Catterick's Super Garrison: Transforming The World's LARGEST British Army Base

[@kh7736]

1:55 man chieftain was a beauty of a tank.

[@johnallen7807]

And with only 74000 trained soldiers left in the Army it could probably hold them all. Wellington had nearly that number under his command at Waterloo in 1815 when the population was about 4.5 million.

[@jesseblack5812]

yes because it is currently a peacetime army??

[@ja390es9]

@@jesseblack5812 And since a lot of focus is being put on reserves right now, for the very reason you stated - I believe.

[@ja390es9]

@David Robinson ?

[@ja390es9]

@@lucasb2884 Haha good luck! I just passed my assessment last week.

[@johnallen7807]

@@jesseblack5812 And how much notice do you think we will be given of a war?? With the Falklands it was 2 days yet it takes 2 YEARS to fully train any infantry soldiers, more for specialists

[@zallergy]

The introduction clip was literally 2 soldiers exitting through an entrance only door

[@sharkwolf7788]

Typical squaddies. Didnt want to take the long way around

[@JammyDodger45]

There's a one way loop in effect due to C19

[@Daimo83]

Crazy that my old bedspace is now an office

[@chrisattis3176]

Hated that place but love it at the same time

[@tst2920]

Did my basic training here back in 1976, during the heatwave.

[@peterbolt2048]

Did mine in 1956 ( in the winter ) with 16/5 Lancers !

[@jamestaylor3985]

The housing in catterick is not to standard, you can cover a turd in glitter and all that.

[@flatmoon6359]

Been in Displaced Person,ex WW2 Camp in Osnabruck BAOR,wasn't quite straw to stuff in mattress cover,but not far off.Paid for food only,no accommodation fee.

[@Felix-rising]

It’s what they have always done with married quarters. It starts with cheap and nasty build quality and plummets from there. The refurbs aren’t based on the quality they are based on who is getting their palm greased.

[@charlieyerrell9146]

Catterick in the winter of 1958\ 1959 Training to be a tank driver up on the Moors was not the best of jobs but we did it. Guard duty at the tank park at night. Freezing cold waiting for the hot coco to arrive . And your reliefe to take over . At night stomping around listening to the tanks settling down and squeaking in the freezing cold kept you on you toes.

[@aldunn2156]

That first sandhurst block shown, was my accommodation whilst doing trade training in R. Signals in 1958, basic training was done in Gallowgate camp the other side of Richmond!

[@Hy-Brasil]

you painted a vivid picture with your words. just thought you should know. you have a potentially untapped skill.

[@interesting2491]

@@Hy-BrasilVery cerebral comment made by yourself, sir.

[@terrydavis1488]

I was ther eat the same time with the 3rd Carabiniers. Memories of the brick huts and fires, and guard duty in the tank park. Can't believe the transformation!

[@chuckb624]

What about Napier barracks in Kent? Heard it's pretty comfy?

[@badboylewz]

Napier barracks is like a concentration camp

[@romeo9017]

More damage limitation from the MOD - why don’t you show the abysmal conditions at Wavell...

[@johnallen7807]

Be fair, they spent a fortune on Napier Barracks (oops that was for illegal immigrants wasn't it? who then set fire to it when they didn't like it!)

[@johnharrison4817]

Got absolutely beasted here,loved it ,when we slept in wooden sheds😂

[@JammyDodger45]

I learned how to fight at Catterick ... not in ITC, I was a Bootneck, but in The Scorpion nightclub when we were up there on exercise a few times. Happy Days. 😁

[@karmanyngje4907]

Yep had a few scraps in there myself too. It only had one bouncer at the time, and he was busy every night trying to stop the constant fighting lol.

[@flatmoon6359]

The Scorpion,that brought back memories,non I wished to have,ye thanks,🤕.

[@JammyDodger45]

I seem to remember a female bouncer there in 92ish who took great delight at booting young lads down the stairs. Or maybe that was just what happened to me when my chat up lines didn't work on the local girls.

[@flatmoon6359]

@@JammyDodger45 If you can remember the Scorpion,you didn't drink enough.

[@JammyDodger45]

@@flatmoon6359 🤣👍🏻

[@markanthony4655]

Went up to Catterick to see a friend who was based and lived in Married Quarters. A few things surprised me. I am ex-serviceman (1984-90), so as I was going to Catterick and technically on the base in MQ's, now I am a civvie. I took ID (Driving Licence, car documents (Log Book), proof of address, etc. It was my first time at Catterick, so was expecting a wire fence, with control points manned by RMP/ MOD Plod, pulled over for ID/ IED check, go to a Guardroom to register my vehicle and get a pass for it and also sign the register to say what address I was going to. etc and the reverse on the way out again, going back to Guardroom to sign out and hand back a vehicle pass, as it was in the days I served. What a shock for me, coming off the A1 and straight onto the camp, a quick trip to Maccy D's and Tesco and then, again with no checks straight onto the married quarters site. It wasn't prepared for it to be so open, considering it is a Garrison. Maybe I am old school, but I have pulled my fair share of guard duties, both on the gates, with my then SLR, roving patrol and in the Guardroom, signing people in and out, handing out passes and keys after the key register has been signed. It was just a shock the seemingly lack of security, but I have no doubt it is now technology based (CCTV) instead of bodies on gates, etc. and there is an MRF/ QRF (Mobile/ Quick Reaction Force) or similar ready to go, should it be needed.

[@lafonevc5663]

You served at a time when PIRA was a far greater threat than now (and in terms of potential attacks on British Army and military bases a far greater threat than Islamic terrorists are today) and it's simply a different time tbh.

[@jagz03]

when we moved over there from Derry in 95/96 it was being renovated so to speak, and was a place intersparsed with fenced barracks each with main gates and guard rooms, but the married quarters were all open access areas. They had built the tesco at least before we left, but the main shops used to be the small row near the main garrison roundabout near the HQ. Not been there since leaving in 05.. may trek up one day for nostalgia puposes

[@donaldwainwright]

That place has changed so much I don't even recognize it I was based there and eventually a sergeant instructor

[@englishcple]

Its the same with HMS Raleigh at Torpoint, Plymouth. When i was there in 1969 it was wooden huts everywhere, I didnt recognise it when i saw it on you tube. The parade ground is still there though, i recognised that, ive been round it a few times !!!

[@mentalneil]

My very first posting after training was to Catterick Garrison, Boulon Bks, I was accommodated in Sandhurst block, (rear right wing middle floor on corner, overlooking back of cookhouse)

[@patricklamshear1806]

Nice view.

[@jagz03]

was that the Chindit wing?

[@zx10rmac84]

I was located in the centre block above the cookhouse. Not far to go to work. And under roof. Was a 12 man room divided by lockers. These days they got mid cons for the woke army it has become. ✌️🇬🇧

[@Felix-rising]

An engineer regiment full of a plethora of trades and we pay civvies to do the work. Presumably the trades were busy sweeping leaves

[@Blagger3000]

…and picking up litter.

[@RD-dn7yv]

True story !

[@steffiebee5224]

Enjoyed 3 good postings in Catterick

[@Daimo83]

Two lies in one sentence 🤣

[@dav1e479]

2010 oi oi this place was class 💙

[@brummierunner]

Single living for private soldiers is mental! I was there in 1997 depot with the RGJ, 12 man rooms were the best days

[@johnknow4097]

I'm just amazed we still have an army.

[@adrianstuart921]

Great stick it all in one place so the Russians can nuke it easily!

[@lmc5955]

@@adrianstuart921 brain dead logic

[@stevenmoody7834]

remember catterick my father was in army for over 20 years. move house 8 times

[@flatmoon6359]

I think I served with your dad in Osnatraz. John Moody??.

[@wallyreeve3690]

I was born there 90 years ago. My father was in the East York's regiment. Never returned after my father was posted to India after transferring to the AEC

[@Fijian_Brit24]

Can’t wait to start my basic training there soon

[@CroydonTramp]

Haha. Youll realise soon what a dump it is

[@ecnalms851]

Hope it went well!

[@jagz03]

when you used to live in the sandhurst block with the KORBR and see the old cookhouse is now an office :o

[@imranzazai7404]

British army is strong.

[@matthewward8292]

pls nerf too OP

[@gumjuicee6746]

Absolutely tiny though

[@joeholland7314]

@@gumjuicee6746 100s of years worth of military experience and knowledge though pal

[@anglo2664]

We need more bases like this and more soldiers change my mind.

[@DavidSmith-rb9rd]

We already had single accommodation at Marne Bks ok a bit world war 2 era but after Germany four man rooms it was great

[@DeanPattrick]

Bet the NAAFI is one hell of a state 🤣😂

[@romeisfallingagain]

wish they would build castles for them like we used to. we need to go back to stone forts/castles

[@Dave-hu5hr]

💊?

[@romeisfallingagain]

@@Dave-hu5hr sorry, i dont talk emoji. i am an adult

[@kingos2517]

Its changed so much since i was there, did my training in Vimy back in 1998. even Harry's bar has gone now.

[@itcu185]

Largest? by what metric? Suffield is huge!

[@jackwarburton6946]

I thought this suffield is around 66,000 acres

[@itcu185]

@@jackwarburton6946 not sure but I stopped googling after reading on wikipedia that BATUS hires "French-speaking locals" to help train troops in dealing with non English speaking hostiles :)

[@Soldmysoulforablurayplayer]

Does anyone else space out when people talk about square acres? Please use miles for us non farmers.

[@johnstandley4333]

And Haitch Q. It's aitch, Sophie.

[@donaldpaterson5827]

An acre is a measure of area. It’s equal to one furling long by one chain wide or 220 yards long by twenty two yards wide or 4840 square yards if my mental arithmetic is correct.

[@danforbes4513]

looks good :)

[@RD-dn7yv]

When are they rebuilding Scorps?

[@michaelmacdonell4834]

Desperately needed

[@mikeman584]

Was based in Boursin Barracks in the early 80s when we had an Army as opposed to a defence force. Glad it's been kitted out for office workers as long as they are cosy that's the main thing, you can't have too many desk jockeys 👍

[@tomstravels520]

5:07 then what was he about to say?

[@louiswilliams9449]

Only positive comments

[@ChrisKlein0]

Probably complaining about all the excess traffic on the roads. To be fair on a Friday it can clog up pretty badly heading out of the Garrison at 1200 😂

[@Aindriuh]

Nothing like creating the biggest nuclear target in the UK for Russia and China to aim at 🤣

[@mikeymc3094]

Neva thort of it that way but ya rite I found out years ago Liverpool is one of Russia’s number one targets in a nuclear war as this is where American troops wud be dockin on their way to fight in Europe I asked WTF wud they be fighting for after a nuclear strike from any side

[@patricklamshear1806]

That's soldiering for you. 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

[@Dave-hu5hr]

@@mikeymc3094 🥔

[@ianlaccohee7180]

We share a communal common room where we can cook, until the QM cuts all our damn plugs off.

[@flatmoon6359]

We had a QM switch off all sockets in a cooking "room",one of the guys was a Sparky before,switched all back on,went off for a day when QM saw it,back on next day.QM had to pay a civvy sparky every time.Quietly gave up in end.

[@drinksnapple8997]

...a small-medium military facility compared to the US Army's bases. Cute little town.

[@tsu8003]

Cute little town? Only a septic would say that!

[@simongee8928]

'A little bit unique'. Something is unique or it isn't. There are no levels of being unique. He should know better.

[@dreglasgow3960]

Did 10 years in the infantry.. never got a posting with a decent base. All ww2 type bases

[@Ken_oh545]

Please proofread the subtitles.

[@kennymacm3031]

Far cry from the 18 man rooms I started out in. I did P Coy at Catterick in 2001. Tough shift but got the beret...

[@JammyDodger45]

The beret means nothing. It's the wings that count.

[@colin...101]

18 christ. Was 8 to a room at Browning Barracks Aldershot in 1988.

[@colin...101]

@@JammyDodger45 Right. So the beret doesn't matter. Ok🤔.

[@JammyDodger45]

@@colin...101 - the beret is given, for free, to anyone joining 16AAB, even if they never go near PCoy. So yes, without wings the beret means nothing.

[@colin...101]

@@JammyDodger45 The beret is given to hats who join 16 AAB. The Parachute Regiment badge on the beret makes the whole difference. The wings are part of what you went through to get the PARACHUTE REGIMENT badge on your beret. 👍

[@GG-ch1hm]

Soon to be kicked out and living on the streets so the dingy sailors can move in

[@joebloggs8422]

No, 4 star hotels for them, after all they are all the doctors and engineers we badly need

[@beebot4507]

Ha stayed here loads when I was in cadets awesome place

[@johnadams7250]

I was there in the 80s with the QOH , Fun times went back 6 years ago for a look round couldn’t believe how much it had changed then , some of the through roads were know blocked of with Main gates.

[@majorlaff8682]

Suffield: 2700 square kilometres, equals 667185 acres. Catterick could fit in the cookhouse.

[@colingoldthorpe5918]

I live in Alberta Canada and Suffield is all but deserted. There is no armoured vehicles anymore from what i hear.

[@majorlaff8682]

@@colingoldthorpe5918 Medicine Hat, by any chance? Any word of the government selling it?

[@Ayns.L14A]

lot of changes to Catterick well presented video, however, nobody talking about the elephant in the room.......Amey?? look at facebook, on many of the forces sites there are masses of complaints about the lack of maintenance, when there is a problem and Amey are responsible there is little to nothing done, there are some horror stories out there, leaking roofs where tiles have been missing for ages, damp, black mold some quarters without heating all sorts of things. At least in Germany if there was a problem one phone call and it was sorted within hours at the longest a couple of days not the months that some of these reports state???

[@Mike_5]

2013 to 2021 so quite a quick decision then in Army terms ...

[@TommyBahama84]

The British Army is desperately trying to modernise. It needs to retain its talent by radically changing how it’s soldiers live.

[@Ravemastergeneral-fn1mc]

I’m sure the local skirt is still as rough as always lol

[@iaindunworth3008]

Is the Scorpion still standing lol ?

[@heatherpalmer9653]

Shut down 😂

[@Dom-ny7vh]

Minimum peace time army of 300000

[@steveleng4258]

Over 50 years ago as a Royal Engineer I attended my first course using SI units of measurement. Half a century later, why is Forces News using acres? I bet that nobody (apart from a few farmers) have any idea how big an acre is. Use hectares.

[@davidheaney9249]

Let's hope they all know which side they are on

[@tsu8003]

They are British troops not American!

[@restingrifleman1]

Was there with 2RGJ in 1973/74. Worst posting in my 15yrs service!

[@lablackzed]

Hell of a place did a bit of time there1973.

[@weeman9869]

Can we AGAI those two for not following the one way system please.....

[@Spartacus45]

I could never weigh up which place was the worst, Catterick or Pirbright during my 12 years in the British Army? 🤔

[@crusader8626]

When did you serve? Pirbright has had so much money sunk into it recently with more on the way

[@tsu8003]

Who wrote the headline for this video? A twelve year old trying to impress his mates?

[@dammo1977]

Norris from Coronation Street

[@markvick6138]

very silly a enemy could take them out in one strike

[@paulritchie5868]

Silly comment,enemy could take the whole country out with one strike.

[@markvick6138]

@@paulritchie5868 not whole country just them and take the country over , a air burst nuke leaves very little radiation their silly

[@robharris8844U]

A lot of them are Gurkha's which is not a bad thing, but says a lot about British youth.

[@ChrisKlein0]

A lot of what is Gurkhas?

[@robharris8844U]

@@ChrisKlein0 They are very brave warriors from Nepal who volunteer to be in the British army as they receive a wage several times they would receive in Nepal which is largely agricultural. Their name is Gurkha and are famous of their use of a knife to hatchet their foes. Last year over 5,000 were recruited into British army, there are batches of them recruited most years.

[@ChrisKlein0]

@@robharris8844U ok thanks, I’m aware of what Gurkhas are, I was working at ITC until last year. My question was more what your point was reference the Gurkhas? You said a lot of them are Gurkhas, a lot of what are Gurkhas? And over 5,000 were NOT recruited into the army last year. ITC had 270 which was their biggest ever intake granted and there is only ever 1 a year and no matter what trade they are they go through ITC before their trade training. There’s probably not even 5,000 Gurkhas in the whole army. Also they may have been brave warriors in years gone by, and yes they are very fit, but get them cold and wet and they aren’t very good soldiers. That’s from experience. Oh and to add, recruiting of our own has actually increased the past couple of years, much better than it was at first although still not where it should be. Maybe the Army just doesn’t offer the youth the advantages it once did such as pensions, travel, war and a decent lifestyle. Maybe the economic crisis after covid will provide a better recruiting incentive, but we’ll see.

[@scottietraining5667]

@@ChrisKlein0 like it mate good response

[@timcahill4676]

Most of the youth are lazy or far left but I know a lot like myself who are still willing to serve this country

[@eightlivesdownmtb]

Catterick. Such a goddam dump. Nothing short of dragon fire will make it better.

[@tajlata7510]

Idk why but it’s always the Northerners who represent the British army also join as well!

[@mariacornwallis1602]

AITCH, NOT HAITCH

[@oliw315]

They’ve all been put in uni accommodation, least they’re not paying a fortune 😂

[@Meadows-tg3tv]

UK government and MOD know how to choreograph buildings versus super garrisons but the spin is just propaganda we got no troops whatsoever it’s just the four of these all my God super garrison on my arse

[@stevefairbanks835]

Mmm. Smacks of putting all your eggs in one basket.

[@jasonking6892]

Money well spent 👍🇬🇧

[@ronlancs1874]

Yes Bruce haha

[@jameseadie7145]

This is for @Taylor Made so by proper vet does that mean you are now qualified to treat animals?

[@majorlaff8682]

Have a look, er, laugh, at some of the passing out parades at Catterick. Comments aren't allowed. And you can see why.

[@iainmcmillan616]

What do you want me to buy

[@bulldetecting2230]

And I’m absolutely positive it’ll be wonderful. 🙄

[@Jonas-uh7bb]

Also : Germany and Britain are Setting up a Naval squadron unit 🇩🇪

[@detectivehobson7465]

Ik

[@Meadows-tg3tv]

Biggest few troops

[@AbdulGani-ji9hd]

🙏

[@michaelanderson7715]

putrid mythology

[@Dingo-1]

🇬🇧🔵🔴⚪🥁

[@Meadows-tg3tv]

The all the former . Notice? Former .what army .

[@meeds7473]

I was waiting for them to show us what the new barracks looked like but they already were. I can't be the only one that thought it was lacking? Looked like it came from the 90s, hardly 2020/21.

[@brian5139]

Here I am thinking its the 21st century! God save the King and his Knights and his Nobles, and his Lords and his Barons! Lets hope there are enough peasants to keep them all in the luxury to which thety are entitled.

[@robinscott2975]

Love the fact the first thing you see are two jocks in facemasks walking out of the door that says entrance only....

[@Felix-rising]

Great soldiers the jocks , but not always compliant 😂

[@Mr-my5ji]

Harry's and jesters ..... Those who know ... Know !

[@cumorahwatson1967]

👍❤

[@mikewinston8709]

Haitch Q……it’s Aitch Q. Inarticulate woman.

[@Ravemastergeneral-fn1mc]

D block :(

[@RD-dn7yv]

🤣

[@donaldmckechnie6826]

Killing factory

[@LORDENGLISHVETERAN-nx6rk]

Yay more homes for migrants..

[@NEEJER]

Do you have to be very woke to join the Army now?

[@Fijian_Brit24]

Your mindset obviously gotta be strong with a strong mindset you can pass anything just gotta be strong in the head even when it’s tough

[@alexwilliamson1486]

Horrible place....you can’t polish a turd....shocking state of accommodation for single and married personnel for many years....shame on you MOD.

[@gordonwade897]

Rude

[@lordracula2461]

@Scott The home isn't a training area

[@Stu1664RM]

Transforming it from the suicide/murder bullying hole it’s been for years?