Concentration Camp Chiseldon

[akduerden]

Hi All,

My grandfathers service record (Casualty Form - Active Service) refers to the following:

27/12/1918 - O.C. 33rd Brigade RFA - 1/c. Demobilization Partia. Concentration Camp Chiseldon

Can any one help me decipher what the last part means and what/ where was Concentration Camp Chiseldon.

Andrew

[Michelle Young]

Hi Andrew

Chiseldon Camp was in Wiltshire near to Swindon; a large camp it was used post war as a demobilsation centre, returning 400,000 soldiers to civilian life by the end of April 1919.

I'm sure Moonraker will be along to add to this as he is the man to ask about camps in Wiltshire.

The link shows you the general area on a modern day map

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=ch...sa=N&tab=wl

Regards, Michelle

[akduerden]

Thanks Michelle. I had originally thought it may have been a POW camp but then started to think it was related to demobilisation as you have confirmed.

Andrew

[Moonraker]

In fact there was a PoW camp attached to Chisledon Camp, mainly to provide working parties. Originally there were seven PoW graves in the local churchyard, mostly relating to deaths in late 1918; the remains were removed to Cannock Chase.

See

here

for details of Chisledon Camp during its demobilisation phase.

Much of the Great War camp was demolished after the war but there was an army camp on the site until the 1960s. Today the original concrete roads remain, as does the overgrown Great War railway platform which served a siding off the Swindon-Marlborough line - now lifted.

Moonraker

[akduerden]

In fact there was a PoW camp attached to Chisledon Camp, mainly to provide working parties. Originally there were seven PoW graves in the local churchyard, mostly relating to deaths in late 1918; the remains were removed to Cannock Chase.

See

here

for details of Chisledon Camp during its demobilisation phase.

Much of the Great War camp was demolished after the war but there was an army camp on the site until the 1960s. Today the original concrete roads remain, as does the overgrown Great War railway platform which served a siding off the Swindon-Marlborough line - now lifted.

Moonraker

Moonraker,

How would the POW camp have beed described in military documents? Would it have been referred to as a concentration camp?

Do you know of any photos?

Thanks for the link and additional information.

[Moonraker]

I doubt that the POW camp would have been referred to as a concentration camp. The only other use of this phrase that I've come across in my Wiltshire research is to the concentration of (almost) the entire RFC at Netheravon just before the Great War. Possibly the constituent units of the 33rd Brigade were brought together at Chisledon prior to demobilisation.

There are lots of postcard photographs of Chisledon Camp, and some are quite often offered on eBay. Photographs of PoWs at work camps are difficult to come across, though I have one of PoWs and their guards at nearby Swindon.

There's a page about PoWs in The Story of Chisledon Camp, Part One 1914-1922, by David Bailey. But from your opening post I don't think your grandfather would have come into contact with them. The demobilisation process took only a few hours.

Moonraker

[akduerden]

Thanks for the clarification Moonraker

Andrew