SI Cannock & District have decided to organise more social get-togethers where members can meet in a less formal setting and socialise more.
Our first get-together was at the Great War Hut at Marquis Drive on Cannock Chase. The hut shows how soldiers that fought in the First World War lived whilst billeted in the training camps on Cannock Chase. Cannock Soroptimist Lynne Tuckley, one of the volunteers at the hut kindly arranged the visit.
Built in Autumn 1915, at its height it was the largest training camp in the British Empire; housing 40,000 men at a time who were brought to Cannock for three months to learn how to fight. At that time the population of Rugeley was 7,000 so that gives some idea of the amount of infrastructure that needed to be put in place. Power was tapped from the nearby colliery power supply, and the camp included shops, a bank and a 1,000 bed hospital.
In May 1917, when the demand for training had lessened, part of the camp became a POW camp for captured Germans who if injured were treated in the hospital. Many of the prisoners who often worked on local farms stayed in the area after the war.
The hut recreates how the soldiers were billeted showing their uniforms, the food they ate and where they slept. It looks basic but for many soldiers it was a vast improvement on what they were used to, they were fed well, with meat on the menu daily. It also contains a fabulous diorama of Cannock Chase in the 1900’s It is a fascinating insight into what was often the last place in Britain that many of the soldiers saw before going off to war and is well worth a visit.
The Hut is open Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays 10am- 3pm entrance is free.
Photos attached:
- The Hut
- Volunteer Evelyn Slater dressed in a period nurse’s uniform shows a soldier’s bunk and kit
- SI Cannock & District Soroptimists and volunteers at the hut
