Wenlock Barracks is a military installation on

Anlaby Road Anlaby Road was a sports venue in Hull. The ground was used for football club Hull City between 1906 and 1939. The record attendance was 32,000 in a FA Cup game against Newcastle United. The stands were bombed during the Second World War bu ...

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...

, England.

History

The building was designed as the headquarters of the 2nd Northumbrian Brigade,

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of t ...

and opened in April 1911. The riding school of the

East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry The East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry was a unit of the British Army formed in 1902. Units of Yeomanry Cavalry were raised in the East Riding of Yorkshire in the 18th and early 19th centuries at times of national emergency: the Jacobite Rising ...

, which was accessed from Walton Street and had been completed in 1905, formed part of the site. The barracks were named after

Lord Wenlock Baron Wenlock is a title that has been created three times, once in the Peerage of England and twice in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first creation came in 1461 when the soldier Sir John Wenlock was summoned to Parliament as Lord Wen ...

who had been honorary colonel of both 2nd Northumbrian Brigade and the East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry. The 2nd Northumbrian Brigade was mobilised at the drill hall in August 1914 and, after being deployed to France and being re-designated 251 Brigade in May 1916, it saw action at the

Battle of Passchendaele The Third Battle of Ypres (german: link=no, Dritte Flandernschlacht; french: link=no, Troisième Bataille des Flandres; nl, Derde Slag om Ieper), also known as the Battle of Passchendaele (), was a campaign of the First World War, fought by t ...

in autumn 1917, the

First Battle of Bapaume Operation Michael was a major German Army (German Empire), German Offensive (military), military offensive during the First World War that began the German Spring Offensive on 21 March 1918. It was launched from the Hindenburg Line, in the vi ...

in March 1918 and the

Second Battle of the Somme The Second Battle of the Somme of 1918 was fought during the First World War on the Western Front from late August to early September, in the basin of the River Somme. It was part of a series of successful counter-offensives in response to th ...

in August 1918 as well as the Second Battle of Bapaume later that month. After the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the drill hall became home of 73 (Northumbrian) Regiment Royal Artillery, a formation which evolved to become 62nd (Northumbrian) Anti-Aircraft Brigade Royal Artillery in 1936. The AA Defence Commander (AADC) and Gun Operations Room (GOR) for the Humber Gun Zone (later Gun Defence Area, GDA) were based at Wenlock Barracks during the early part of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The 62nd (Northumbrian) Anti-Aircraft Brigade Royal Artillery evolved to become 462nd (Northumbrian) (Mixed) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery after the war. The regiment amalgamated with 529 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery and 581 ( 5th Battalion The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery to form 440th (Humber) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery, with its headquarters at Wenlock Barracks, in 1955. Following the defence cuts in 1967, the regiment was reduced to cadre strength sponsored by 250 Field Ambulance

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

. The building remains an active Army Reserve Centre and is home to C (250) Medical Squadron,

254 (East of England) Medical Regiment 254 (East of England) Medical Regiment, Royal Army Medical Corps, is a regiment of the British Army Reserve. The regiment, based in East Anglia, is part of the Army Medical Services (AMS) and specialises in providing pre-hospital care. Histor ...

References

{{Kingston upon Hull Drill halls in England Buildings and structures in Kingston upon Hull