Albemarle Barracks, England

Albemarle Barracks
Near Stamfordham, Northumberland in England
Disused airfield at Albemarle Barracks
Albemarle Barracks Shown within Northumberland
Coordinates	55°01′03″N 001°52′25″W / 55.01750°N 1.87361°W / 55.01750; -1.87361Coordinates: 55°01′03″N 001°52′25″W / 55.01750°N 1.87361°W / 55.01750; -1.87361
Type	Barracks
Site information
Owner	Ministry of Defence
Operator	British Army
Site history
Built	1970 (1970)
In use	1970-Present

Albemarle Barracks is a British Army barracks located 1.7 miles (2.7 km) south of Stamfordham, Northumberland and 10.5 miles (16.9 km) west of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne and Wear.

History

The barracks were established on the site of the former RAF Ouston airbase in 1970. Its runways are allegedly used for police driver training and as a stop-off point for nuclear warheads convoys en route via road between RNAD Coulport and AWE Aldermaston as part of the UK Trident programme.^[1]

Unit details

• The first unit in was the Junior Signalmans Wing of 11 Signal Regt. Later to become 26th Signal Regt.
• These Barracks were home to the "JIB" The Junior Infantry Battalion and provided the UK's infantry forces with most of their NCO's throughout the 80's and early 1990's until the Junior soldier programme was shelved,

most troops joined the depot between the ages of 16 and 17 and would spend some 48 weeks training not joining their respective units until fully qualified and trained soldiers. The Junior Leader program was designed to encourage leadership at a younger age and develop boys in to men via both physical and mental trainng as well as providing valuable education resources which would help those soldiers progress with careers within the military or indeed within Civilian life.

• The barracks were home to 39 Regiment Royal Artillery from 1995^[2] until that regiment disbanded there in February 2015.^[3]
• On 13 July 2015 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery started transferring from its current base in Bergen, Germany.^[4]

References