Claro Barracks is a military installation at

Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by national parks, including most of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. It is one of four co ...

, England.

History

The barracks, which were originally established as the command depot i.e. convalescent camp for Northern Command, opened in April 1915 during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

Wilfred Owen Wilfred Edward Salter Owen MC (18 March 1893 – 4 November 1918) was an English poet and soldier. He was one of the leading poets of the First World War. His war poetry on the horrors of trenches and gas warfare was much influenced b ...

wrote many of his

poems Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings ...

when based at the barracks, known at the time as Ripon Army Camp, in spring 1918. At the start 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 opposi ...

, the School of Military Engineering, which had been based in Chatham, was split into two training Battalions, one of which re-located to the barracks. The barracks were renamed Harper Barracks, after Lieutenant-General Sir George Harper, a famous engineer general. The site was identified as a home for the School of Bomb Disposal, formed in 1941, reflecting the nomination of the Royal Engineers as being responsible for the discipline. Both the School of Military Engineering and the School of Bomb Disposal returned to Chatham in 1949. During the 1950s Harper Barracks was the home of a Royal Signals training regiment. In 1959 the barracks became the home of 38 Engineer Regiment who would remain there for nearly half a century. They were rebuilt and renamed Claro Barracks, after Claro Hill - a local beauty spot, in the 1960s. In 1974 a bomb attack by the

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reu ...

badly damaged the barracks. The barracks went on to become the home of 21 Engineer Regiment in 2008.

Future closure

The

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

announced in March 2013 that the site had been earmarked for closure. Consequently, in November 2016, it was announced that the site would close in 2019. This was later extended to 2023, and once more to 2026.

Based units

The following notable units are based at Claro Barracks.

British Army

Corps of Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

* 21 Engineer Regiment

References

{{reflist Installations of the British Army Barracks in England Ripon Buildings and structures in North Yorkshire