Claro Barracks

Claro Barracks is a military installation at Ripon in North Yorkshire, England.

Claro Barracks
Ripon
Plaque at Wilfred Owen's home near "Ripon Army Camp"
Claro Barracks
Location within North Yorkshire
Coordinates54°8′37″N 01°33′0″W
TypeBarracks
Site information
OwnerMinistry of Defence
Operator British Army
Site history
Built1914-1915
Built forWar Office
In use1915-Present
Garrison information
Occupants21 Engineer Regiment

History

The barracks, which were originally established as the command depot i.e. convalescent camp for Northern Command,[1] opened in April 1915 during the First World War.[2] Wilfred Owen wrote many of his poems when based at the barracks, known at the time as Ripon Army Camp,[3] in spring 1918.[4]

At the start of the Second World War, the School of Military Engineering, which had been based in Chatham, was split into two training Battalions, one of which re-located to the barracks. The barracks were renamed Harper Barracks, after Lieutenant-General Sir George Harper, a famous engineer general. The site was identified as a home for the School of Bomb Disposal, formed in 1941, reflecting the nomination of the Royal Engineers as being responsible for the discipline. Both the School of Military Engineering and the School of Bomb Disposal returned to Chatham in 1949.[5] During the 1950s Harper Barracks was the home of a Royal Signals training regiment.[6]

In 1959 the barracks became the home of 38 Engineer Regiment who would remain there for nearly half a century.[7] They were rebuilt and renamed Claro Barracks, after Claro Hill - a local beauty spot, in the 1960s.[8] In 1974 a bomb attack by the Provisional Irish Republican Army badly damaged the barracks.[9] The barracks went on to become the home of 21 Engineer Regiment in 2008.[10]

Based units

The following notable units are based at ClaroBarracks.[11]

British Army

Corps of Royal Engineers

Future

The Ministry of Defence announced in March 2013 that the site had been earmarked for closure.[12] In November 2016 the Ministry of Defence announced that the site would close in 2019.[13] 21 Engineer Regiment are due to move to Marne Barracks at Catterick by 2023, and the site of Claro Barracks is due to sold off for housing.[14]

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References
  1. "The Command Depots". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  2. "The tale of two Ripons - the city and the camp". The Harrogate Advertiser. 27 July 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  3. "Borrage Lane, Ripon". Wilfred Owen Association. Archived from the original on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  4. "Ripon fears economic blow as Claro barracks closes after a century". The Independent. 5 March 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  5. "Army Bomb Disposal School, Harper Barracks, Ripon , Yorkshire". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  6. "Looking back: from our archives". Ripon Gazette. September 1956. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  7. "38 Regiment". British Army units 1945 on. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  8. "Captain John William ("Bill") Bradford; end note 37". Re Ubique. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  9. "Former soldier admits Army bomb attack 22 years ago". Herald Scotland. 6 August 1996. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  10. "Location overview: Ripon" (PDF). Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  11. Lancaster, Mark (29 November 2018). "Army:Written question - 194616". UK Parliament. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  12. "Claro barracks closure plan 'a hammer blow' to Ripon". BBC. 6 March 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  13. "A Better Defence Estate" (PDF). Ministry of Defence. November 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  14. Gleeson, Janet (8 November 2019). "Plans for 1,300-home urban village to be submitted by 2020". Darlington and Stockton Times (45–2019). p. 5. ISSN 2516-5348.
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