Tag Archives: 2016

Tommy’s Footprints – Armistice Day 2016

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On 11 November the Alameda Middle School gathered at The Cenotaph in Ampthill, Bedfordshire.

Mrs Harvey (Head of History) read out the names of service men who lost their lives in the First World War who have a family connection to pupils or staff at the school. A bugle sounded “The Last Post” and more than 700 people observed the 2 minute silence in the woodland glade.

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Watch the YouTube videoclip

It was a glorious Autumn day and so I visited Ampthill Great Park to see the Duke of Bedford Memorial and Tommy’s Footprints, and then onto the memorial in St. Andrew’s Churchyard.

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Please visit Ampthill Great Park (6-20 November) and see Tommy’s Footprints for yourself. In the days that follow Tommy’s Footprints will quietly fade into the ground, and disappear…

© S.Hartley (2015-)

Tommy’s Footprints | Remembering WWI in Ampthill Great Park

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A hundred years ago local men volunteered in droves to train at the Duke of Bedford’s camp in Ampthill Great Park. The recruits had top notch huts and facilities, paid for by the Duke.

By August 1916 the Ampthill Camp had trained 2,235 local men to fight for ‘King and Country.’ One third of these men – 707 – did not return to their families.

November 2016 – WWI centenary art provides a focus to remember the men who trained at the Ampthill Camp, and those who were injured or killed in the Great War.

The centrepiece is Tommy’s Footprints – a column of 707 footprints flanked by poppies in the hollow of Ampthill Great Park where the men once marched. The 180 metre long column will glimpse the terrible loss.

After months of planning, on Saturday, 5 November Tommy’s Footprints became a reality. Volunteers took their turn to stencil the column of footprints and plant the field of poppies – a cross for each fallen man.

Here are some photos of the stencilling.

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Please visit Ampthill Great Park (6-20 November) and see Tommy’s Footprints for yourself. In the days that follow Tommy’s Footprints will quietly fade into the ground, and disappear…

WWI – Bedfordshire Training Depot in Ampthill Park – Tommy’s Footprints is part of the IWM First World War Centenary Programme

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IWM

One hundred years on, we are all connected to the First World War, either through our own family history, the heritage of our local communities or because of its long-term impact on society and the world we live in today.

From 2014 to 2018, across the world, nations, communities and individuals of all ages will come together to mark, commemorate and remember the lives of those who lived, fought and died in the First World War.

IWM (Imperial War Museums) is leading the First World War Centenary Partnership, a network of local, regional, national and international cultural and educational organisations.

Together, through the First World War Centenary Programme, a vibrant global programme of cultural events and activities, and online resources, we are connecting current and future generations with the lives, stories and impact of the First World War.

Tommy’s Footprints is part of this global commemoration.

WWI – Bedfordshire Training Depot in Ampthill Park – Illustrated War News photos from 1915

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On 21, July 1915 The Illustrated War News included 3 pages of photographs of the Bedfordshire Training Depot. The photographs provide a glimpse of what the Depot was like.

 

Officers on Duty at the Bedfordshire Training Depot

Officers on Duty at the Bedfordshire Training Depot

BTD NCO July 1915 001.jpg

Non-Commissioned Officers at the Bedfordshire Training Depot

A squad at drill in baynot-fighting

A squad at drill in baynot-fighting

A camp recreation hut for the rank and file

A camp recreation hut for the rank and file

The Master Cook engaged in ornamental gardening

The Master Cook engaged in ornamental gardening

Battalion cooks prepare a meal at field-kitchens of the type that were used at the front

Battalion cooks prepare a meal at field-kitchens of the type that were used at the front

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From an original newspaper.

WWI – Bedfordshire Training Depot in Ampthill Park – Artist’s Impression of Tommy’s Footprints

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This is an early pencil sketch of how Tommy’s Footprints will look in November 2016 when the column of footprints are installed in Ampthill Park.

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Copyright: S.Hartley (2015) – all rights reserved

We are looking to commission an artist’s impression of what Tommy’s Footprints will look like in the hollow of Ampthill Park. Please reply or email if you are interested to sketch this work.