The Braganza Street drill hall is a military installation in Braganza Street, Walworth.
| Braganza Street drill hall | |
|---|---|
| Kennington, London | |
 Braganza Street drill hall | |
  Braganza Street drill hall Location within London | |
| Coordinates | 51°29′15″N 0°06′10″W / 51.48748°N 0.10278°W |
| Type | Drill Hall |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1865 |
| Built for | War Office |
| In use | 1865-Present |
History
editThe building originates from a pair of houses built in what was then known as New Street in 1833 and which were acquired by the 19th Surrey Rifle Volunteer Corps in 1865.[1] The 19th Surrey Rifle Volunteer Corps evolved to become the 4th Volunteer Battalion, Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) in 1883[2][3] and the 24th (County of London) Battalion (The Queen’s) in 1908.[4] The battalion was mobilised at the drill hall in August 1914 before being deployed to the Western Front.[5] When the London Regiment was broken up in 1937, the battalion became the 7th (Southwark) Battalion, the Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey).[2] The drill hall, in what was by then known as Braganza Street, was substantially re-built at that time and the enlarged facility was opened by the Duke of Gloucester in 1938.[1]
After the war the battalion converted to artillery and, in 1947, became the 622nd Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery.[2] After the Royal Artillery went through a re-organisation and vacated the hall, a new field hospital, 217 (London) General Hospital Royal Army Medical Corps, was formed at the Braganza Street drill hall in 1967.[4] That unit amalgamated with other field hospitals in 1995 to form 256 (City of London) Field Hospital.[6]
Current units
editThe drill hall is now home to:[7]
256 (City of London & South East) Multi-Role Medical Regiment
- Regimental Headquarters (RHQ)
- 257 Support Squadron
- 217 Hospital Squadron
References
edit- ^ a b Osborne, Mike (2012). Defending London: A Military History from Conquest to Cold War. History Press. ISBN 978-0752479316.
- ^ a b c "24th London Regiment (The Queen's)". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 1 January 2007. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "The Surrey Rifle Volunteers 1859 - 1908". Queen's Royal Surreys. Archived from the original on 6 November 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
- ^ a b "Drill Hall Register: A list of the locations of London Drill Halls since 1908" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 September 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
- ^ "The London Regiment". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
- ^ "The Royal Army Medical Corps". Reserve Forces and Cadets Association for Greater London. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
- ^ "Army Reserve Units | London".