Woodbridge During the First World War
Woodbridge became a Garrison Town
Soon after war was declared Woodbridge became “literally a garrison town”. The Anglian Daily Times on 14th August reported that Woodbridge was in a state of excitement because every available building had been commandeered and arrangements made to billet a large number of territorial troops from Suffolk and Essex. On 10th November they were all inspected by King George V and, on a later visit, he opened a shooting range at nearby Bromeswell. Troops were also billeted in other towns and villages in southeast Suffolk.
When the troops first arrived the newspapers indicated that they were here to counter any invasion. At the end of December 1914 a member of the Suffolk Yeomanry, which had a camp in Woodbridge, is quoted as saying that “when we arrived we felt certain that we should go almost immediately to meet the foe or the foe would come to meet us”. As the war reached a stalemate, however, it became clear that the troops were primarily here for training.
There are many reports of the townspeople providing support and help for the troops. During the winter months a series of successful concerts were arranged for the troops through the efforts of a Miss Cayley and other ladies. “The programmes were said to be "of a varied character, and always afforded rich musical treats. The women of Woodridge were also busy producing comforts, such as mufflers, socks, mittens and waistcoats for the troops serving in the Suffolk Regiment and various items for the injured soldiers at Foxboro' Hall. Woodbridge women were also fund raising for Suffolk prisoners of war, the Red Cross and the War Hospital Supply Workroom.
Troops leaving Woodbridge. They were probably marching to a summer camp on the Sandlings.
The Suffolk Yeomanry were amongst the troops who spent time at Woodbridge and an account of their experiences is given The Loyal Suffolk Hussars. The Yeomanry were instructed to assemble in the town soon after war was declared. During the final months of 1914 they saw other troops, such as the 4th battalion of the Suffolk Regiment, being dispatched to the front from Woodbridge station.
The morale of the Suffolk Yeomanry declined with the onset of winter, which brought very muddy conditions to the stables. By then Grange Farm, on the Hasketon Road, had become the centre of their training. Army huts had been established for the men and a wooden shed for the horses. Eventually, proper stable huts with concrete floors solved the mud problem.
A letter card from “Grange Farm Camp – Woodbridge” has been found recently. It is post marked 23rd December 1915 and it contains eight views of the town. It must have been produced so that soldiers billeted at the camp could give their relatives an idea of where they were. With this card there was a photograph of a mounted soldier at what appears to be Grange Farm.
The Yeomanry found life at Woodbridge with its drill and training very tedious but their moral was eventually lifted in July 1915 when they moved near to the sea by Leiston. There they camped in tents, with the horses being picketed in lines. The commanding officer regularly took the squadron down to the shore and he wrote that “bathing on horseback is a delight to experience ... Never before have we looked so Olympian, as when bestride our bare-back horses in a complete state of nudity”. He went on to say that the stretch of sea coast was remote and closed to the public."
From other sources it is clear that there was also a large summer camp at Broomswell. The troops came back from this, and other summer camps, to their billets in Woodbridge during the winter.
In early September 1915, the long-awaited departure orders arrived for the Suffolk Yeomanry but, because the need for cavalry was limited, they had to leave their horses behind.
Troops from 4th battalion of the Suffolk Regiment, being dispatched to the front from Woodbridge station.
A mounted soldier at Grange Farm Camp
On 6th August 1914, to provide medical aid to the troops in the area, the Woodbridge Red Cross set up an auxiliary hospital in Woodbridge School. Within a few days a Field Ambulance Unit of the Royal Army Medical Corp arrived from Luton and commandeered the hospital but the VADs remained to assist the medical officers.
After 5 weeks the hospital had to be closed to allow pupils to return to the Grammar School. Over the next five months the hospital was moved between other buildings in the town, including the Council School at the bottom of New Street. From about February 1915 the hospital was at Foxboro’ Hall and it remained open until April 1919.
In her diary one of the nurses at Foxboro’ Hall recalls that, “In the early part of the war most of the patients were soldiers who had fallen off their horses or motorbikes”. In 1915 rivalry among the regiments broke out into open quarrels and another nurse recorded in her diary, “that men from the King Edward’s Horse, and men from the Monmouths, who did not appear to like each other much, thronged the Thoroughfare where they actually had a bayonet charge. One man was admitted to the Red Cross Hospital with severe abdominal injuries though it was later found that he was only very drunk.”
Other photographs of the Red Cross Hospitals
Red Cross Nurses outside the Auxiliary Hospital at Foxboro' Hall