Bordon and Longmoor Military Camps Bordon and Longmoor Military Camps are British Army training camps and training area on the A3 road between Liss and Liphook in Hampshire , England . The main street of the camp is built on an ancient Roman road , the Chichester to Silchester Way , while the village of Greatham lies to the south . Background . In 1863 , the War Department had required additional training grounds for British Army troops . They hence 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 . Construction . 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 was laid out in 1899 by the Highland Light Infantry , under the command of the Royal Engineers . This became Bordon Camp , and area of approximately long by wide . With construction curtailled on the first site by the Second Boer War , the Army then began work at Longmoor Camp . After being laid out by the Royal Engineers in August 1900 , construction materials were transported from Bentley railway station , with the resultant damage by commercial traction engine s to the public roads bringing about the first trial of pneumatic tyre d lorries to the British Army . In November 1902 , the War Department bought the Broxhead Warren estate from Sir David Miller Barbour for £20 , 000 , added to by an additional sized purchase for £18 , 000 in early 1903 . It was decided that the camps at Longmoor would be named after successful battles and locations from the Boer War , to give the homecoming troops a positive spirit . The officers ' accommodations were named after Boer war commanders , Amherst and Wolfe . Meanwhile , the barracks at Bordon were to be named after successful battles and locations from the North American campaign , during the Seven Years ' War against France . The first two camps were hence named St . Lucia and Quebec , starting a long association of the camps with Canada . Initial occupation . Having just returned from the Boer War , the first occupants of Quebec barracks at Bordon Camp were the Somersetshire Light Infantry in April 1903 . In June , they were joined at Bordon by the 2nd Battalion Devonshire Regiment . Both set a precedent for the site , by marching from Bentley railway station , headed by a marching band . In May 1903 , the 1st Battalion of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and the 2nd Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment were the first to occupy Longmoor camp . But , built on boggy ground , the troops immediately began to complain of problems and the medical officers of ill health . The decision was hence immediately made by the War Department to move 68 of the Longmoor huts to the Bordon camp site , located between and away . Expansion . The movement of the huts was completed in May 1905 . This move created Gaudaloupe and Martinique barracks on the west side of the A325 , enabling the four barracks of Bordon to house a complete infantry brigade . The first brick built barracks were started in 1906 , completed in 1907 and named Louisburg barracks . Built to house two regiments of Artillery and a riding school , one in Louisburg East and one in Louisburg West . At the northern end of Louisburg Barracks Central Road , was a veterinary hospital with 24 loose boxes and 20 stalls , to care for sick artillery horses . This was added to in 1911 by the building of the Royal Engineer Lines and associated stables near Bordon crossroads , to accommodate 26th Field Company Royal Engineers . In 1924 in Alexandra Park were purchased , added to in 1927 by of farm land and common land between Bordon and Oakhanger , for use as additional training areas . The 1930s started with the building of the RASC Lines on the edge of Louisburg Barracks . This brought about the demolition in 1937 of the old wooden huts at both Quebec and St Lucia barracks , with new brick built 100 - man barracks in their place . After these buildings were also demolished in 1973 , the site was redeveloped as today ' s married quarters . These new barracks were added to by the building of the new Havannah barracks ( renamed Prince Philip Barracks on 27 June 1984 ) , built to what was a standard design known as the " Sandhurst Block " , laid out to house a battalion or regiment in one barracks unit . This was followed shortly after by Martinique Barracks ( Militia type ) to the north - west of Louisburg . The old wooden hut Martinique barracks were renamed the San Domingo barracks . Demolished between 1961 and 1967 , it is now the site for additional married quarters . Pre - World war 2 construction ended with the building of the wooden hutted training camp at Oxney Farm , named Martinique barracks . These were dismantled in 1983 by contractors for erection elsewhere . 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 , transferred from Chattenden Barracks in Chatham , Kent . While the laying of the tracks , placed apart , proved relatively easy , the movement of the huts did not . Weighing up to , each hut was jacked by hand into the air using hydraulic jacks , to allow placement of seven wheeled trolleys underneath it . Moved onto the railway and balanced across both tracks on railway trolleys , it was then proceeded by a platform on which was placed : a vertical boiler ; a steam winch ; a water tank . Twin shire horse s provided by the 13th and 59th Companies ASC , would then drag a steel rope up to up the railway track . There it would be attached to a tree , something else solid , or if nothing else was available a land anchor . The steam - powered winch would then pull the hut forward , and the whole process repeated . The route took the huts across the rear of ranges No . 2 and No . 3 , straight through No . 1 range , across Whitehill crossroads and on across Hogmoor enclosure , into Bordon camp . The average speed of the solution was , with additional steam traction engine assistance required up steep hills , and drag ropes and anchors on declines of over 1 : 6 . The average rate of move was three huts a week , with a record set of one hut moved in a day , albeit having been placed on the railway trolley the previous night . Once the huts were located at Bordon , the 23rd Field CompanyRoyal Engineers placed the huts . The movement of the huts was completed in May 1905 . There were a number of notable accidents . In June 1903 , a sapper was crushed to death underneath a hut , while the team attempted a hoist in the rain . A second hut slipped off of its railway trolleys at Whitehill , and was abandoned . It was later converted into the local police station . Longmoor Military Railway . The original Woolmer Light Railway was fully authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1902 . In 1905 , the London and South Western Railway had opened the Bentley and Bordon Light Railway , linking to a new station at . 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 moved from Chatham , to support the 53rd Company at Longmoor for hut moving task . Due to the steep grades of the Woolmer Light Railway , quickly surveyed but overcome by anchored steam power , the Royal Engineers surveyed an amended alignment for the proposed standard gauge line , running closer to the Whitehill - Greatham road . Workshops , stores and a locomotive shed were built at Longmoor , some of the materials used having been salvaged from the Suakin to Berber military railway , built during the 1880s Sudan Campaign . After works to convert and relay the line were completed in 1907 , it became known from 1908 as the Woolmer Instructional Military Railway . After the Liss extension was opened in 1933 , with a platform adjacent to those of the Southern Railway serving the Portsmouth Direct Line , it was renamed the Longmoor Military Railway in 1935 . Woolmer remained one of the blockposts ( signal boxes ) on the LMR . 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 The permanent base of the 79 Railway Squadron ( United Kingdom ) , as a training railway for both the Army and later the Railway Inspectorate , it was often being constructed / deconstructed . The layout would often change , and at one time housed a machine which could lay of track a day . At its peak , the railway ran to over of operational laid track and sidings . Closure . In light of the reducing role of the military and the severely reduced British Empire , it was decided by the Ministry of Defence to close the railway . On hearing of its impending closure local locomotive preservation groups became interested in acquiring the small but complete rail system , and a bid was placed to purchase LMR along with the airstrip at Gypsy Hollow which would have enabled the production of a unique transport museum . The MOD rejected this proposal , which had been backed by the Association of Railway Preservation Societies and The Transport Trust . However the Army did offer the last 1½ miles of line from Liss Forest Road to Liss . The offer was accepted , a provisional lease was drawn up and planning permission was sought for developments at Liss . Unfortunately the people of Liss did not share this enthusiasm and opposed the planning permission . Several residents raised £9 , 100 in a successful bid to buy this last piece of line . Longmoor Military Railway closed down with a ceremonial last day of operation on 31 October 1969 , though for another two years some locomotives and stock remained on site , and there were occasional movements . Three items of rolling stock ( a van , a brake van , and a bogie flat ) still remain on the Longmoor site , as part of the FIBUA training village . Broxhead House . Broxhead House was built by Admiral Thomas Foley , hero of the Battle of the Nile , in 1877 . After purchase of the Broxhead estate in November 1902 by the War Department , the house was used by the General Officer Commanding , and later the Brigade Commander of the garrison . From the start of World War 2 , it was used as the local divisional headquarters , until that was moved in November 1940 to Batts Hall , Frensham . It was then made the UK headquarters for the Canadian Army in Europe . At the end of the war , it was initially used as a medical reception facility , and then as an officers hotel . At the start of 1952 it became the headquarters of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers , until they moved to Louisburg Barracks in 1979 . In 1981 Molex bought Wolfe Lodge and then Broxhead House , with the house demolished in 1983 to make way for new laboratories . The site is presently named Lion Court . Camp facilities . Bordon Post Office . Post was essential for the morale of all troops , and so a Post Office was set up in Quebec barracks for the entire Bordon and Longmoor complex . This was moved from the wooden huts to a new brick building in 1908 on the far side of Camp Road , being renamed Bordon Post Office . The site today is still the location of the local Royal Mail depot , and unified army and civilian post office . Church of England Soldiers Institute . In August 1904 , Princess Alexander of Teck opened the Church of England Soldiers Institute opened . Built close to Luisburg barracks of corrugated iron structure at a cost of £1 , 500 , it was " open to all soldiers and sailors wearing the King ’ s uniform regardless of religion . " Facilities included refreshment room , a reading and writing room where concerts could be held , a billiard room , and a large devotional room with a harmonium . There were five bedrooms with two bathrooms for visiting military persons . A new large hall was added in September 1906 , capable of seating 500 . At one end was a stage , while at the other was Chancel : both could be covered by roller shutters , depending on the halls usage . In 1908 the Brownlow Hall was added and named after Major General Brownlow , who was president of the C . of E . Institutes . Used solely for entertainment , it was used as a cinema until the opening of the Empire Club in 1938 . The building was closed in 1960 , and demolished . The site is now occupied by a Tesco " One Stop " convenience store . Wesleyan Soldiers Home . Opened in 1905 , it was located behind the C . of E . Institute . Its wooden structure covered with dark green painted corrugated iron roof cost £2 , 500 to build . Surrounded by a garden , the building enclosed : a games room ; a billiard room ; a reading and writing room ; a devotional room ; and a lecture hall seating 300 . There were ten bedrooms and three bedrooms , plus a suite for the chaplain . Together with the C . of E . Institute , the building was closed and demolished in 1960 . Bordon Officers ’ Sports Club . In 1910 , a cricket ground and associated pavilion were placed north of Gibbs Lane . The club house construction in 1922 was paid for by the local officers club , being constructed of wooden frame with wooden sheeting siding , plus concrete tiles , to fit in with the village green feel . The building housed : a smoking room ; dining room ; gentlemen ’ s cloakroom ; ladies ’ room ; ladies cloakroom ; a steward ’ s quarters . In 1928 a 21 year rotating lease was drawn up , and the old cricket pavilion became the groundsman storeroom . The facility was now invested in from 1930 onwards , with : two squash courts ; a badminton court ; card room ; kitchen added to the indoors clubhouse facilities . Outside were added : eight grass and two hard tennis courts ; a polo field ; hockey pitch ; and rugby grounds . The result was that the lease was transferred to the United Services Trustees in 1937 . After a lease renewal in 1959 for an additional 21 years , in 1977 after the Army School of Transport left the Garrison , the number of serving officers making use of the Club dwindled rapidly . With new sporting facilities being built at Havannah barracks , the decision was taken to hand over manage and the lease to a civilian committee , completed in 1980 . From this date , it became Bordon and Oakhanger Sports Club . Empire Club . The Empire Club was opened by Field Marshal Lord Methuen on 17 December 1913 . The club had a full - time gardener , two grass tennis courts and a bowling green . Although it made a profit throughout World War 1 and just after , by the early 1930s attempts by both the NAAFI and YMCA commercially failed . Bordon Entertainments Ltd took a 21 year lease on the club in July 1938 . In 1946 , NAAFI opened a competing Garrison Club in Louisburg Barracks South . The result was a series of improvements , including : conversion of the dance hall to a cinema ; a new ballroom and bar in 1955 ; and a lido in 1963 . In 1977 , after the Army School of Transport left the garrison , the Empire Club lease reverted to the District Council . In 1987 , the club burnt down while still under council control . Proposed to be rebuilt as an arts centre , the site is now civilian domestic housing , and forms part of Pinewood Village . Medical facilities . The original joint medical and dental centres were replaced in 1964 by a new building opposite the Empire Club . Known as the " Mississippi Steamboat " due to its shape and huge singular steel chimney , it is presently being replaced by a new centre to e located on Budds Lane . Schooling . In 1906 , a Junior School was built in Station Road , Bordon and an Infant School in Lamerton Road . The Infant school was only used in the afternoon for schooling , being used for military instruction in the morning . Prior to the Education Act 1944 , these were controlled by the military , after which they came under the control of Hampshire County Council Local Education Authority . In 1965 , a new Junior School opened in Budds Lane on the site of the former married quarters , while the Infants moved to the former Junior school . The old Infants school was demolished in 1966 . In 1979 , a new Infants school opened in Budds Lane , and the old school leased to the Local Authority , named Barbados House after the earlier barracks on the site . The building today houses the Phoenix Theatre . Fire station . There was a fire station on site from 1906 , staffed in rotation by trained members of each unit stationed on garrison , under the control of the Army Service Corps . Equipped with a single horse drawn pump , the station had three stables for accommodation of horses . From 1920 the station was equipped with motorised Thornycroft fire engine , while the building also housed a section of the Royal Military Police . Although the fire service role was taken over by the civilian station in 1938 , it returned to the garrison at the start of World War II , when the officer in charge of the garrison also moved his headquarters to the same building . As a result , in 1940 the fire engines were upgraded to new Leyland Motors lorries . The old horse stables were hit by a Luftwaffe bomb on 16 August 1940 , killing its civilian occupant , a Canadian officer , and two NCO ' s . Post war the station remained in operation , serving both the garrison as well as the local civilian population . From 1958 onwards , the station was civilian staffed , equipped with Green Goddess Bedford 3 tonners . These were replaced in 1973 by Bedford domestic Water Tenders carrying of water . In 1989 , after the completion of a new civilian fire station within Bordon , the Royal Air Force took over the old fire station building . Renamed Oakhanger fire station , it was closed in 2005 when the nearby RAF Oakhanger was outsourced . Religious facilities . Tin tabernacle . Church of England services were held in the gym on camp opening , then transferred in 1906 to the C . of E . Soldiers Institute when it opened , in a space also used by the Roman Catholic congregation . In February 1921 , St . George ’ s Garrison Church was erected in Budds Lane , also known as the Tin Tabernacle due to its corrugated iron shell on wooden framed construction . Its organ and furnishings came from the former Army depot at the Curragh , after the pullout of the British Army post the creation of the Irish Republic . Demolished in 1983 , services moved to the former R . A . Institute . Roman Catholic Church . There has been a Roman Catholic place of worship on the garrison site from the opening of Bordon camp . The priest was provided with a portable altar , which could be set up where ever space could be found . Initially this was within a marque set - up on St Lucia barracks square , which then moved to a wooden hut on Kildare Close . The hut was used for living accommodation from the outbreak of World War I , the location again became portable . In 1919 , parishioners converted an allocated former wooden canteen opposite Martinique House , which became Sacred Heart Church . This was demolished in 1990 , with a new brick church built on the top of Chalet Hill . Bordon Military Cemetery . Land was originally set aside for a cemetery on the west side of the A325 . However , there is no evidence that it was used , with burials occurring in the civilian cemeteries in either Headley or Greatham . The site is now the Woolmer trading estate . In 1908 , worked started on a new military cemetery on Bolley Avenue . It opened in April 1910 , consecrated by the Chaplain - General to the Forces , the Rt . Rev . Bishop I . Taylor - Smith CVO DD , with music from 3rd Battalion , the Rifle Brigade . The grounds can be used for burial by any serving member of the armed forces , and their dependents . It hence includes both Canadian and South Africans who were camped in Bordon during the two World Wars . It also acted as a temporary cemetery for nine United States Army soldiers , later returned to the United States after the end of hostilities in 1947 . Separate areas are set aside for the various denominations , including one member of the Dutch Reformed Church , and one Gurkha . The sole non - military civilian burial is the grave of Mrs Alice Emily Chandler , who lived in the former stable house of the camps fire station , killed with a Canadian officer and two NCO ' s by a Nazi Luftwaffe bomb on 16 August 1940 . Reredos . The CofE church housed the Reredos , an altarpiece memorial to all units who have served in Bordon since its creation . In the form of a large painting , it was created by David Shepherd for a cost of £1 , 000 . The scene depicts the central figure of Jesus Christ standing on a mound , with four uniformed men kneeling dressed and armed in the style of soldiers who served in the South African War , the First and Second World Wars and Korean War , with a Chaplain standing giving the blessing . In the background are depicted all the Arms and Corps , who have served in Bordon . Dedicated on 22 July 1964 by the Chaplain General , the Reredos is the property of St . George ’ s Garrison Church and the Chaplain General . If no Garrison Church is built in the future , it will become the property of the Royal Army Chaplains Department Depot . Canadian Army at Bordon . Bordon and Longmoor have a long association with the Canadian Army , providing a base for them in both world wars . Troops were shipped into Glasgow and Liverpool Docks , and then transported by train direct to . World War 1 . Bordon was used as a staging post for " under - fire " troop training in World War 1 . The Canadians under Commanding officer William Mahlon Davis used tents in their first occupation , setting up camps named after the Great Lakes in the Bramshott Camp area : Erie , Huron , Superior and Ontario . The speciality Canadian Forestry Corps set - up a steam powered saw mill near the Deer ' s Hut Inn , Liphook . World War 2 . The British 3rd Infantry Brigade was resident in Bordon in 1939 , but was dispatched in its entirety at the start of hostilities of World War II , as part of the British Expeditionary Force . The men left from railway station on specially charter trains , direct to Southampton Docks . When the Canadian Army was looking for a European base , the British Army offered them Bordon and Longmoor sub - camp , which they took over entirely from September 1939 under a British Officer commanding the local service and civilian personnel . The Canadians built two new sub - camps , using Canadian built and shipped prefabricated wooden huts : As part of their local security remit , the Canadians built numerous security points and anti - aircraft bases around the town of Bordon , on which tanks and armoured cars were parked , leaving today a patchwork of elderly but still visible concrete slabs . The Canadians had their own fire station , located at the junction of Budds Lane and Station Road , and hence able to access either camp . Canadians also in part manned the garrison fire station throughout World War 2 . Memorial . A commemorative stone was erected by the Land Electrical and Mechanical Engineers of the Canadian Forces in June 1985 , on the site of the Tin Tabernacle , in memory of members of the Canadian Army who served in Bordon during both World Wars . 4 Battalion REME have even adopted the Maple leaf as a back - round to the " IV " in their 4 Battalion Logo . Post World War 2 . After World War 2 , while the training facilities continued to be used and even expanded , the units stationed at the camps began to reflect the contracting nature of the British Empire and British influence . With troop training moved to Aldershot , the camps became home to various units of REME , which were eventually consolidated under one unit based at the Bordon barracks from the 1960s onwards . Various Motor Transport divisions consolidated to the base during the 1960s , only to leave for Shrewsbury in the 1980s . This brought about the consolidation of the camps ' facilities , with tracts of land occupied by old buildings and structures sold to the District Council for civilian redevelopment , such as that at Pinewood Village . Present . The current combined camp and training area covers of wooded areas , heath , wetland s and hard standings . Bordon is home to the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers , providing trade training ; both basic and supplementary , to its soldiers . Additional facilities still provide temporary accommodation to the heathland training facility . The camps today include Nissen hut s , a school house , mess ing facilities , cinema and theatre . The Longmoor Army Ranges , a large forest with tracks and firing ranges , is south of the town . The majority of the training area is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest and forms part of the European designated Wealden Heaths Special Protection Area and Special Area of Conservation . In addition to military use , the area is used by the Goschen foxhounds , Chiddingfold , Leconfield and Cowdray foxhounds , and the Hampshire hunt .