Longmoor Camp

Early history In 1863, the War Department had required additional training grounds for British Army troops. They purchased tracts of land totalling from Her Majesty's Woods, Forests and Lands at Hogmoor Inclosure and Longmoor on the Surrey/Hampshire borders. However, the Army's main barracks were at Aldershot Garrison, requiring a march or expensive railway journey to access the new training grounds. This distance also necessitated an overnight stay, most often accomplished by pitching tents east of the A325 road. The decision was hence made to build two permanent camps close to Woolmer Forest. The proposal was to construct 140 wooden huts on each site, each long and wide, giving a combined accommodation for 5,000 men. The first site was laid out in 1899 by the Highland Light Infantry, under the command of the Royal Engineers. This became Bordon Camp, an area of approximately long by wide. for £20,000, added to by an additional purchase for £18,000 in early 1903. Post-war Longmoor housed 5 Railway Training Regiment Royal Engineers which in 1948 became 16 Railway Training Regiment and remained at Longmoor until the railway role was taken over by the Royal Corps of Transport in 1965. Longmoor Military Railway finally closed on 31 October 1969. Longmoor Camp remains an operational training camp including an urban training centre and extensive ranges. It also houses the close protection training units of the Royal Military Police. In 2000, Longmoor Camp hosted a 10-day boot camp for the cast of Band of Brothers, HBO's award-winning miniseries about E (Easy) Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division during the Second World War in Europe, ahead of filming. Captain Dale Dye, a Marine veteran who was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V" for heroism during the Vietnam War and also plays Colonel Robert Sink in the miniseries, operated the boot camp as senior military advisor. ==Railways==

Woolmer Light Railway Having reviewed the 1905 wooden hut moving project, the distances involved and the ground to be covered, the decision was made to build twin railway lines on which to transport the huts. The building and operation of the Woolmer Light Railway was given to the specialist 53rd Railway Company of the Royal Engineers, The War Office decided to formalise the Woolmer Light Railway as a full-time instructional installation, having had to move the 8th and 10th Railway Companies of the Royal Engineers from Chatham, to support the 53rd Company at Longmoor for the hut moving task. Although initially a single-track (later double track from Whitehill to Longmoor Downs station) end-to-end line running north–south from Bordon eventually to Liss, from 1942 an additional loop ran eastwards from Longmoor Downs station at the camp via a station at Hopkin's Bridge to a triangle junction at Whitehill. This provided circular running, allowing for improved training without the need to run round trains at the termini. The new line was called the Hollywater Loop. As a training railway for both the Army and later the Railway Inspectorate, it was often being constructed/deconstructed. ==Foxhounds==

In addition to military use, the area is used by the Goschen foxhounds, Chiddingfold, Leconfield and Cowdray foxhounds, and the Hampshire hunt. ==Incidents==

Death of Cadet Shore Early on the morning of 29 July 1998, Cadet Shore, a 15 year old cadet from the ACF, was hit by a land rover during a fieldcraft exercise on a summer camp. She suffered broken ribs, a ruptured spleen, and a ruptured liver, and later died at the Royal Surrey County Hospital. No prosecutions or disciplinary actions were taken following the death. The cadet forces hold an annual competition with an award named in her memory, known as the Champion Cadet Trophy. ==References==