On this day: 12th August 1914 Yorkshire’s largest military base is commissioned

August 1914 was a period of huge change in Yorkshire, due to the outbreak of war. While queues snaked their way through many Yorkshire towns and cities from recruitment centres, a place was needed to accommodate them and the regular army waiting to be sent into conflict.

The answer was the formation of a new military base at Catterick in North Yorkshire. Originally it was supposed to be a temporary camp created for the Great War to house 40,000 men in 2,000 huts,. Towards the end of the war it became a prisoner of war camp and the land was eventually purchased by the British Army in 1923 to become a permanent barracks. Catterick Garrison was once again used as a prisoner of war camp during the Second World War. Nowadays it is the largest British army base in the world. By 2020 it is expected that Catterick Garrison will house a total of 25,000 people, making it the largest community in the area.

Cover picture credit: Robert Murray geograph wikipedia creative commons.