Clive Barracks is a British Army installation at

Ternhill Tern Hill, also known as Ternhill, is a village in Shropshire, England, notable as the location of the former RAF Ternhill, RAF Tern Hill station, which is now operated by the British Army as Clive Barracks. The settlement is named after the R ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is set to close in 2029.

History

The barracks were established on the site of the former

RAF Tern Hill Royal Air Force Tern Hill, or more simply RAF Tern Hill, was a Royal Air Force station at Ternhill in Shropshire, England, near the towns of Newport and Market Drayton. The station closed in 1976, with the technical and administrative site ...

airfield in 1976; they were initially named Borneo Barracks, before being renamed Clive Barracks after Major-General Lord Clive, who had been born in

. Some of the early units to use the site were the

Queen's Lancashire Regiment The Queen's Lancashire Regiment (30th, 40th, 47th, 59th, 81st and 82nd Regiments of Foot) (QLR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the King's Division. It was formed on 25 March 1970 at Connaught Barracks, Dover, Connaught ...

, who moved there in 1980, and the

Royal Welch Fusiliers The Royal Welch Fusiliers () was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales's Division, that was founded in 1689, shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designated a fusilier regiment and becam ...

, who moved there in 1984.

IRA bombing

On 20 February 1989, two IRA bombers activated two bombs within the accommodation barracks at Tern Hill. At that time the

2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment The Second Battalion, Parachute Regiment (2 PARA), is a formation of the Parachute Regiment, part of the British Army, and subordinate unit within 16th Air Assault Brigade. 2 PARA is an airborne light infantry battalion capable of a wide ran ...

(who had arrived in 1987) and the 1st Battalion, The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (who had arrived in 1989) were located at the station. A sentry spotted two men behaving suspiciously and raised the alarm, the barracks were evacuated shortly before the bombs exploded therefore preventing certain loss of life. One of the accommodation blocks was destroyed in the blast (which was reported to have been heard away in Shrewsbury). The bombers escaped by hijacking a car from a house down the road from the barracks.

Current units

Since 2007, the barracks has been home to the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Regiment, which operates in the

light infantry Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought ...

role primarily equipped with the

Foxhound A foxhound is a type of large hunting hound bred for strong hunting instincts, a keen sense of smell, and their barking, energy, drive, and speed. In fox hunting, the foxhound's namesake, packs of foxhounds track quarry, followed—usually on ho ...

armoured vehicle. As of 1 November 2018, there were 628 troops assigned to the battalion.

Future

In late March 2016, the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

announced that the site to be sold in order to reduce the size of the Defence estate.

The airfield The Airfield, also known by its sponsored name as the Hollingsworth Group International Airfield, is a football stadium in Broughton, Flintshire, Broughton, Flintshire, Wales. It is home to Airbus UK Broughton F.C., who play in the . In 2014, t ...

will be retained as a Relief Landing Ground (RLG) and practice area for No 1 Flying Training School based out of nearby

RAF Shawbury Royal Air Force Shawbury, otherwise known as RAF Shawbury, is a Royal Air Force station near the village of Shawbury in Shropshire in the West Midlands of England. History The First World War The station at Shawbury was first used for milita ...

. Later, in November 2016, it was announced that the site would close in 2022. This was later extended to 2025, and once more to 2029.

References

{{reflist Installations of the British Army Barracks in England