World War One Trenches uncovered at Ballykinler
A fascinating glimpse into how troops trained for the trenches of World War One has been uncovered at Ballykinler Training Centre in Northern Ireland.
Major Tony Canniford at the Defence Infrastructure Organisation’s (DIO) SD Training Ballykinler site has been working with a PhD student at Queen’s University in Belfast investigating First World War British training grounds in Ireland.
Heather Montgomery has been working closely with DIO staff to uncover as much of the World War One training area as possible. She said:
“I’m currently investigating the World War One British Training grounds in Ireland that were established to house, train and maintain the troops from Kitchener’s first army across the island of Ireland.
The island of Ireland hasn’t been represented archaeologically or accurately historically as far as the involvement in the First World War and I’m hoping that my investigations will help to lead to a better understanding and enhancement of that knowledge.”
The investigation so far has uncovered a full practice trench system and dug outs, plus an old 600m gallery range, which are thought to have been originally used by the 36 Ulster Division in preparation for the Battle of the Somme. The team has also uncovered what is believed to be a Second World War grenade range.
Talking about the finds, Richard Osgood, DIO Senior Archaeologist said:
“We’re very excited by these finds and we’re keen to find out more about them.
“Our strategy now is to investigate this legacy further and try to understand who put the trenches in place, why they were used and how effective they were, and then to see what steps we can put in place to conserve them.”
Major Tony Canniford, Senior Training Safety Officer for Ballykinler Training Centre said:
“We knew we had some World War One remnants here at Ballykinler, but we didn’t know exactly what we had as the training camp has been here since the Boer War.
“With the help of Queen’s University we have been able to identify a number of interesting archaeological elements, and we hope to unearth more and work to preserve and maintain this part of history. Not only are we the custodians of the site, but it links nicely with my own Regimental History”
The nature of the landscape at Ballykinler has served to preserve much of the rich history of the training area, as some of the trenches are in the Danger Area. It is thought that this is just the beginning of a project which will unearth a wealth of 20th century Irish military history.
Ends
Further information:
Press enquiries to Tony Moran, Senior Communications Officer 0121 311 3879
or email tony.moran572@mod.uk
DIO website: www.gov.uk/dio
Twitter: @mod_dio
Read DIO’s blog: https://insidedio.blog.gov.uk/
Notes to Editors
1) The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) plays a vital role in supporting our Armed Forces by building, maintaining and servicing what the men and women who serve our country need to live, work, train and deploy on operations.
2) DIO is part of the Ministry of Defence (MOD). It is responsible for managing and maintaining land and properties, as well as providing related support services, to meet the current and future needs of the MOD and personnel at home and abroad, and to support current operations.
3) Our work includes supporting operational units by providing and improving single living and service family accommodation; training areas and historic military sites. DIO actively manages these to ensure the needs of Defence are met, value for money is achieved, and its heritage is protected, and to achieve its environmental goals.
4) Picture caption – please credit ‘Crown copyright/MOD 2014’: First World War practice trenches at Ballykinler Training Centre, Northern Ireland
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