In 1914 Lord Kitchener (Secretary of State for War) issued a call to arms. The 11th Duke of Bedford responded by establishing the ‘Bedfordshire Training Depot’ in Ampthill Park to help man the Bedfordshire Regiment. By August 1916 the Depot would train 2,235 infantry soldiers to fight for ‘King and Country.’ A lone Memorial Cross stands proud in Ampthill Park to remember the soldiers who trained there, the 707 men who died, and the ‘Ampthill Command Depot’ that treated 8369 injured soldiers (1916-19).

In 2016 it will be one hundred years since the Bedfordshire Training Depot closed.

All text and photos copyright Stephen Hartley (2015-)