Maresfield Park Camp

19th Oct 1914 Hampshire Yeormary move from Forest Row 1/1st Hampshire Yeomanry moved from Forest Row Camp, situated adjacent to the A22 London to Eastbourne road, between Forest Row and Wych Cross to Maresfield Camp just outside Uckfield.

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Those known to have trained at
Maresfield Park Camp
during the Great War 1914-1918.

Cannell MM.. Walter Arthur. 2nd Lt.
Greenfield Arthur John. Trpr.
Pitt George Heriot. Lt.

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263740

Lt. George Heriot Pitt Royal Garrison Artillery

On 19th of February 1917, George Pitt wrote to his family;
9.2.17 No. 2 R.G.A.Cadet School
Marefield Park
Uckfield.

My dear Mother,
I am glad to say everything has improved vastly and will improve even more. At first the prospect was dreary and the outlook grey, but, as I said before, things improve. They have opened another dining hut so that the meals are greatly improved, the menu is rather monotonous and not costly, but it might be worse, - so I am told. Today we started our drill and Duty. I have been put in E squad, with about 15 other new arrivals; there are 6 squads and you move up one every fortnight, so you see my term of imprisonment will at any rate be a fortnight less than it might have been. We get up at 6 am and have to be in bed and lights out by 10.15 pm. They give us about 6 – 7 hours work per day, and the work varies according to what squad you are in. To-day we did chiefly the principles of Infantry work to start with, and the maths master, [an awful old dry-out] took about an hour to tell us what an angle was.
The country round here may be very lovely, - everyone says it is one of England’s beauty spots, in the summer – but I have at present not had a look at it, and as yet I don’t know much about Maresfield or Uckfield, except that they are not very large, and that you cannot get very much that you might want. So if I may I will ad two or three things that I should like. Firstly a metal soap box, in which to put the soap as you have to carry it down to the wash house and it gets dreadfully sodden. Secondly a small but hard clothes brush: the mud here is bad and it seems quite fond of raining. We are all gradually settling down, and the only thing that rather puts a fly in the ointment, is the fact that we don’t get any leave, but I am told that at the end of the course you get anything from 10 days – 3 weeks leave. Stop. a third request – tooth powder in the tube form, it carries so much easier and it won’t upset.
The different types of men down here are awfully funny, some stock-exchange men, others bombed out of the Admiralty and places, and some who stump me completely, they are in a large majority. They speak with the most extraordinary accent, [out of kindness, I call it north country] and they can’t speak without using the most inappropriate adjectives – on the whole they are not bad, and nothing if not cheerful. One thing which is very remarkable is the amount of smoking, nearly all start before they get up in the morning and don’t stop until lights out at night. So far I have been very good. I have hardly smoked, it is the only way to keep out of it. There is however little chance of drinking as all you get at lunch is water or stuff that has the cheek to call itself lemonade, and the Y.M.C.A. hut only sells tea and coffee, the most poisonous stuff, - no, I can’t speak evil of the Y.M.C.A. – again, this hut is an absolute God-send to this place, cinema pictures, hot stove, and Sunday Service all free, for nothing.
Please thank Dad for his letter, somebody else by the name of Pitt has been good enough to open it for me, and he had not even removed the stamps. If I am not going to get uniform for another 10 days perhaps it would be as well if I had the old flannel trousers and sport coat to wallow with in the mud in, instead of these browns.
Much love to all from
Your loving son
George.
Paula Gerrard

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246702

2nd Lt. Walter Arthur "Archie" Cannell MM. 236th Siege Battery Royal Garrison Artillery

My father, Archie Cannell had joined the Canadian volunteers in 1916 aged 16. He became a telephonist and assistant to the FOO. He was awarded the Military Medal for bravery under fire on 1st of March 1917 at Le Touret near Bethune. He was recommended for officer training. and was sent from 4th Canadian Siege Battery 18 pdrs. to England on 9th of August 1917. He joined the Officer Cadet Battalion at Maresfield Park on the 21st of November 1917. He was commissioned into RGA as a 2nd Lt. on 17th of June 1918 and was sent to France 2nd of November 1918 to Base Depot at Le Havre until posted to 236th Siege Battery RGA on 16th of November 1918. He was demobilised on the 3rd of June 1919 and relinquished his commission on the 12th of July 1919.
Hugh Cannell

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242033

Trpr. Arthur John "Laddie" Greenfield D Squadron, Folkestone Troop East Kent Mounted Rifles

Arthur Greenfield, at the outbreak of WW1, was serving in the Royal East Kent Mounted Rifles in D Squadron, Folkestone Troop. He served for a period at Maresfield Army Camp, prior to the dismounting of the Regiment. Early in 1916 he was transferred into the East Kent Regiment. Arthur served in France and at Ypres. He was based in Dover Castle in 1918.
Mark Greenfield

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Maresfield Park Camp

Want to know more about Maresfield Park Camp?

Those known to have trained at Maresfield Park Campduring the Great War 1914-1918.

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Recomended Reading.

Links

The Wartime Memories Project
- Maresfield Park Camp during the Great War -

Those known to have trained at
Maresfield Park Camp
during the Great War 1914-1918.