Battalions

The camps on the Chase housed Service Battalions before their departure to the Western Front but grew to train large numbers of battalions from different regiments. These included troops from Commonwealth units such as soldiers from the New Zealand Rifle Brigade who would later make Cannock Chase their UK headquarters.

The Women’s Auxillary Army Corps also trained at the Brocton Camp and played and played a key role in the life of the Camps through their work as clerks and cooks. Alongside rifle ranges, the camps offered training on a range of military subjects including gas warfare for men stationed at the camps and those from further afield. It is estimated that the camps trained more than 500,000 men.

Soldiers Institutes were established on Anglesey Street and Station Road in Hednesford to provide recreation for the troops. The camps became self-contained communities by 1917 with amenities including YMCA canteens, facilities donated by the local branch of the Church of England Men’s Society, post offices, banks and a W.H. Smith and Son book stall. The Empress Theatre was set up at the Rugeley Camp.

War hospital

A hospital was established at Brindley Heath in 1916 to provide services for troops on the Chase, as well as wounded soldiers from France. The hospital had twelve wards to accommodate 600 beds as well as hospital staff. when the site was taken over by the West Cannock Colliery Company to house miners and their families.

Much is known about life on the Camps from sketches sent home by Erskine Williams, a soldier who began his basic training at the Brocton Camp in 1916. Examples of these postcards can be seen on Staffordshire PastTack.   We can also learn about life in the New Zealand Rifle Brigade on Brocton Camp from Ernest Begueley through his Brigade diaries. See Staffordshire PastTrack to learn about Begueley’s experiences.

Freda - war dog

A notable remnant of the Camps on the Chase is the grave of Freda, a Great Dane dog who was the mascot of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade. Following her death, she was buried on the Brocton camp in 1918 and her gravestone, restored in 1964, can still be seen today. The remains of a scaled model of the Belgian village of Messines which was excavated in September 2013 can also be found on Cannock Chase. See The Great War Staffordshire website

In addition, earthwork remains of a quarter-scale trench system produced to support the training of troops can be seen on the Chase.

War huts

Following the end of the War, the huts which formed the camps on Cannock Chase were dismantled and moved. One hut went to Gayton in Staffordshire where it was used as a Parish Hall. In 2006 the hut was offered to the Friends of Cannock Chase who, in partnership with Staffordshire County Council, rebuilt the hut as an education centre on Cannock Chase. For more information about the Great War Hut, see the Chase Heritage Trail website

There is much more to the story of the Camps on Cannock Chase than can be included here, particularly local memories. A comprehensive history of the Camps can be found in C.J. and G.P. Whitehouse’s A Town for Four Winters: Great War Camps on Cannock Chase (1978, reprinted in 1987 and 1996.) See also Staffordshire PastTrack: The First World War Camps on Cannock Chase