Imjin Barracks

Imjin Barracks
Innsworth
Accommodation block at Imjin Barracks
Imjin Barracks is located in Gloucestershire
Imjin Barracks
Imjin Barracks
Location within Gloucestershire
Coordinates51°53′35″N 2°11′50″W / 51.89306°N 2.19722°W / 51.89306; -2.19722
TypeBarracks
Headquarters
Site information
OwnerMinistry of Defence
Operator British Army
Site history
Built1940
In use1940–present
Garrison information
OccupantsHQ Allied Rapid Reaction Corps
HQ 1st (UK) Signal Brigade
Gurkha ARRC Support Battalion

Imjin Barracks is a British Army installation situated near Innsworth in Gloucestershire, that is home to the headquarters of NATO's Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC).

History

Main article: RAF Innsworth

Imjin Barracks is located at the site of the former RAF Innsworth, which was a non-flying Royal Air Force station between 1940 and 2008.

Imjin Barracks (shaded) within Innsworth.

The station opened in 1940, the first unit based there being No 7 School of Technical Training, which trained engine and airframe fitters and mechanics. In December 1941, No 2 WAAF Depot was opened at Innsworth and from then on the station became increasingly associated with the women's branch of the service. Eventually it was decided to reserve the station almost exclusively for WAAF training, including barrage balloon training amongst other vital roles.

In 1951, the headquarters of the RAF Record Office which had been based nearby in Gloucester and Barnwood, moved to the station and gained Group status. Three years later, in 1954, No. 5 Personnel Despatch Unit arrived, charged with the administration and processing of personnel selected for overseas service.

Just after the war ended, the RAF Base Accounts Office moved from York to Gloucester and grew into the Central Pay Office and became part of the RAF Personnel and Training Command, which formed in 1994, based at Innsworth.

In 2005 it was announced that HQ Personnel and Training Command was to co-locate with HQ RAF Strike Command at RAF High Wycombe. The new collocated HQ's were subsequently merged to form Air Command and the decision was taken to close RAF Innsworth. The drawdown took place over the next three years with elements of the Personnel Management Agency moved to High Wycombe and RAF Cranwell. RAF Innsworth finally closed on 31 March 2008.[1]

Army control

The Innsworth site is now managed by the Army and has been renamed Imjin Barracks. When the RAF vacated the site in 2008, elements of AFPAA (renamed Defence Business Services in 2014) including the MoD Medal Office and Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre continued to operate from the site.[2][3]

In 2010, the barracks also became home to the NATO Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC), a 3-star headquarters with more than 400 permanent staff from 21 contributing nations, which relocated from the Rheindahlen Military Complex in Germany.[4][5]

The barracks were named after the Battle of the Imjin River because of the connection with the Gloucestershire Regiment, which formed part of the United Nations contingent in the Korean War, and was thought to be an appropriate name for the headquarters of ARRC, which is a multinational force.[6]

Based units

The following units are based at Imjin Barracks.

References

  1. ^ BBC. "Salute to the end of an RAF era". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  2. ^ "The former RAF Innsworth site in Gloucestershire was officially renamed Imjin Barracks at a special ceremony on Friday 21 November 2008". It was formerly known as RAF Innsworth.(Farewell Innsworth, welcome Imjin, An Estate and Environment news article, 24 November 2008).
  3. ^ "The fanfare of ownership and naming has subsided and the real business of making a home for ARRC begins in a material way" (Work begins at Imjin barracks, This is Glostershire, 14 February 2009)
  4. ^ "In 2010, Imjin Barracks in Gloucester (formerly RAF Innsworth) will become home to the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) - a deployable NATO HQ relocating from Germany" (Defence in the South West, MOD, retrieved 2009-12-06)
  5. ^ "NATO ARRC | The Glorious Glosters: 70 Years from Imjin".
  6. ^ "The Korean War was a United Nations campaign and it is significant that nine of our partners in the ARRC fought alongside the British under the UN flag. It is also a name that generates tremendous and understandable local pride as the 1st Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment won a Battle Honour for their part at the battle, and their Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel James Carne, was awarded the Victoria Cross and the US Army's Distinguished Service Cross for his actions, and Lieutenant Philip Curtis was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross."(Farewell Innsworth, welcome Imjin, An Estate and Environment news article, 24 November 2008).
  7. ^ "Gurkha ARRC Support Battalion | The British Army".
  8. ^ "22 Signal Regiment". British Army. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  9. ^ "Medals: campaigns, descriptions and eligibility". GOV.UK. 20 October 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  10. ^ "MOD War Detectives – the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre Commemorations team - who we are". GOV.UK. 26 February 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  11. ^ "Allied Rapid Reaction Corps". Allied Rapid Reaction Corps. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Imjin Barracks.