Aldershot Command Aldershot Command was a Home Command of the British Army . History . After the success of the Chobham Manoeuvres of 1853 , a permanent training camp was established at Aldershot in 1854 on the recommendation of the Commander - in - Chief , Viscount Hardinge . During the Crimean War , regiments of Militia embodied for home defence were housed at the camp , and the Brigade of Guards used it for summer training , and were reviewed by Queen Victoria . After the Crimean War , a division of Regular troops was permanently based at Aldershot , and ‘ the Division at Aldershot ’ ( including artillery at Christchurch , Hampshire , and cavalry at Hounslow , Middlesex ) , became one of the most important home commands of the British Army . In January 1876 a ‘ Mobilization Scheme for the forces in Great Britain and Ireland ’ was published , with the ‘ Active Army ’ divided into eight army corps based on the major Commands and Districts . 2nd Corps was headquartered at Aldershot . This scheme disappeared in 1881 , when the districts were retitled ‘ District Commands ’ , with Aldershot usually listed as IX or X . In 1898 ( when Queen Victoria ’ s son , the Duke of Connaught , was General Officer Commanding ( GOC ) ) Aldershot Command was ranked I on the list . From 1901 to 1908 Aldershot Command was given the additional title of I Army Corps . Under Army Order No 28 of 1907 the Home Commands were reorganised to provide a basis for the British Expeditionary Force ( BEF ) . Composition of Aldershot Command 1907 . 1st Cavalry Brigade ( Brig - Gen Hon Julian Byng ) 1st Division ( Maj - Gen James Grierson ) 2nd Division ( Maj - Gen Bruce Hamilton ) Army Troops World War I . When the BEF was sent to France on the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 , Aldershot Command provided the basis for I Corps under Lt - Gen Sir Douglas Haig . The Territorial Force and Special Reserve then took over home defence , with the assembly of ‘ Central Force ’ beginning on 18 August 1914 . ‘ First Army ’ of Central Force was headquartered at Aldershot , with the Highland Division ( later 51st ( Highland ) Division ) and Highland Mounted Brigade of the TF under command . For the first two years of World War I command at Aldershot was divided between the Major - General , Administration ( Maj - Gen Alexander Hamilton - Gordon ) and the commander of Aldershot Training Centre ( Gen Sir Archibald Hunter ) . Aldershot Command was reinstated in 1916 under Hunter . World War II . In 1939 Regular Troops reporting to Aldershot Command included 1st Infantry Division and 2nd Infantry Division . On the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 , a similar process to August 1914 was repeated when the GOCinC Aldershot Command ( Sir John Dill ) became GOC I Corps in the new BEF despatched to France . Unlike the other Home Commands , Aldershot had no Coast Divisions or other defence forces under its command , and was solely responsible for providing drafts and reserve formations . In 1941 the Command was downgraded to ‘ Aldershot Area ’ within a new South - Eastern Command . South Eastern Command ceased to exist at the end of 1944 , and Aldershot was transferred to Southern Command , without its own GOC . Post - World War II . GOCs were appointed to Aldershot District from 1944 to 1967 , when it disappeared in the reorganisation that led to Southern Command being redesignated GHQ UK Land Forces . From 1968 , the HQ of South East District was at Aldershot ; it was renamed Southern District in 1992 , and HQ 4th Division in 1995 . General Officers Commanding - in - Chief . Appointments as General Officers Commanding and General Officers Commanding - in - Chief have included : The Division at Aldershot Aldershot District Command Lieutenant - General Commanding Troops at Aldershot , and 1st Army Corps In 1905 title changed to GOCinC . < br > In 1907 title changed to Aldershot Corps . < br > In 1908 became Aldershot Command again . Aldershot Command GOC and Maj - Gen Administration , Aldershot Command GOC Aldershot Training Centre Aldershot Command South Eastern Command < br > Commanders included : Aldershot District South East District Southern District