salisburyplain

"The changing epoch began in 1898 when much of the parish was acquired by the army. From 1899 the part of Salisbury Plain to the north west of the village was used for artillery practice and a camp was set up on Durrington Down. By the beginning of the First World War there were three tented camps known as Durrington, Larkhill, and Fargo Camps. In 1914 the Larkhill light military railway was built from Ratfyn in Amesbury to Fargo Camp and a large military hospital was built at that camp. During the war the tents at Larkhill Camp were replaced by huts and in 1916 the Stonehenge Inn was rebuilt by the Portsmouth United Brewery, who had acquired it. The war memorial was built on the base of the ancient cross. From 1920 Larkhill Camp became the headquarters of the School of Artillery and permanent brick building were put up." history.wiltshire.gov.uk/community/getcom.php?id=84

H.A.C. = Honourable Artillery Company?

Absolutely Yes, Sir Henry. Perhaps we should tell Armoury House, London, UK, still the Regimental HQ

This photo was published in "The Great War Illustrated - 1914: Archive and Colour Photographs of WWI" by William Langford books.google.com/books?id=M2DNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA95-IA81&a... with caption: "Honorable Artillery Company at Fargo Camp, Aldershot, pre-war 1914. New recruits are being introduced to the British field gun." See hac.org.uk/where-we-come-from/history/1914-1946 and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honourable_Artillery_Company#First_... What is confusing about the location, is that the Fargo camp on Salisbury Plain, which is mentioned and shown in a map in www.rgcrompton.info/crompton/1805info8e.html is quite a distance from Aldershot. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02pb3t4 is an audio program about the importance of Aldershot in 1914. "At the beginning of 1914; Aldershot was the largest army camp in the country. Home to two Infantry Divisions, a Cavalry Brigade, and large numbers of artillery, engineers, service corps and medical corps; 20% of the home British Army was based there."

Interesting question swanq. I would tend to believe the caption that came on the photo "H.A.C. Fargo Camp. 1914" would be more accurate than the caption Bain gave it, "Recruits, Aldershot". I did come across a booklet published by Lloyds of London which lists all of the Lloyds employees who died in WWI and includes short biographical sketches of them, www.lloyds.com/~/media/files/lloyds/about%20lloyds/histor.... On page 139 it mentions that Claude Leslie Harris was in the Honourable Artillery Company (H.A.C.) and that he attended "Fargo Camp from the 23th of May to the 6th of June 1914". Perhaps someone more knowledgeable on the British military at that time could confirm if it is Fargo Camp or Aldershot.

H.A.C. is probably Honourable Artillery Company. From what I can see "Fargo Camp" may have been on Salisbury Plain and not in Aldershot. See map at www.rgcrompton.info/crompton/1805info8c.html So far, I have not been able to connect the HAC with Fargo camp (other than through these captions). However, it may just have been a summer exercise,

More on this: "From 1899, part of Salisbury Plain to the north west of the village was used for artillery practice and a camp was set up on Durrington Down. By the beginning of the First World War there were three tented camps known as Durrington, Larkhill, and Fargo Camps; which were later replaced by permanent brick buildings. The military expansion caused a decline in all types of farming as the army occupied most of the land, however, the rapid rise in population brought about the establishment of many shops and business. After the Second World War the town expanded between Netheravon Road and the river Avon, including large council estates and two new schools. Durrington remains as an army-orientated community." www.wiltshire.gov.uk/south_wiltshire_settlement_setting_a...