Saighton Camp

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Saighton Camp
Saighton
Footpath and Stile at Huntington, Cheshire.jpg
The stone in the foreground is a War Office boundary stone for Saighton Camp
Cheshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Saighton Camp
Location within Cheshire
Coordinates 53°10′19″N2°51′32″W / 53.172°N 2.859°W / 53.172; -2.859 Coordinates: 53°10′19″N2°51′32″W / 53.172°N 2.859°W / 53.172; -2.859
TypeBarracks
Site information
Owner Ministry of Defence
OperatorFlag of the British Army.svg  British Army
Site history
Built1938-1939
Built for War Office
In use1939-1999

Saighton Camp was a military installation located between Saighton and Huntington covering an area of approximately 33 hectares.

Saighton human settlement in United Kingdom

Saighton(listen) is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Aldford and Saighton, in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, a few miles south of Chester. The 2011 Census recorded a population for the parish of 202. The civil parish was abolished in 2015 to form Aldford and Saighton. Much of the surrounding land is owned by the Duke of Westminster.

Huntington, Cheshire village in the United Kingdom

Huntington is a civil parish on the southern outskirts of Chester in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. At the 2001 Census, the population of the entire civil parish was 1,961, increasing to 2,115 at the 2011 census.

History

The camp was created between 1938 and 1939 for use as a military training camp during the Second World War. It was established as a basic training facility for light anti-aircraft batteries and subsequently became the primary training centre for the 233 Light Anti-Aircraft Training Regiment of the Royal Artillery. In 1949, it became Training Centre No. 12 of the Royal Pioneer Corps, and in the 1950s and early 1960s it became a training centre for the Royal Corps of Signals. [1] The King's Own Royal Border Regiment were based at the site from 1973 to 1974, [2] the Green Howards were based there from 1974 to 1976, [3] the Queen's Lancashire Regiment were based there from 1976 to 1978 [4] and the Gordon Highlanders were based there from 1978 to 1980. [5] The King's Regiment were billeted at the camp until its closure in 1985, when the regiment moved to the Dale Camp, Chester's last remaining military barracks. [6]

World War II 1939–1945, between Axis and Allies

World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from more than 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 70 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.

Royal Artillery artillery arm of the British Army

The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises thirteen Regular Army regiments, King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery and five Army Reserve regiments.

Royal Pioneer Corps British Army combatant corps

The Royal Pioneer Corps was a British Army combatant corps used for light engineering tasks. It was formed in 1939 and amalgamated into the Royal Logistic Corps in 1993. Pioneer units performed a wide variety of tasks in all theatres of war, including stretcher-bearing, handling all types of stores, laying prefabricated track on beaches, and effecting various logistical operations. Under Royal Engineers supervision, they constructed airfields and roads and erected bridges; they constructed the Mulberry Harbour and laid the Pipe Line Under the Ocean (PLUTO).

In the early 1980s Saighton became a training centre for the Royal Army Medical Corps. It remained open after the barracks closed but its use diminished until it was closed completely in 1999. [7]

Royal Army Medical Corps military unit

The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps and Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps form the Army Medical Services.

In 2015, the site was cleared of its remaining military infrastructure. It is now a residential housing estate. [8]

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References

  1. ↑ "Saighton Camp". NAA Heritage consultants. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  2. ↑ "King's Own Royal Border Regiment". British Army units 1945 on. Archived from the original on 31 March 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2016.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  3. ↑ "Green Howards". British Army units 1945 on. Archived from the original on 17 March 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  4. ↑ "Queen's Lancashire Regiment". British Army units 1945 on. Archived from the original on 27 April 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  5. ↑ "Gordon Highlanders". British Army units 1945 on. Archived from the original on 18 March 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  6. ↑ "King's Regiment". British Army units 1945 on. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  7. ↑ "Saighton Camp". Hawksmoor. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  8. ↑ "Residential expansion at Saighton Camp". Place North West. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
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