Abstract
Abstract The British Army's Corps of Royal Engineers was probably the fIrst military unit to learn photography under a formalized system of instruction. Between 1856 and 1859, several dozen non-commissioned officers were taught photography1 by Charles Thurston Thompson (1816 - 68),2 ‘photographer to the Science and Art Department’,3 as well as superintendent of photography at the South Kensington Museum (now the Victoria and Albert Museum). Henry Cole (1808 – 82),4 who signed the certifIcate as Secretary of the Department of Science and Art, was also Director of the South Kensington Museum. Thurston Thompson was appointed to his superintendency position by Cole on 29 July 1856, after serving as photographer to the Museum and the Department of Science and Art on an informal basis.
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