Clive Barracks is a military installation at

Ternhill Tern Hill, also known as Ternhill, is a village in Shropshire, England, notable as the location of the former RAF Tern Hill station, which is now operated by the British Army as Clive Barracks. The settlement is named after the River Tern whi ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to t ...

in Western England.

History

The barracks were established, on the site of the former RAF Tern Hill airfield, in 1976: they were initially named Borneo Barracks before being renamed Clive Barracks after Major-General Lord Clive who had been born in

. Some of the early units to use the site were the

Queen's Lancashire Regiment The Queen's Lancashire Regiment (30th, 40th, 47th, 59th, 81st and 82nd Regiments of Foot) (QLR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the King's Division. It was formed on 25 March 1970 at Connaught Barracks in Dover through ...

who moved there in 1980 and the Royal Welch Fusiliers who moved there in 1984. On 20 February 1989, two IRA bombers activated two bombs within the accommodation barracks at Tern Hill. At that time the 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment (who had arrived in 1987) and the 1st Battalion, The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (who had arrived in 1989) were located at the station. A sentry spotted two men behaving suspiciously and raised the alarm, the barracks were evacuated shortly before the bombs exploded therefore preventing certain loss of life. One of the accommodation blocks was destroyed in the blast (which was reported to have been heard away in Shrewsbury). The bombers escaped by hijacking a car from a house down the road from the barracks.

Based Unit

Since 2007 the barracks has been home to 1st Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment (27th (Inniskilling), 83rd, 87th And The Ulster Defence Regiment) which operates in the

light infantry Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought ...

role equipped with the

Foxhound A foxhound is a type of large hunting hound bred for strong hunting instincts, a keen sense of smell, and their bark, energy, drive, and speed. In fox hunting, the foxhound's namesake, packs of foxhounds track quarry, followed—usually on hors ...

armoured vehicle. As of 1 November 2018, there were 628 troops assigned to the battalion.

Future

In late March 2016, 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 state ...

announced that the site was one of ten to be sold in order to reduce the size of the Defence estate. The airfield will be retained as a Relief Landing Ground (RLG) and practice area for No 1 Flying Training School based out of nearby

RAF Shawbury Royal Air Force Shawbury, otherwise known as RAF Shawbury, is a Royal Air Force station near the village of Shawbury in Shropshire in the West Midlands of England. History The First World War The station at Shawbury was first used for military ...

. Later, in November 2016, it was announced that the site would close in 2022. This was later extended to 2025, and once more to 2029.

References

{{reflist Installations of the British Army Barracks in England