Tidworth Camp Explained

Tidworth Camp
Type:Barracks
Map Type:Wiltshire
Pushpin Map Caption:Location within Wiltshire
Location:Tidworth
Ownership:Ministry of Defence
Built:1897
Used:1897–present
Built For:War Office
Occupants:Various

Tidworth Camp is a military installation at Tidworth in Wiltshire, England. It forms part of the Tidworth, Netheravon and Bulford (TidNBul) Garrison.[1]

History

The Camp was established when the War Office acquired a 19th-century mansion – Tedworth House – and large tracts of land to its north in 1897.[2] Headquarters Southern Command was established at Tidworth Camp in 1905.[3]

Lucknow Barracks and Mooltan Barracks were completed in 1905, Tidworth Military Hospital was finished in 1907. Aliwal Barracks, Assaye Barracks, Bhurtpore Barracks, Candahar Barracks, Delhi Barracks and Jellalabad Barracks were added later,[4] and a Royal Ordnance depot was established during the First World War. The barracks are named for battles in India and Afghanistan: Aliwal, Assaye, Bhurtpore, Candahar, Delhi, Jellalabad, Lucknow and Mooltan.[5] (Jellalabad Barracks should not be confused with the former barracks of the same name in Taunton, Somerset).[6]

There was also an army hospital during the First World War. A description of it, including actions taken to address a suspected meningitis outbreak, is provided by Arthur Bullock, who spent around a week there in 1918.[7]

In the Second World War, the Camp was home from 1942 to 1944 to various formations of the United States Army including 7th Armored Division (14 June to 7 August 1944),[8] 9th Armored Division,[9] and 8th Armored Division.[10] HQ Southern Command left the Camp and moved to Erskine Barracks near Fugglestone St Peter in 1949.[11] The military hospital closed in March 1977.[12]

Extensive reconstruction at the Camp involving 160 new or refurbished buildings was carried out under Project Allenby Connaught between 2006 and 2014.

Tedworth House had various military uses, including providing accommodation for nurses; from 1977 to 2011 it was the Officers' Mess for the Camp.[13] It is now a recovery centre operated by the Help for Heroes charity.[14]

Military cemetery

Tidworth Military Cemetery, north of the Camp and surrounded by farmland, is under the care of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. 417 First World War burials from Tidworth, and from Fargo Military Hospital near Larkhill, include many of Australian or New Zealand servicemen. There are also 106 graves of the Second World War and 40 of other nationalities.[15]

Former branch railway

A branch from the Midland and South Western Junction Railway at Ludgershall was built in 1901 and opened to passengers in 1902.[16] Goods tracks known as Tidworth Military Railway continued west from Tidworth station into the military area. The branch returned to military control in 1955 and was closed in 1963.[17] [18]

Barracks

The barracks which encompass the camp include:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Garrison Commander assists with construction of new Officers' Mess. 20 December 2017. Aspire Defence Limited.
  2. Web site: Victoria County History: Hampshire: Vol 4 pp391-394 – Parishes: Tidworth, South. 1911. Page. William. British History Online. University of London. 30 May 2020.
  3. Web site: General Sir Ian Hamilton. Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. 22 November 2014.
  4. Web site: Tidworth Overview. Aspire Defence. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140326011348/http://www.aspiredefence.co.uk/pages/tidnbull-overview/. 26 March 2014.
  5. Web site: Mooltan Barracks, Tidworth. British listed buildings. 6 March 2017.
  6. Web site: The Keep, Jellalabad Barracks, Mount Street, Taunton. Somerset County Council. 9 December 2014.
  7. Book: Bullock, Arthur. Gloucestershire Between the Wars: A Memoir. The History Press. 2009. 978-0-7524-4793-3. 54.
  8. Web site: Order of Battle of the U.S. Army, World War II, European Theater of Operations, Divisions . U.S. Army Center of Military History . OFFICE OF THE THEATER HISTORIAN . 7 July 2020.
  9. Book: Ken Wakefield. The Other Ninth Air Force: Ninth US Army Light Aircraft Operations in Europe 1944-45. 24 March 2014. Fonthill Media. GGKEY:6KCZWNPHUL0.
  10. Book: Charles R. Leach. In tornado's wake: a history of the 8th Armored Division. 1992. Battery Press. 47. 9780898391763 .
  11. Web site: 'Fugglestone St Peter', in A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 6 . 1962. 37–50. 22 November 2014.
  12. Web site: Tidworth Military Hospital. 22 November 2014.
  13. Web site: 3 February 2011. Last lunch at Tedworth House. 22 November 2014. Salisbury Journal.
  14. Web site: Recovery in the South Tedworth House. 2020-05-27. Help For Heroes.
  15. Web site: Tidworth Military Cemetery. 2 December 2014. Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
  16. 1359011. Tidworth Military Railway. 1 March 2015.
  17. Book: Steph Gillett. The Midland & South Western Junction Railway Through Time. 15 August 2018. Amberley Publishing. 978-1-4456-6337-1.
  18. Book: Oakley, Mike. Wiltshire Railway Stations. The Dovecote Press. 2004. 1-904349-33-1. Wimbourne. 133–134.
  19. Web site: Order of Battle, Manpower, and Basing Locations. 14 July 2020. parliament.uk.
  20. Web site: Queen's Royal Hussars. 2020-07-15. www.army.mod.uk. en-GB.
  21. Web site: Google Maps. 2020-07-15. Google Maps. en.
  22. Web site: Claire . Sadler . 13 May 2019. Army Medics Exercise Freedom Of Aldershot Ahead Of Tidworth Move. 2020-07-15. Forces Network. en.
  23. Web site: Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. 2020-07-15. www.army.mod.uk. en-GB.
  24. Web site: 1 Armoured Medical Regiment. 2020-07-15. www.army.mod.uk. en-GB.
  25. Web site: 10 Army Education Centre. 2021-03-29. webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk.
  26. Army Policy & Secretariat, FOI(A) Request relating to current AECs (7 December 2020). whatdotheyknow.com. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  27. Web site: 1st Deep Reconnaissance Strike Brigade Combat Team. British Army. 2 April 2023.
  28. Web site: Historic change of command parade in South West . 2020-07-15. en-GB.
  29. Web site: Lisa . Hartle . 1 March 2019. Royal Welsh Troops Mark St David's Day At Tidworth. 2020-07-15. Forces Network. en.
  30. Web site: British Army Music. 2020-07-15. www.army.mod.uk. en-GB.
  31. Web site: A Reshape of British Army Bands in 2019. 4 November 2019 . 20 November 2020.

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