PHOEBE Merrick gave a talk on the Romsey Remount Depot, which was set up at the start of the First World War.

The camp was to the South of the A3090 with a large corral complex on Ryedown Lane. The Romsey depot had a complement of over 2,000 men organised into ten squadrons and an HQ.

For much of the war the commandant was Herbert Jessel, who was also a MP among even more duties. Another well known officer was Captain Lionel Edwards, who was a renowned equine artist. The work was hard, commencing with reveille at 5.30am and lights out at 10.15pm for enlisted men.

The horses were fed five times a day, trained and exercised often in the narrow lanes around Wellow and neighbouring villages. Typically a man would ride one horse and lead a second. Each man on the camp usually looked after three horses and injuries to the men were not uncommon, a medical ward and dentist were on site.

Horses were obtained from North America as well as the UK. About two per cent of the stock was lost in transit from illness and U-Boat attacks: one notorious such loss was the USS Philadelphian in 1918. Contingents of men from Romsey Camp went to the ports, Bristol, Plymouth as well as Southampton, to collect the horses on arrival; transport was by rail in the UK.

The next meeting is on Historic Pubs of Salisbury on Tuesday, December 2 at 7.30pm in Morgan’s Vale and Woodfalls Village Hall.

All welcome.