Bassingbourn Barracks is a
Ministry of Defence
{{unsourced, date=February 2021
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...
installation located north of
Royston,
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
and southwest of
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
,
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...
, England.
History
Early history
The barracks were established, on the site of the former
RAF Bassingbourn
Royal Air Force Bassingbourn or more simply RAF Bassingbourn is a former Royal Air Force Royal Air Force station, station located in Cambridgeshire approximately north of Royston, Hertfordshire, Royston, Hertfordshire and south west of Cambri ...
airfield, in January 1970, as the new
Depot
Depot ( or ) may refer to:
Places
* Depot, Poland, a village
* Depot Island, Kemp Land, Antarctica
* Depot Island, Victoria Land, Antarctica
* Depot Island Formation, Greenland
Brands and enterprises
* Maxwell Street Depot, a restaurant in ...
for the
Queen's Division
The Queen's Division is a British Army training and administrative apparatus for infantry regiments from the east and south of England and the remaining regiment of Fusiliers.
Formation
The Queen's Division was formed in 1968 with the regime ...
. The depot was responsible for training recruits undergoing their 19-week basic training before joining a regular battalion. In 1993 the Barracks were re-designated the home of the
Army Training Regiment
An Army Training Regiment (ATR) provides Basic Training for elements of the British Army.
History
The British Army also used to have Army Training Regiments at Bassingbourn (closed in 2012), Harrogate (renamed the Army Foundation College), and Li ...
, Bassingbourn, and remained as such for nearly 20 years. Bassingbourn Barracks closed as an army training location in August 2012.
Libyan cadet scandal
In June 2014, the barracks reopened to train
Libyan
Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. The ...
troops. Although nearby residents were originally informed that the Libyan cadets would only be permitted to leave the base on escorted visits the rules were subsequently relaxed. Shortly afterwards, a number of complaints of sexual assault were made against some of the trainees. Five were later charged with a series of sexual offences against both women and men: of these, two appeared before Cambridge Magistrates' Court and admitted carrying out a series of assaults on women in Cambridge's Market Square area on 26 October 2014,
two were charged with raping a man in Cambridge, and the fifth was charged with three counts of sexual assault. As a result, the
Ministry of Defence
{{unsourced, date=February 2021
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...
(MoD) decided to terminate the training programme early, saying in a statement in November 2014: "Training was initially expected to last until the end of November but we have agreed with the
Libyan government
The politics of Libya has been in an uncertain state since the collapse of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya in 2011 and a recent civil war and various jihadists and tribal elements controlling parts of the country. On 10 March 2021, a national unity g ...
that it is best for all involved to bring forward the training completion date. The recruits will be returning to Libya in the coming days”. It was also discovered that a further five of the trainees had applied for asylum in the UK.
On 15 May 2015, two Libyan cadets were each jailed for 12 years for raping a man in Cambridge in a prolonged attack in
Christ's Pieces
Christ's Pieces or Christ's Piece is a Victorian park in the east of central Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, with flower beds, ornamental trees and a memorial garden to Diana, Princess of Wales. , a park in the city centre. Following the sentencing,
Andrew Lansley
Andrew David Lansley, Baron Lansley, (born 11 December 1956) is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who previously served as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Secretary of State for Health and Leader of the H ...
, the
South Cambridgeshire
South Cambridgeshire is a local government district of Cambridgeshire, England, with a population of 162,119 at the 2021 census. It was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of Chesterton Rural District and South Cambridgeshire Rural District. I ...
MP at the time that the attacks took place, told the BBC "mistakes had been made" adding that he hoped the sentencing would provide some "redress" and acknowledging that "discipline inside the base really fell apart". A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it "condemned" the incidents adding that such training "will not be repeated at Bassingbourn. Following the conclusion of the training the prime minister tasked the MoD with producing a report on the programme and the defence secretary has now presented its findings to the House of Commons".
After the rape trial verdicts were returned, it was revealed that three other Libyan cadets had already pleaded guilty to unrelated sex attacks which had taken place in Cambridge on the same night. They had been sentenced at
Norwich Crown Court on 13 May but reporting restrictions had been in place until the rape case was concluded. Of the three defendants, one admitted two counts of sexual assault and the theft of a bicycle and was jailed for 12 months; the second admitted three counts of sexual assault, one count of exposure and the theft of a bicycle and was jailed 10 months; the third admitted two counts of sexual assault, one count of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour and the theft of a bicycle and was jailed for 10 months. All three were put on the sex offender register for 10 years.
The Libyan soldiers also caused damage costing £500,000 to repair.
Re-opening
In December 2018 Bassingbourn Barracks was reopened as home to the Mission Training and Mobilisation Centre (MTMC), a unit responsible for training troops for operations abroad. MTMC had re-located from Risborough Barracks,
Shorncliffe Army Camp
Shorncliffe Army Camp is a large military camp near Cheriton in Kent. Established in 1794, it later served as a staging post for troops destined for the Western Front during the First World War.
History
The camp was established in 1794 when t ...
and
Lydd Ranges
Lydd Ranges is a military firing range south of Lydd, in Kent, England, extending as far as the south coast.
It has been used for military training for over 150 years and is part of the Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay Site of Special Scie ...
in Kent.
Construction work began in 2019 to allow other elements of MTMC to relocate from
Chetwynd Barracks
Chetwynd Barracks is a military installation at Chilwell in Nottinghamshire.
History
The Chilwell depot and barracks were built for the Royal Army Ordnance Corps shortly after the First World War on the former site of the National Shell Filling ...
in
Chilwell
Chilwell is a village and residential suburb of Nottingham, in the borough of Broxtowe of Nottinghamshire, west of Nottingham city. Until 1974 it was part of Beeston and Stapleford Urban District, having been in Stapleford Rural District until ...
to Bassingbourn Barracks.
[
]
Tower Museum, Bassingbourn
Opened in 1974, the Tower Museum, Bassingbourn is located in the original pre-war air traffic control (ATC) tower (watch office) of RAF Bassingbourn. The museum is focused on the history of the airfield during the Second World War and the men and women of the RAF and USAAF who trained and worked there during that war. Exhibits include photographs, documents and military artefacts about the RAF, USAAF and the 91st Bombardment Group. The museum is currently closed.
In popular culture
Bassingbourn Barracks was used for location filming of the movie ''Full Metal Jacket
''Full Metal Jacket'' is a 1987 war drama film directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Herr and Gustav Hasford. The film is based on Hasford's 1979 novel ''The Short-Timers'' and stars Matthew M ...
'' in 1985 standing-in for the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island
Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island (often abbreviated as MCRD PI) is an military installation located within Port Royal, South Carolina, approximately south of Beaufort, the community that is typically associated with the installation. ...
, South Carolina
)''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
. Some of the Vietnam scenes were filmed at Bassingbourn, and palm trees
Palm most commonly refers to:
* Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand
* Palm plants, of family Arecaceae
**List of Arecaceae genera
* Several other plants known as "palm"
Palm or Palms may also refer to:
Music
* Palm ( ...
imported for the film were left on site and could be seen for a period of time after filming. British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
recruits based at Bassingbourn during the filming were used as extras.
Cadet Forces
Royal Air Force Air Cadets
Since approximately 1970 the site has retained its RAF links by being the home of 2484 (Bassingbourn) Squadron Air Training Corps
The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British volunteer-military youth organisation. They are sponsored by the Ministry of Defence and the Royal Air Force. The majority of staff are volunteers, and some are paid for full-time work – including C ...
.
Army Cadet Force
The barracks has an annex on-site that is used routinely by Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire ACF.
References
{{Authority control
Installations of the British Army
Barracks in England
South Cambridgeshire District