HMS ''Standard'' was a British Royal Navy shore establishment between 1942 and 1945. Situated well away from the sea near

Kielder Kielder is a small, remote village in western Northumberland, England. Located at the head of Kielder Water and in the north west of Kielder Forest, the village is within of the Scottish border. History There was early settlement around Kielde ...

in Northumberland, the base was an assessment and rehabilitation centre for naval personnel diagnosed with personality disorders.

Origins

Prior to the Second World War the

Ministry of Labour The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

had established a number of training centres for unemployed men, one of these was Kielder Camp. In 1941 the Navy was growing increasingly concerned about the number of men suffering from behavioural problems, which prevented them from carrying out full duties. A variety of locations were considered before it was decided to take over the by now deserted labour camp near Kielder. Although the camp was taken over in 1941 it was not until early 1942 that it was commissioned as HMS ''Standard'' and the first men posted there.

Personnel

Men posted to the base fell into three categories; those with low morale, men of temperamental instability, and malingerers. The aim was to return these men not necessarily to active service but to some form of effective service. The base was not a hospital, it was under the command of officers of the Royal Navy executive branch rather than Royal Naval Medical Service, although two Royal Navy

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

s were assigned to the base staff.

Regime

The regime of the base had an emphasis on physical labour and education to support the overall aim of returning the men to effective service. Rather than a general regime, each man was assessed and a personalised regime of work, recreation and education established.

Statistics

During the three years HMS ''Standard'' was operational, 842 men were assessed of whom 680 were classed as 'successes' because they were drafted to other duties within the Navy with the average period at ''Standard'' being four months. Of those redrafted the records are incomplete but some performed well enough to be decorated, while over 100 were the subject later in their service careers of bad reports. The remaining 162 men were all discharged from the Navy.

Closure

HMS ''Standard'' was decommissioned in July 1945 after the end of the war in Europe, subsequently the camp became a labour camp for Polish

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

s before becoming a Forestry Commission depot. The site of the camp was flooded with the creation of

Kielder Water Kielder Water is a large man-made reservoir in Northumberland in North East England. It is the largest artificial lake in the United Kingdom by capacity of water and it is surrounded by Kielder Forest, one of the biggest man-made woodlands in E ...

in 1980.

Notes

References

* Royal Navy bases in England Royal Navy shore establishments Buildings and structures in Northumberland {{UK-navy-stub