Trenches etc around Halton army/RFC camp, Bucks

[Moonraker]

I visited Wendover, on the western edge of the Chilterns, yesterday and in the library found [beechwood & Bayonets/i] by Andrew E Adams. Pages 77 to 106 covered the Great War period, starting off with the owner of Halton Park, Alfred de Rothschild giving lavish hospitality to the 2,500 officers and men of the 1st Brigade of Guards in 1913 and then being eager to offer his estate to the War Office when war broke out. The South Staffordshire Territorials were billeted in Wendover for tent-pitching duties before the 21st Yorkshire Division moved in, comprising 8th East Yorkshire, 10th Green Howards, 14th Northumberland Fusiliers, 8th Lincolns, 12th West Yorkshire, 10th York & Lancaster and 9th & 10th KOYLI, with divisional HQ at Aston Clinton House. The new camp soon became waterlogged, forcing the division into billets in Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire' it moved back to newly-built hutments in February. It was succeeded by East Anglian regiments who added to the trench system left by the 21st. Later in the war, the RFC took over the camp, mainly to train air mechanics, turning out 14,000 in 1917. Rothschild required the estate to be returned to him in its original condition, but the War Office decided it would be cheaper to buy him out. Its price was on the low side, but after the war the Halton commandant had all sorts of problems managing the estate and debating what had to be done - and the costs - with the War Office.

Adams' book was published in 1983, when he noted that "relics of those days - vast earthworks and rusting coils of barbed wire still lie deep in the woods surrounding Halton".

I didn't have time to explore the locality, nor a decent map, but can any Pal report on what is to be seen today (in the woods, rather than at the camp)? Since my visit, I've consulted a modern map which shows various public footpaths, and I suspect the area has become an informal countryside park, perhaps with the coils of barbed wire having been removed. But no doubt "vast earthworks" can still be discerned.

Back in April, I reported coming across a small set of practice trenches above Princes Risborough, six miles from Halton (and perhaps a shade too far away to be associated with that camp).

Buckinghamshire and Halton don't seem to have featured very often in the Forum, which is why I've waffled on a bit, listing units and so on.

Moonraker

[gem22]

Moonraker

I spent a total of 13 years of my RAF career at Halton, ending in 1989, and I've spent many a happy hour in those woods. Either with a girl friend or, later, walking a Labrador.

Unles you have a very good set of maps of the time then you are going to struggle to find anything that can be defined as Great War trench works.

The area is, or at least was, heavily overgrown and is now a public park.

Certainly nothing of note remains in the area of the camp other than the Rothschild manor which beame the officer's mess.

As for the vast earthworks and barbed wire you should remember that this was a training area for young airmen right up to the early 1990's and much of what you describe could as easily be second world war or later.

I know someone who lives on the edge of the wood and if I get the chance I will ask her to have a look for you but don't ho;ld out too much hope.

Regards

Garth

[Martin Brown]

Morning

The Halton trenches are indeed there. I have seen them in the past year or so. Halton House was lent to the RFC by Lord Rothschild in 1914 and used by them during the Great War. There are also remains of a rifle range. Post 1918 his lordship said he didn't need the house back so it passed into RAF ownership.

[Moonraker]

Morning

The Halton trenches are indeed there...

Thanks, Martin - and Garth. Are the trenches on land accessible to the public? Any chance of a map reference?

Moonraker

[June Underwood]

Moonraker says that "Buckinghamshire and Halton don't seem to have featured very often in the Forum, which is why I've waffled on a bit, listing units and so on."

You might like to visit our website at

www.buckinghamshireremembers.org.uk

June

[Moonraker]

A contract for MacDonald Gibbs & Co for buildings (probably post-WWI) at Halton Park is held by the National Archives.

 

See here

 

Moonraker