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GLEN PARVA BARRACKS
BY DEREK SEATON
The building of Leicester Barracks (later to become known as Glen Parva Barracks) took place between 1876 and 1880. This was a direct result of Parliament passing the Military Forces Localisation Act 1872, which was part of a series of reforms to expand and modernise the British Army.
Initially, in 1874, the Government purchased 20 acres of the Grange estate in the tiny hamlet of Glen Parva, from Captain Philip Goodchild, for the building of the infantry barracks. Importantly, the southern boundary of the site adjoined the London & North Western Railway close to the area which shortly afterwards was developed into the village of South Wigston. The price paid for the land was £3,791. In 1875, the tender to erect the barracks for the sum of £66,500 (excluding extras) was submitted by Messrs Henry Everett & Son, building contractors of Colchester in Essex, and was accepted.
The barracks, which were designed to accommodate upwards of 500 troops, were ready for occupation in the spring of 1880 and were designated as the 27th Brigade Depot in the first instance.
In 1881 the old numbered Regiments of Foot were replaced by regiments with county titles, thus the 17th became The Leicestershire Regiment. The barracks were soon to become known as the Regimental Depot of The Leicestershire Regiment, the home of the county regiment.
Throughout the next thirty years, thousands of recruits passed through Glen Parva Barracks as The Leicestershire Regiment, affectionately known as 'The Tigers', served throughout the world. The 1st Battalion had fought with distinction in the Boer War, and by 1910 there were large numbers of veterans of the Siege of Ladysmith adding their individual and collective experience of war to the training of new recruits and soldiers coming through the ranks.
For some years the rival European powers had been competing over trade and the extension of their colonies. Military might and threatening alliances were growing and war clouds were on the horizon.
On Sunday, 2 April 1911, the last national census was taken before the world was plunged into war.
The census returns for Glen Parva Barracks are recorded as follows:
Officers
5
NCOs
47
Men
123
Total
175
Persons other than soldiers:
Wives
30
Children
64
Civilians
4
Visitors;
4
Total
102
The number of people, both military and civilian, located at the depot by 1914 was comparatively low. Both the two regular battalions of The Leicestershire Regiment were stationed overseas. The 1st Battalion was in Fermoy, County Cork, Ireland, whereas the 2nd Battalion was undertaking a tour of duty in India and was stationed in Ranikhet. Thus the depot was then mainly occupied by permanent staff, instructors and recruits in small numbers. This was soon to change!
On 4 August 1914, Britain declared war on Germany as the major European countries aligned themselves into two main camps for the commencement of a titanic struggle that would forever be known as the First World War.
Within a week of the outbreak of the war some 1,100 reservists had been recalled, equipped and sent off from the depot, they marched away to the strains of Mr Charles Moore's Wigston Temperance Silver Prize Band.
Horses as well as men were urgently required and The Leicester Mail, reporting on Glen Parva Barracks on 10 August, stated: 'Fifty horses have been commandeered and were paraded on the Fairfield Green.' The intention was to use local horses for transport duties but this in turn put an enormous strain upon local tradespeople and deliveries. One local firm of bakers, Messrs Black's Bread Co. Ltd, at No. 32 Charles Street, Leicester, was clearly irritated by the loss of its horses and inserted the following notice in the local press:
HORSES COMMANDEERED BLACK'S BREAD CO. LIMITED beg to inform their customers that the Army having commandeered 10 of their best horses they will have great difficulty in delivering bread. They guarantee to call upon all their customers daily but must ask to be excused if they should be a little later than usual.
A week after the declaration of war, Field Marshall Earl Kitchener, the newly appointed Secretary of State for War, launched a massive recruitment campaign on 11 August. He called for 100,000 volunteers between the ages of 19 and 30 years and within three weeks his target had been well exceeded. This initial intake formed the First New Army (K1).
The command of the Regimental Depot, following the outbreak of war, was an all-important assignment. In this regard, The Leicestershire Regiment was fortunate in being able to call upon the services of a very experienced soldier and administrator in Lieutenant-Colonel John Edward Mosse, a retired Tiger. He had been commissioned into the regiment in 1879 and served for twenty-four years. Although on the retired list, he willingly offered his services and was duly appointed the commanding officer of Glen Parva Barracks in succession to Colonel George Burne.
Entrance to Glen Parva Barracks. (Duncan Lucas)
Lieutenant-Colonel John Mosse with his wife Catherine and their daughter Miss Sheila Mosse, together with two orderlies and the family dogs, outside of the Commandant's residence at the Regimental Depot. (Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland)
Locally, the response to Earl Kitchener's call to arms was almost overwhelming. The sheer scale of new recruits put an enormous strain upon the administrative and training elements of the Regimental Depot as men enlisted in unprecedented numbers. Extra clerical staff had to be requisitioned for the recruiting at the barracks in order to cope with the additional workload, as upwards of 100 men a day were joining Kitchener's Army in the Leicester area.
The scene was vividly described in the Leicester Advertiser (4 September 1914): 'The number of recruits presenting themselves for all sections of the Army is increasing and as soon as they have been passed by the doctor and been sworn in they are drilled. The barracks square at Glen Parva has resounded to the incessant instructions of the drill sergeants.'
As a direct result of Earl Kitchener's call, four new battalions of Tigers were formed; they became the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th (Service) Battalions of The Leicestershire Regiment, later to become the 110th Leicestershire Brigade.
Many men from the local factories, such as Messrs Two Steeples Ltd, hosiery manufacturers of Wigston Magna, joined up together to form the Pals' Battalions as they became known. The Managing Director, Mr Edward Lee, held a patriotic recruiting campaign at the factory and twenty-two men from the workforce answered the call of their boss. The lads were given a great send off by their fellow workers, many of whom accompanied them to Glen Parva Barracks as they joined the ranks of the 8th and 9th Battalions in September 1914.
Recruits for Kitchener's Army at Glen Parva Barracks in September 1914. (Duncan Lucas)
Fellow workers from Two Steeples Ltd pictured outside of Glen Parva Barracks on 3 September 1914, who gathered to wave off 'their boys'. (Duncan Lucas)
Despite all the best endeavours of the recruiting staff and instructors, the sheer volume of new recruits turning up at the depot was beyond their capabilities. Large numbers of men, at one stage up to 1,000 recruits, had to be billeted with local residents in the streets of South Wigston. An allowance of 2s a day was paid for each man in respect of food and lodgings. South Wigston became a village 'invaded' by Kitchener's men.
As the newly formed Service Battalions of The Leicestershire Regiment were prepared for war, the two regular battalions had arrived in France. The 1st Battalion took part in the retreat from Mons in September 1914 and was then involved in the first battle of Ypres, which was concluded in November 1914. Meanwhile, the 2nd Battalion reached the Western Front at the end of the year, having arrived from India with the Garhwal Brigade of the Meerut Division of the Indian Army Corps and also initially saw action at Ypres. Heavy casualties were taken and replacements became a matter of urgency, putting a greater demand upon the resources of Glen Parva Barracks to respond.
By the spring of 1915 recruitment had fallen dramatically, added to which the 4th and 5th Territorial Battalions of the Regiment had arrived in France. With four battalions now involved in or preparing for action on the Western Front urgent replacements were required as the casualty lists mounted.
An important visitor to Glen Parva Barracks in April 1915 was Private William Henry Buckingham VC, 2nd Battalion, The Leicestershire Regiment. He had been awarded the Victoria Cross 'for conspicuous acts of bravery and devotion to duty in rescuing and rendering first aid to the wounded whilst exposed to heavy fire at Neuve Chapelle on 10 and 12 March 1915'. Following medical...
