Imphal Barracks is a military installation located in Fulford,

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, England.

History

Cavalry barracks were built in Fulford as part of the British response to the threat of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

and were completed in 1795 but these have now been largely demolished. The infantry barracks, which were built between 1877 and 1878, were initially the

depot Depot ( or ) may refer to: Places * Depot, Poland, a village * Depot Island, Kemp Land, Antarctica * Depot Island, Victoria Land, Antarctica * Depot Island Formation, Greenland Brands and enterprises * Maxwell Street Depot, a restaurant in ...

of the

14th Regiment of Foot 14 (fourteen) is a natural number following 13 and preceding 15. In relation to the word "four" ( 4), 14 is spelled "fourteen". In mathematics * 14 is a composite number. * 14 is a square pyramidal number. * 14 is a stella octangula number. ...

who arrived from

Bradford Moor Barracks Bradford Moor Barracks was a military installation at Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. History The barracks were built between 1843 and 1844 as part of the response to the Chartist riots. In 1873 a system of recruiting areas based on countie ...

in 1878. Their creation took place as part of the

Cardwell Reforms The Cardwell Reforms were a series of reforms of the British Army undertaken by Secretary of State for War Edward Cardwell between 1868 and 1874 with the support of Liberal prime minister William Ewart Gladstone. Gladstone paid little attention ...

which encouraged the localisation of British military forces. Following the

Childers Reforms The Childers Reforms of 1881 reorganised the infantry regiments of the British Army. The reforms were done by Secretary of State for War Hugh Childers during 1881, and were a continuation of the earlier Cardwell Reforms. The reorganisation was ...

, the 14th Regiment of Foot evolved to become the

West Yorkshire Regiment ) , march = ''Ça Ira'' , battles = Namur FontenoyFalkirk Culloden Brandywine , anniversaries = Imphal (22 June) The West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) (14th Foot) wa ...

with its depot at the barracks in 1881. Under the Cardwell Reforms the two battalions of the 25th (Sussex) Regiment of Foot also established a depot at the barracks but following the

that regiment evolved to become the

King's Own Scottish Borderers The King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSBs) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Scottish Division. On 28 March 2006 the regiment was amalgamated with the Royal Scots, the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's Own ...

and moved to

Berwick Barracks Berwick Barracks, sometimes known as Ravensdowne Barracks, is a former military installation of the British Army in Berwick-upon-Tweed, England. History The barracks were built between 1717 and 1721 by Nicholas Hawksmoor for the Board of Ordnance ...

in 1881. In the 1950s, the barracks were renamed Imphal Barracks to reflect the battle honours won by the West Yorkshire Regiment at the

Battle of Imphal ) , partof = the Operation U-Go during the Burma Campaign in the South-East Asian theatre of World War II , image = Imphalgurkhas.jpg , image_size = 300 , caption = Gurkhas advancing with Grant tanks ...

in spring 1944 during 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 opposin ...

. The barracks became the home of the

Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the King's Division. It was created in 1958 by the amalgamation of the West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) (14th Foot) and the Ea ...

when the West Yorkshire Regiment amalgamated with the

East Yorkshire Regiment The East Yorkshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1685 as Sir William Clifton's Regiment of Foot and later renamed the 15th Regiment of Foot. It saw service for three centuries, before eventually being ...

in 1958. The barracks also became the home of Northern Command in 1958. North East District was established at the barracks in 1967 and Northern Command was disbanded in 1972; the barracks additionally became the home of 2nd Division in 1982. North East District merged with Eastern District to form an enlarged Eastern District at Imphal Barracks in 1992. The enlarged district was disbanded on the formation of HQ

Land Command Land Command (or 'HQ Land') was a military command and part of the structure of the British Army from 1995 to 2008. Its headquarters was at Erskine Barracks, at Fugglestone St Peter, some four kilometres northwest of Salisbury in Wiltshire. It a ...

in 1995. 2nd Division, having absorbed Scotland District, moved its headquarters to

Craigiehall Craigiehall is a late-17th-century country house, which until 2015 served as the Headquarters of the British Army in Scotland. It is located close to Cramond, around west of central Edinburgh, Scotland. Craigiehall was designed by Sir Willia ...

, near

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

in April 2000. In June 2006, a ceremony celebrating the formation of the

Yorkshire Regiment The Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot) (abbreviated YORKS) is an infantry regiment of the British Army, created by the amalgamation of three historic regiments in 2006. It lost one battalion as part of the Army 2020 defence ...

was held at Imphal Barracks. The new divisional headquarters of 6th Division marked its formation with a parade and flag presentation at Imphal Barracks on 5 August 2008. It had a clear focus on preparing brigades for

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

: during summer 2009, the divisional headquarters was significantly reinforced and transformed into Combined Joint Task Force 6 before deploying to Afghanistan as

Regional Command South In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

in November 2009. The 6th division headquarters closed in April 2011. Imphal Barracks was the home of 15th Infantry Brigade until 1 December 2014 when it merged with the former 4th Mechanised Brigade to form an infantry brigade known as 4th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters North East based in Catterick. The barracks became home to

1st (United Kingdom) Division The 1st (United Kingdom) Division, formerly known as the 1st (United Kingdom) Armoured Division and the 1st Division, is a division of the British Army. Divisional history (1809–1959) The 1st Division was formed following the disbandment of ...

on 1 June 2015. In November 2016, 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 states ...

announced that the site would close in 2031. This was later brought forward to 2030.

Current units

Current units at the site are: *Headquarters,

* 2 Signal Regiment,

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communi ...

*12 Military Intelligence Company, 1 Military Intelligence Battalion *1 Investigation Company,

Special Investigation Branch Regiment Special Investigation Branch (SIB) was the name given to the detective branches of all three British military police arms: the Royal Navy Police, Royal Military Police and Royal Air Force Police. It was most closely associated with the Royal M ...

*Kohima Troop, 50 (Northern) Signal Squadron, 37 Signal Regiment *3 Army Education Centre

Narrow gauge railway

A horse-drawn

narrow gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...

with a gauge of 18 inch (457 mm) ran from the Ordnance Wharf at the River Ouse parallel to Hospital Fields Road to the army depot. Military supplies and explosives were delivered by the schooner ‘Princess’ known locally as the ‘Powder boat’.Andrew Grantham
Narrow gauge military railway in York.
Posted on 24 February 2011. Downloaded on 1 April 2017.

References

{{reflist Barracks in England Installations of the British Army Buildings and structures in York 1878 establishments in England