Blandford Camp - First War

[flash]

Following on from my visit to the cemetery and discovery of German graves there, I wanted to look up the POW camp - I know the site is at the edge of town near where we walk as there is an info board there but was surprised to find this is in fact the second site as there was one built alongside Blandford Camp, now home of the Royal Signals, about a mile from where I live. This is what I found and the Camp's history is a lot more interesting than I thought:

With the outbreak of the First World War a large number of Naval Reservists were called for full-time service, in excess of the numbers required to man ships. It was therefore decided that a Royal Naval Division would be formed to augment the army divisions.
After its initial action in the defence of Antwerp the Division returned to the UK and established a base depot and training camp at Blandford.
A German POW camp was also set up alongside it and later a second POW camp was built on the Milldown, an area now on the edge of the town. POWs were hired out to local farmers and paid 4d an hour.
The men of the Division left Blandford Camp in February 1915 for Gallipoli and the camp became the RND Depot. A memorial now stands at Collingwood Corner, on the Blandford to Salisbury road, dedicated to the men of the Collingwood Battalion and the RND who lost their lives in the Third Battle of Krithia at Gallipoli on 4 June 1915.
During 1918, the camp changed from being the depot for the Royal Naval Division to being an 'Intake Camp' for the Royal Flying Corps, which was at that time being reformed as the Royal Air Force, and a branch railway line was built to bring materials and personnel to the camp. This may explain the number of RAF graves at the cemetery dated 1918.
At the end of 1919 the camp was closed and the wooden huts built for the RN Division and the camp's railway line were removed, some being sold to nearby villages for use as village halls.
By the end of 1920 the site had been returned to agricultural use until reactivated in 1939 as a mobilization and training centre for reservists, with a new wooden hutted camp being built on the sites of the RN Division encampments. There are still a few huts from the 1939 camp remaining.
http://wessexwfa.org.uk/wp-content/u...e-Military.pdf
https://military.wikia.org/wiki/Blandford_Camp

So, RN to RAF and POW camp - quite a history for WW1 - I will add some pics if I can.

Here are the boards for the POW camp at the Milldown:

[Flying Helmut]

Fascinating stuff!

Thanks for sharing.

[Sauerkraut]

Some great local info there. Thanks Dave.