From Wikipedia: Witley Military Camp, often simplified to Camp Witley, was a temporary army camp set up on Witley Common, Surrey, England during both the First and Second World Wars.
The camp was about 40 mi (64 km) southwest of London. Camp Witley was one of three facilities in the Aldershot Command area established by the Canadian Army; the others being Bordon and Bramshott (nr. Liphook). Wilfred Owen penned a prelude to his ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ whilst stationed at the camp. Witley Camp was the headquarters of the Polish Resettlement Corps.
From Surrey Museums.org.uk: Unearthing the Secrets of Witley Camp
Godalming Museum was awarded £63,900 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to carry out an exciting new community archaeology project at Witley Camp in 2019. Once a bustling military camp home to 20,000 British and Canadian soldiers as well as a veterinary hospital, the area today has returned to woodland with little trace of any remains.
To ensure the camp is not forgotten, volunteers from the local community were invited to join professional archaeologists from Surrey County Archaeological Unit to carry out landscape surveys and excavations, learning new skills, meeting new people and increasing awareness about the site. For the first time, the National Trust owned site was recorded thoroughly, ensuring specific areas of interest were identified and preserved for future generations. The results of these excavations are still being processed, but will be made public through pop-up banners, a new museum display, education materials and loan boxes, ensuring the camp and its important history is not forgotten.
Perhaps the most famous soldier who passed through the camp was Wilfred Owen. He was stationed at the camp in the summer of 1916. Whilst at Witley, Owen wrote ‘A New Heaven’, which he later reworked to form his famous poem ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’. With the outbreak of the Second World War, the three camps were rebuilt by the British for use by Canadian troops and to train the local Home Guard. Witley was involved with the disastrous Canadian Army landings at Dieppe and was used as a holding area in the lead up to D-Day. Between 1946 and 1949, the camps were taken over as the headquarters of the Polish Resettlement Corps, helping resettle around 150,000 Poles and their families in Britain. The site was again returned to common land with little above the surface to tell the incredible tale. Many thousands of lives were impacted by the camp, but as the last veterans of the Second World War pass away, this memory is fading. It is hoped that a new audio guide, focusing on the First World War, will increase awareness of this important site.
