra (Regno Unito) Italian 戦争省 Japanese War Office Dutch

War Office

This article is about the former British War Office. For use of this term in the United States, see United States Department of War.

War Office
Royal Coat of Arms as used by
His Majesty's Government
Department overview
Formed1857 (1857)
Preceding Department
  • various
Dissolved1964 (1964)
Superseding Department
JurisdictionGovernment of the United Kingdom
HeadquartersWar Office building
Whitehall
London
51°30′20″N 0°07′33″W / 51.50556°N 0.12583°W / 51.50556; -0.12583 (Old War Office building of the United Kingdom, 1857–1964)
Department executive
Parent DepartmentHM Government

The War Office has referred to several British government organisations in history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD).[1] It was at that time, equivalent to the Admiralty, responsible for the Royal Navy (RN), and (much later) the Air Ministry, which oversaw the Royal Air Force (RAF). The name 'War Office' is also given to the former home of the department, located at the junction of Horse Guards Avenue and Whitehall in central London. The landmark building was sold on 1 March 2016 by HM Government for more than £350 million, on a 250 year lease for conversion into a luxury hotel and residential apartments.

Prior to 1855, 'War Office' signified the office of the Secretary at War. In the 17th and 18th centuries, a number of independent offices and individuals were responsible for various aspects of Army administration. The most important were the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, the Secretary at War, and the twin Secretaries of State; most of whose military responsibilities were passed to a new Secretary of State for War in 1794. Others who performed specialist functions were the controller of army accounts, the Army Medical Board, the Commissariat Department, the Board of General Officers, the Judge Advocate General of the Armed Forces, the Commissary General of Muster, the Paymaster General of the forces, and (particularly with regard to the Militia) the Home Office.[1]

The term War Department was initially used for the separate office of the Secretary of State for War; in 1855, the offices of Secretary at War and Secretary of State for War were amalgamated, and thereafter the terms War Office and War Department were used somewhat interchangeably.[2]

  1. ^ a b "Records created or inherited by the War Office, Armed Forces, Judge Advocate General, and related bodies". Discovery.NationalArchives.gov.uk. The National Archives, 1568–2007. Retrieved 2 June 2017. This article contains text from this source, which is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright
  2. ^ Roper, Michael (1998). The Records of the War Office and Related Departments, 1660-1964. Kew, Surrey: Public Record Office.

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