Wandsworth Barracks | |
---|---|
Merton Road, Southfields | |
Coordinates | 51°26′38″N0°11′50″W / 51.4438°N 0.1972°W |
Type | Barracks |
Site information | |
Owner | Ministry of Defence |
Operator | Royal Navy |
Site history | |
Built | 1939 |
Built for | War Office |
In use | 1939–Present |
Garrison information | |
Occupants | Royal Marines Reserve |
Wandsworth Barracks is a military installation on Merton Road, Southfields, London, England. It currently accommodated the regional headquarters of the Royal Marines Reserve.
Prior to the dissolution of the monasteries, the site on the east side of Merton Road was occupied by Dunsford Manor which was owned by Merton Priory. The manor was transferred to the ownership of Sir Alan Broderick in the 17th century, [1] [2] and remained in the hands of the Broderick family until the estate was sold in 1851. [3] The site was then acquired by the War Office and was used to accommodate the local Army Forms Depot. [4] The depot was one of a series around the UK responsible for issuing stationery for military use. [5]
In the 1930s, a drill hall was erected on the site. It was a square-shaped brick building with its entrance on the north side. The first occupant was the 27th (London Electrical Engineers) Anti-Aircraft Battalion Royal Engineers. This regiment was transferred to the Royal Artillery as 27 (London Electrical Engineers) Searchlight Regiment Royal Artillery in August 1940. It was deployed to the middle east during the Second World War but was placed in suspended animation at the end of the war. In 1947, the unit was re-formed as 562 (London Electrical Engineers) (Mixed) Light Anti-Aircraft/Searchlight Regiment RA (TA). [6]
Following re-organisation of the Territorial Army in 1967, the drill hall became the home of 83 Squadron, 31st (City of London) Signal Regiment. [7] In 1994, the barracks also became home to the regimental headquarters of 31st (City of London) Signal Regiment. [8] In 2010, the regiment was disbanded following the concurrent disbandment of the 2nd Signal Brigade and the re-organisation of the TA signals as a result of the Army 2020 reform. [9]
In June 2011, the regional headquarters of the Royal Marines Reserve relocated from the drill hall in Old Jamaica Road in Bermondsey to Wandsworth Barracks. The ceremony was attended by the Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London, Sir David Brewer, and the Commandant General Royal Marines, Major General Buster Howes. [10] A series of murals painted by pupils from Southfields Academy depicting historic events involving the Royal Marines was unveiled by the local member of parliament, Justine Greening, on the staircase inside the building in June 2016. [11] [12]
Southfields is a district of inner London located within the London Borough of Wandsworth, England, 5.6 miles (9 km) south-west of Charing Cross. Southfields is mainly residential, historically a part of Wandsworth itself, and is divided between the SW18 and SW19 postcode areas.
The Royal Corps of Army Music is a Corps of the British Army dedicated to the provision and promotion of military music.
The Post Office Rifles was a unit of the British Army formed in 1868 from volunteers as part of the Volunteer Force, which later became the Territorial Force. The unit evolved several times until 1935, after which the name was lost during one of many reorganisations.
In September 1939, the British Army was in process of expanding their anti-aircraft and mobile assets. Among these new changes was the formation of Anti-Aircraft Command which was formed on 1 April 1939, and the 1st Armoured Division formed in 1937. The list below will include the British Army units, colonial units, and those units which were in the process of formation.
The 1st Anti-Aircraft Division was an Air Defence formation of the British Army before and during the early years of the Second World War. It defended London during the Battle of Britain and The Blitz.
The London Electrical Engineers was a Volunteer unit of the British Army's Royal Engineers founded in 1897. It pioneered the use of searchlights (S/Ls) for port defence before World War I and for anti-aircraft (AA) defence during the war. In the interwar period it formed the two senior searchlight regiments of the Territorial Army, which defended Southern England during The Blitz. Detachments later served in the Battle of Crete and Siege of Tobruk.
30th (Surrey) Searchlight Regiment was an air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army from 1924 until 1961. During World War II it served in The Blitz and later in the Tunisian and Italian Campaigns, while detachments from the regiment served in the Far East and were captured at the Fall of Singapore.
The 51st (Highland) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery was a Scottish unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) formed for air defence just before World War II. It later served as an anti-aircraft (AA) artillery unit in the North West Europe Campaign 1944–45, and continued in the postwar TA into the 1950s.
The Tyne Electrical Engineers (TEE) is a Volunteer unit of the British Army that has existed under various titles since 1860. It has been the parent unit for a large number of units fulfilling specialist coastal and air defence roles in the Royal Engineers (RE) and Royal Artillery (RA), many seeing service during both World Wars. TEE companies currently form part of the RE and of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers in the Army Reserve.
The Essex (Fortress) Royal Engineers was a volunteer unit of Britain's Royal Engineers formed to defend the Essex coast. It served in this role in World War I and then converted to a searchlight regiment for air defence in World War II. The unit ended the war as a garrison infantry battalion. Its descendants continued to serve in the Territorial Army until 1955.
The 71st Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery was an air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA), which was raised just before the outbreak of World War II and served as part of Anti-Aircraft Command during and after the war.
The page contains the current structure of the British Army. The British Army is currently being reorganised to the Future Soldier structure.
Mitcham Road Barracks is an Army Reserve centre in Croydon, London, with a history dating back to 1794.
The Clare Street drill hall is a military installation in Northampton, Northamptonshire. It is a Grade II listed building.
The Carmarthenshire Fortress Royal Engineers (CFRE) was a coast defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army formed after World War I. In World War II, it provided an anti-aircraft searchlight unit that served during the early part of The Blitz, and then during the Siege of Malta.
The following is a hierarchical outline for the structure of the British Army in 1989. The most authoritative source for this type of information available is Ministry of Defence, Master Order of Battle, and United Kingdom Land Forces, HQ UKLF, UKLF ORBAT Review Action Plan, HQ UKLF, 1990.
The Glamorgan Fortress Royal Engineers was a Welsh Territorial Army (TA) unit of Britain's Royal Engineers, first raised in 1885 as a Volunteer unit of Submarine Miners to defend the Severn Estuary. During World War I it carried out defence work in England and Gibraltar, and detachments served on the Western Front. In World War II it served in the North African campaign, including the Second Battle of El Alamein, and the Allied invasion of Sicily. Postwar, the unit continued in the TA until 1961.
Future Soldier is a reform of the British Army resulting from the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy published in March 2021. The aim of the reform is to create a more lethal, agile and expeditionary force, able to fight and win wars and to operate in the grey-zone between peace and war. Future Soldier was published on 25 November 2021 and deals with the organizational changes of the British Army, with changes to personnel and equipment were set out in the Defence in a Competitive Age paper published on 22 March 2021.