Early Times

Little is recorded about the area until the 1870’s when Sir Sidney Waterlow purchased large areas of land including the Village of Fairseat, and a good proportion of Stanstead, together with land from Wrotham to Meopham. The parts of the estate were linked by a small bridge bearing the family crest over Trottiscliffe Road still in evidence today.

The whole area was still owned by Mr Shahmoon when it was taken over by the army 1942 and Hamilton Lodge was to be the HQ of the Brigade that was stationed here.

 1942 - 1946

Perhaps the majority of those who live in or near the village of Vigo and who have moved here since the war were only vaguely aware that this area of the North Downs had been the scene of intense military activity during the last war. Some had had tangible proof when digging in the garden had revealed tarmac roads or the foundations of buildings only just below the topsoil. The children often returned with 'relics' found in the woods and on more than one occasion army bomb disposal teams were called in to deal with the more 'exciting' finds.

With the outbreak of war and the subsequent increase in size of the army, the need for large numbers of suitable candidates to train as officers soon became apparent. This training was normally under-taken at an Officer Cadet Training Unit (O.C.T.U.) which was attached to that arm of the service in which the cadet would eventually serve e.g. R.A., R.E., Infantry etc.

Because each O.C.T.U. was required to teach basic army skills, duplication of resources occurred, also standards varied from unit to unit and most importantly the levels of skill and basic army training of individual cadets varied considerably.

In the early part of 1942 it was decided therefore to standardise this basic training and send all potential officer cadets to a pre-O.C.T.U. for up to eight weeks prior to their attendance at their 'specialist' O.C.T.U. With a few exceptions, all officer cadets would now be required to attend this newly formed pre-O.C.T.U. ‘Wrotham Camp’ which was to be situated on what is now the site of Vigo Village. Training areas would extend northwards through all of ‘Happy Valley’, almost to Meopham, and south to farmland beyond the Pilgrims Way. It would handle the vast majority of officers for the British Army for the next four years. It would be big – up to 10,000 men at any one time.

The task of forming and administrating this new camp would fall to the 148th independent Brigade Group. This Brigade would now be known as the 148th Training Brigade

The selection of potential officers from the ranks of the Army was done in the first instance by the individuals own C.O. followed by a War Office Selection Board, W.O.S.B ( known as WOSBEE). This procedure involved everything from a mini-battle course to a psychiatric interview. On arrival the grading and testing done by 'A' Wing would determine the length of time the cadet would stay (the courses were designed to bring all officer cadets up to a similar standard prior to entering their specific O.C.T.U.)

Permanent staff and instructors who lived in the area were allowed to return home at evenings and weekends whilst the remainder were either accommodated on the site or billeted in Meopham or Wrotham. For the cadet it was the Nissen hut. Staff kept their own Regimental insignia but all wore the Brigade flash, the letters N.M. (black on green) which stood for North Midlands, although some, when asked by young ladies of the village as to what it stood for suggested 'Not Married'! , The cadet would remove all Regimental insignia and any badges of rank and wear a white band of cloth around the lower part of their hat and strips of white tape on the shoulder straps of their battle-dress blouse to denote their cadet status.

Training consisted of lectures and demonstrations in a variety of subjects, tactics, map reading, field craft, camouflage and the operation of a variety of weapons including grenades and mortars. Field craft areas close to the camp were in 'Happy Valley' and night exercises took place in and around Luddesdown, Pilgrims Way, Addington and Ryarsh with a rifle range in the chalk pit, an assault course at the bottom of the escarpment and 2" mortar and grenade ranges to the south of the Pilgrims Way.

All instruction regarding vehicles was done at the D Wing [Driving and Maintenance]. The Wing had a large transport column of vehicles from 15cwt. trucks to 10 ton recovery vehicles plus hundreds of motor-cycles. The main motor pool was situated on what is now Vigo Rugby Club and motor cycle training was undertaken on a figure of eight course in the area of what is now Highview.

For recreation the local pubs and village halls were often visited, the Vigo Pub provided good beer and darts and skittles with the locals. The Cricketers was also popular and a collection of cadets regimental badges once adorned the walls. Dances were also held at Meopham Village Hall on Wednesday evenings and many ex-cadets still wonder if the famous 'Meopham Blonde' or 'Capbadge Kate' are still around, both apparently the talk of officers messes the world over!

The camp continued to operate through to the early part of 1946 but with the end of the war in sight and the future size of the post-war army already under discussion the days of the Training Brigade were numbered and the decision to abolish the Brigade was taken on the 8th April 1946.

A bus service was started along with a shopping centre, known as Piccadilly Circus, which provided a butchers, a Co-Op, Café, Bakers and drapery store. There was a library, housed in Erskine Hall, a barbers with a fully equipped salon, and Dr Jenman and Dr Haslar held a surgery in ‘Harley Street’ nearby. [This is better than we have today!]

The stables at the back of Hamilton Lodge were used as a Primary School from about 1948. Prior to this the children attended Meopham and Culverstone Schools. A Scout Group, the 17th Gravesend, was also started run by the Church Army.

To the East of the site on what was the old army motorcycle training course [now the area of Highview] was a caravan site.

By the late 1950’s many of the residents were re-housed in nearby areas and the land was to a certain extent cleared. The land was then sold by Mr Shahmoon to Croudace Ltd, a property development company, for a reported £65,000 and Vigo village as we know it today was born.

I have been researching the history of the camp for many years now and would be more than happy to receive any further information from former army cadets or staff or from those who lived in the camp post-war. Even the smallest piece of information would be gratefully received as it all adds to the history.

Paul Baylis- paulbaylis@yahoo.co.uk