The Eighth Division - Sept-Nov 1914

Following the declaration of War, on the 4th August, plans to reinforce the small British Expeditionary Force, already on its way to the Continent, and protect the nation from the very real threat of invasion were put in motion. Central to these plans was the recall of regiments of the regular army then dispersed around the Empire. To make this possible required men from the Territorial Force, many of whom were already on active service at their annual ‘summer camp’, to be sent out to replace them. Other Territorial Force Battalions would serve as ‘Second Line’ units providing home defence. Fulfilling both roles were men of the Hampshire Regiment and among them men of the 2/6th, Battalion, the Duke of Connaught’s Own, from Portsmouth who by September were encamped in Hursley Park.

This was made possible by the generosity of Sir George Cooper who had immediately made his estate available for use by the Government. The proximity of Hursley Park to the Port of Southampton, the railheads at Winchester and Romsey and what was generally considered to be good, well drained chalk downland appeared to make the estate the perfect choice.

Soon after the departure of the Hampshire Regiment the men they were replacing began to arrive. Throughout September and October soldiers from as far afield as India, Singapore, China, South Africa and posts around the Mediterranean gathered at Hursley and began to form what was to be the last full Division of the British Army to go into combat on the Western Front in 1914, the Eighth Division.

The camp was entirely tented with row upon row of round bell tents for the soldiers and large marquee divisional tents interspersed with the horse lines, mobile kitchens and all the other logistical support necessary to keep an army in the field functioning. It stretched from Standon and Merdon Castle through to the fields on the western side of the Hursley Road and possibly even the fields to the north of the House.

Initially the weather was good and families were able to visit, some staying in the village with local families. For the men of one of the few Territorial Regiments in the Division, the Northamptonshire Yeomanry who had joined their regular comrades to provide much needed cavalry, those early days were an enjoyable interlude as the local villages turned out to offer the soldiers lemonade and cake as they passed. But within a few weeks the weather had broken, the rain come and the tented encampment rapidly became a quagmire under the tread of the soldiers and their horses, carts and guns.

Returning from imperial duties the regiments were largely ill prepared for the combat they were about to become embroiled in. Their equipment was often outdated, their uniforms light-weight tropical khaki unsuitable for the approaching Northern European winter. Even the bravado with which they had left their foreign bases was to receive a rude awakening as Officers who had already experienced the western front relayed their experiences to the men of the new Division.

Despite everything, by the start of November the Division had re-equipped, re-organised and brought its manpower up to full strength with a roll listing nearly 18,000 officers and men together with their horses, artillery and transport. On the 4th November 1914 they began to form up for departure. Throughout the day and on into the next the soldiers passed through the Southampton Lodge gates of the estate, through Chandlers Ford and down to Southampton. A march that stretched the entire distance from Hursley to the docks, such that as the head of the column embarked on their transport ships the tail had not even formed up ready to depart.

The Eighth was to be the last full Division to mobilise at Hursley, but many more Regiments were to stay in the Camp over the next two years as the need for soldiers in France continued unabated.