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1st Battalion The Irish Guards will move out of Aldershot in 2015
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£100m investment in army bases in Aldershot

By Jennifer Maxfield
March 05, 2013

A TOTAL of £100m will be spent on developing army bases in Aldershot as British troops currently in Germany are brought home over the next six years.

Defence Secretary Phillip Hammond made the announcement on Tuesday, saying it was part of a £2bn investment in army housing and bases.

It will see around 11,000 British troops returning from Germany by 2016, with the withdrawal of the remaining 4,500 troops brought forward a year to 2019.

The money will be used to improve accommodation and facilities for soldiers and their families. A shake-up of army bases will see the disposal of seven sites across the country.

Mr Hammond said the changes would save £240m a year in running costs as soldiers are moved into "clusters" in key locations.

Returning forces will mainly be stationed in Aldershot, Salisbury Plain, Edinburgh and Leuchars, Catterick, Colchester, Stafford and the East Midlands.

By 2020, Aldershot will be home to a total of around 4,200 troops.

The 27 Theatre Logistic Regiment will move from the town to Abingdon, but not before 2014, with 3 Close Support Regiment Royal Logistic Corps going in the opposite direction.

Headquarters 11th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters South East will also be based in Aldershot.

Mons Barracks will become home to 1st Battalion The Scots Guards, based at the moment in Catterick, North Yorkshire. The current Mons occupants, 1st Battalion The Irish Guards, will move out in 2015.

Brigadier Neil Baverstock, Commander 145 Brigade, said: "This is good news for Aldershot. The basing plan not only brings increased investment to the area by the Ministry of Defence, but also learning where units and families will be based in the coming years will give them the certainty they need to plan their futures."

For more on this story, see this week's News & Mail, out on Thursday, March 7.

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Most recent user comments 8 of 8

Better late than never! What a shame that Aldershot was allowed to get into the state that it has gotten into! Now we have 3, 500 returning soldiers coming back to a dead town that has been invaded by our Nepalese friends. Publicans will be rubbing their hands with glee but few others will!

Warmo, Frimley Green
09/03/2013 at 09:49

I for one welcome the return of the army to Aldershot

AldershotMan
08/03/2013 at 16:14

@ Knapperdog, Surly, Nice first post troll

mai
07/03/2013 at 17:41

Presumably the locals that bemoan our Gurkha friends will be stipulating that only white, anglo-saxon protestant soldiers from southern England are transferred to the enlarged facilities in Aldershot, before accepting the massive investment? (Northerners, Irish, Scots and Welsh need not apply - sort of thing). Of course, without these various 'ethnic' groups, there wouldn't be an army.

Knapperdog, Surly
07/03/2013 at 14:26

@ sleeping beauty, a fairy tale name and fairy tale dreams.

mai
06/03/2013 at 08:34

Just wondering where they are going to put them now that they have sold off so much land.

Dawi, Aldershot
05/03/2013 at 22:23

Yippee the army are coming home - this is brilliant news. Combined with the 3500 homes that are going to be built Aldershot's star is rising. So could the town manager (if we have one, if not can we get one) now start getting some the shops filled with real retailers that charge more than a pound for an item and that sell things that last longer the time it takes you to get home. If we don't have a town manager I would like to apply.