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* † [[Herbert Frank O'Neill]] ?? Jun - ?? Aug 1915
 
* † [[Herbert Frank O'Neill]] ?? Jun - ?? Aug 1915
 
* [[Frederick Rawlinson ]] ?? Sep 1915 - 15 Jun 1916
 
* [[Frederick Rawlinson ]] ?? Sep 1915 - 15 Jun 1916
 +
* [[George Young]] 5 Oct - 11 Dec 1915
 
* † [[William Edward Reed]] late 1915 - ?? Feb 1916
 
* † [[William Edward Reed]] late 1915 - ?? Feb 1916
  
 
'''1916'''
 
'''1916'''
 +
* [[Aubrey Jesse Whittington MM]] ?? Jan - 28 May 1916
 
* [[Cyril Foxwell]] 24 Feb - 27 Jul 1916
 
* [[Cyril Foxwell]] 24 Feb - 27 Jul 1916
 
* [[Ernest Ball DCM]] 29 Feb - 13 Jul 1916
 
* [[Ernest Ball DCM]] 29 Feb - 13 Jul 1916
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* [[Leonard Henry (Lennie) Buckingham MM]] ? - 5 Jul 1916
 
* [[Leonard Henry (Lennie) Buckingham MM]] ? - 5 Jul 1916
 
* [[John Paterson Henderson]] 8 Oct - 12 Nov 1916
 
* [[John Paterson Henderson]] 8 Oct - 12 Nov 1916
−
* [[Matthew Harwood]] 20 Oct - 13 Nov 1916 - No. 2 Command Depot
+
* [[Matthew Harwood]] 20 Oct - 13 Nov 1916  
 
* [[Victor Emanuel Durling]] 23 Oct - 17 Nov 1916
 
* [[Victor Emanuel Durling]] 23 Oct - 17 Nov 1916
 
* [[Percy Goodall]] 23 Oct 1916 - 12 Feb 1917
 
* [[Percy Goodall]] 23 Oct 1916 - 12 Feb 1917
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'''1917'''
 
'''1917'''
−
* [[Patrick Wilford Kelly]] 4 - 13 Jan 1917 - No. 2 Command Depot
+
* [[Patrick Wilford Kelly]] 4 - 13 Jan 1917
 
* † [[Reginald Peter Lewis]] 8 Jan 1917 - 15 Feb 1917
 
* † [[Reginald Peter Lewis]] 8 Jan 1917 - 15 Feb 1917
 
* [[Edward Hobson]] 13 Jan 1917 - 20 Jul 1918
 
* [[Edward Hobson]] 13 Jan 1917 - 20 Jul 1918
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* [[Richard Beattie]] 10 Apr - 22 May 1917
 
* [[Richard Beattie]] 10 Apr - 22 May 1917
 
* [[Aubrey Cecil Dawson]] 10 Apr - 8 May 1917
 
* [[Aubrey Cecil Dawson]] 10 Apr - 8 May 1917
−
* [[George Harris]] 12 Apr - 4 Jul 1917 - No. 2 Command Depot
+
* [[George Harris]] 12 Apr - 4 Jul 1917  
 
* [[James Henry Davidson]] 14 Apr - 3 May 1917
 
* [[James Henry Davidson]] 14 Apr - 3 May 1917
 
* [[Walter David Francis Kerridge]] 14 Apr - 19 Jun 1917
 
* [[Walter David Francis Kerridge]] 14 Apr - 19 Jun 1917
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* [[Henry Albert Thorp]] 3 Apr - 16 Jun 1918
 
* [[Henry Albert Thorp]] 3 Apr - 16 Jun 1918
 
* [[Lancel Butcher]] 4 Apr - 23 Jul 1918 - No. 4 Command Depot
 
* [[Lancel Butcher]] 4 Apr - 23 Jul 1918 - No. 4 Command Depot
 +
* [[Cyril Arthur Woodland]] 12 Apr - 20 Jul 1918
 
* [[Aubrey Cecil Dawson]] 29 Apr - 19 Aug 1918
 
* [[Aubrey Cecil Dawson]] 29 Apr - 19 Aug 1918
 
* [[George Joseph Harris]] 14 May - 24 Oct 1918
 
* [[George Joseph Harris]] 14 May - 24 Oct 1918

Latest revision as of 17:22, 21 December 2021

No. 2 Command Depot
Monte Video Camp.jpg
Monte Video Camp - shared with New Zealand
Monte Video Camp 2.jpg
Post New Zealand use
Littlemoor camp.jpg
Littlemoor Camp
Westham camp.jpg
Plan of Westham camp
Monte Video bath house.jpg
Monte Video bath house

Remarks

On the outbreak of war Weymouth was a popular seaside resort made fashionable as a watering-place by King George the Third. It also had military connections with the nearby naval base of Portland and several army camps & forts from the Napoleonic period. Following the landing of Australian & New Zealand troops, the Anzacs, at Gallipoli on 25th April 1915, casualties mounted rapidly and were initially transported to their base in Egypt, which was soon unable to cope, with wounded being sent on to England.

Here the troops found that there was no Australian base to which they could report once they had been discharged from hospital; what was needed urgently was a base in England where troops could be sent to convalesce. So on 31st May 1915 a command depot was set up at Monte Video House in Chickerell, some two miles from Weymouth.

The depot was the joint Australian and New Zealand depot until the NZ depot opened at Hornchurch in Essex in April 1916.

Unfortunately, not all men could be restored to fighting fitness and 600 had been invalided home as unfit for further service. From this time those troops who were likely to remain unfit were sent to another camp which had been opened at Westham, then on the outskirts of Weymouth (see map on right courtesy of Weymouth Library & drawn by Andrew Bryant, where present day roads are shown dotted).

After April 1916, Weymouth became the Australian Imperial Forces (AIF) Command Depot No.2 which accommodated those men not expected to be fit for duty within six months, therefore, most of the Diggers repatriated as a result of wounds or sickness passed through Weymouth. During the years 1915-1919 over 120,000 Australian and New Zealand troops passed through Weymouth.

While the general training in the new unit concentrated on toughening-up, the individual training a soldier received was governed by medical inspections under which he was categorized weekly according to fitness.

As casualties mounted further on the Western Front, it became necessary to open a third camp at Littlemoor on a greenfield site to the north east of Weymouth. This was probably the prettiest camp with views of the Bincombe hills, well known for its flower beds and vegetable gardens tended by the Anzacs.


Soldiers who passed this way

All postings were to the No. 2 Command Depot unless otherwise noted.

Unit Personnel

Passing Through

1915

1916


1917


1918


1919

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