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Remembered Today:

Summerdown Camp? WAS Is this Chisledon/Chiseldon Camp?


johngasson

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Hi,

Amongst some family postcards there is this postcard, which is unnamed and unused.

post-20715-1182684018.jpg

There ate two other cards identified as Chiseldon Camp and one sent from the Camp, so I guess this is also Chiseldon. Can anyone confirm this?

My great great uncle Pte. Ernest Arthur Trower was initially with the Army Cyclist Corp, and one of the other cards was sent by him on 22nd October 1916.

If anyone would like a larger copy of this picture or the other two of the camp then PM me and I will happily email you a copy.

Thanks

John

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Trying to find a similar shot in the collection of Chissy camp photos on here,

http://www.swindonsotherrailway.co.uk/ .

No luck, I'm not sure, wondering if Liddington Castle is out of shot to the left.

Showed this to Mrs D who grew up in Chissy and neither of us can say yay or nay either way.

I'm thinking it isn't.......but...then again.....

sorry no bloody help at all am I?

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Thanks for trying Owen D

I am sure it must be Chiseldon, but the address of the publisher on the back is Weston, Terminus Road.

Don't know if that will help anyone identify it?

John

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Give Moonraker a PM, he is the expert on Wiltshire camps.

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/i...p?showuser=6017

Um. My modesty makes me point out that though I do know a bit about Wiltshire camps there's always someone around who knows more about individual ones. And I was wrong the other week when I thought a card posted by a Pal might not be Sutton Veny.

However, this is not Chisledon, though the hillside does bring it to mind. The camp in the PC looks quite small compared with Chisledon, which was spread out for quite a way along a railway line, and I haven't seen the buildings and large tents in other images. And I can't link "Weston, Terminus Road", to Chisledon; however about the 14th hit in a Google search was:

this brief reference

which shows that Mr Weston was an Eastbourne photographer in Terminus Road 90-100 years ago.

It is not uncommon for cards of Wiltshire camps (and no doubt others) to have been produced by publishers from some distance away, but I think John should look for an East Sussex connection for Private Trower.

Owen's reference to Liddington Hill made me smile as very early in my collecting I came across several postcards of a camp by J H Simpson of Andover, which I tried to match to localities near that town (eg Perham Down). After some months I acquired another Simpson card with the telltale Liddington Hill in the background. Dunno why Simpson published cards of a camp 28 miles from Andover, though the two were then linked by the Midland & South Western Junction Railway.

Moonraker

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Thanks Owen D and Moonraker,

I should have checked the publisher earlier. It may be that this is a connection to Ernest's brother Percy who was in the 2/1st Sussex Yeomanry (they were both Sussex lads).

I am sure the Sussex Yeomanry would have been near Eastbourne at some stage. Now I just need to find out which bit of the South Downs is in the postcard....

John

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Hi,

I now believe this could be Summerdown Camp Military Convalescent Hosital, Eastbourne, Sussex. I have been checking my gt gt uncle Percy's diaries and on Sunday 1st July 1928 he describes a trip from Brighton to Eastbourne via Beachy Head:

"Beachy Head - 'twas 10 years, ten years since I last saw you, - in 1918 - during my sojourn at Summerdown Camp. Many faces, many happenings come again to memory, memories of ten years ago, memories of unsettled years, memories of days gone for ever. They were extremely? sad days but many happy memories remain. How well I remember my scottish companions of my marquee & their scottish accents. But I must get to bed & sleep."

It was only as I wrote this that the significance of the date became apparent, being written 79 years ago to the day.

John

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John

I think this is clearly part of Summerdown Camp, which was an extensive area on the outskirts of Eastbourne, with the South Downs behind. There were all sorts of units stationed there at various times, and a very large R.A.M.C. Convalescent Camp - the convalescent men were always referred to locally as the 'Blue Boys.' There is a great deal about the camp, and the Convalescent Camp with numerous photos, and lots of anecdotal stuff in this book :

Eastbourne's Great War 1914-1918

Robert Elliston

S.B. Publications 1999

ISBN 1-85770-146-1

I can't see a match for your photo, but this is another one, with similar features:

Sue

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Hi Sue,

I think this must be the place, I will have to get hold of a copy of the book, it is a great photo. My gt gt uncle was wounded on 27th May 1918, and it's amazing to think that he was convalescing so close to home (Sayers Common, Sussex). I wonder how he got there?

There are a few postcards on eBay but I couldn't find a similar view.

Do you know if there is anything about Summerdown Camp in Eastbourne library or museum?

Thanks

John

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  • 11 years later...
On 25/06/2007 at 11:36, Moonraker said:

... very early in my collecting I came across several postcards of a camp by J H Simpson of Andover, which I tried to match to localities near that town (eg Perham Down). After some months I acquired another Simpson card with the telltale Liddington Hill in the background. Dunno why Simpson published cards of a camp 28 miles from Andover, though the two were then linked by the Midland & South Western Junction Railway.

An eBay vendor has just listed a couple of postcards of Chisledon Camp referring to Simpson and Andover in the title but no mention  at all of Chisledon (for which she may be forgiven, the more so given my ignorance of 20 years ago). I sent her a message and got a nice reply thanking me; did I think she should amend the listing? It seemed a good idea (!) and I sent her a suggestion as to what the title should be - and got another nice note back. And she was asking reasonable starting prices, which is not always the case on eBay.

 

Moonraker

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