Some troops were still in tropical kit when they arrived, shivering in the January cold. Other units, including those from the Army Service Corps, Royal Engineers and Royal Army Medical Corps, were housed in some of the smaller towns and villages, including Kenilworth, Kineton and Southam. Most of the divisional artillerymen were based in Leamington and the Division’s headquarters were located in the town’s Manor House Hotel. In all other respects, the Division’s units had no association with Warwickshire, being drawn from all over the country, including three battalions from Ireland.Ĭoventry, Nuneaton, Stockingford, Rugby, Stratford and Banbury hosted the infantry battalions. Most soldiers were accommodated in private houses, in return for an allowance of 17s 6d per soldier, per week. The Warwickshire area was chosen for the formation and training of the Division because of the availability of billeting. Most of these soldiers were pre-war professionals, recently returned from safeguarding Britain’s imperial interests, chiefly in India and Burma.Īlthough some units were drawn from the Territorial Force, the Division was effectively the last of the regular army divisions created in the early months of the First World War.Īs such, it was highly valued by the generals – Lord Kitchener later described the 29th Division as “the finest body of troops ever to leave the country”. Although the pace slowed, about 17,000 soldiers had moved into the area by early March 1915.

Coventry saw 2,000 soldiers arrive by train in the space of four days and became “Khaki Coventry”, while Nuneaton became “a military depot” with the arrival of 3,000 men.Ī similar number went to Rugby, with other communities receiving smaller groups. It had begun before Christmas and accelerated in January, when thousands of troops of the newly-formed 29th Division poured into the area. One hundred years ago Coventry and Warwickshire experienced a peaceful military invasion.

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