The following are pieces of information gathered from sources on the internet, and includes any e-mail i recieve from visitors to this site. Due to space and copyright restrictions, i do not wish to reproduce whole documents, but only relevent items. As soon as enough data has been collected, hopefully it can all be pieced together to form a history and interpretation of the Camp. I shall endeavour to keep these in the best historical order.
"in 1925 and at the age of 13 my father and uncle had the newsagent's round which included what became Houndstone Camp. I remember selling papers to the "militia" who lived under canvas, prior to the general call-up. Eventually the camp was built and on the morning of the 3 September we were selling our papers as usual at 6am outside the cookhouse, where there was a great deal of coming and going." (taken from a newspaper report, good first hand source of information on life at the camp in the early stages of the camp, and the war)
"The nearest army camp was seven miles away (*from RNAS Yeovilton, during early World War Two*) at Houndstone and the worry was communication if German parachutists attacked the airfield. The army colonel suggested despatch riders on horses and sniffily said the rider would have to be a soldier as "the navy probably had no-one who could ride"... This did not go down well in the Yeovilton mess occupied by two former Grand National winners - Lt Bob Everett on Gregalach in 1929 and Lt Frank Furlong who won on Reynoldstown in 1935." (taken from a newspaper report. interesting and amusing account)
"Date: 14th October 1940 - A serious fire was started at Houndstone Camp near Yeovil by HE and Incendiary Bombs at 1900 hours. Several huts, a garage and part of the YMCA were destroyed. The ammunition store was fired, but all the ammunition was removed safely and no casualties resulted." (taken from an RAF Battle of Britain diary. good factual account with dates)
"Yeovil suffered three more attacks. A raid on 8 October killed eight and injured 40 On 12 October, four bombs fell on Houndstone, near Yeovil, killing five and injuring 32 others and damage was also caused by a further five bombs which fell in the centre of Yeovil... Lufton Camp, near Yeovil, was hit on 14 October, attacked by a single aircraft killing 13 soldiers." (taken, via a newspaper report from Somerset At War 1939-1945, by Mac Hawkins and published by Hawk Editions. good factual account with dates)
"In 1942 American black labour battalions were sent over to help finish the construction of camps including Houndstone. They were not allowed to sleep here as the base housed women but were shipped out at night in big lorries and brought back the next day." (taken from a newspaper report, social conditions, construction labour of the camp detail)
"(GI name) came to England in 1943 and was stationed at Houndstone Camp in Yeovil. He met (war baby name) in November and they courted for seven months. (w/b name) was born on 2 September 1944 in Yeovil. But (GI name) never saw his daughter. He missed her birth when he left for France on D-Day and was shipped straight back to America when the war ended." (taken from newspaper report, and shows us an early date for american use of the camp, and length of stay)
"That (GI name) had been based at Houndstone Camp, Yeovil and returned there, possibly injured, after the D-Day landings." (from newspaper report, shows that men from regiments based at the camp returned to the camp after the D-Day landings... but then could also show that he returned due to needing hospital treatment)
"Black Army/Army Air Force - Units & Locations in the United Kingdom from Station List (as of 31 March 1944) - Researched and compiled by Phil Grinton - Houndstone Camp - 374 Engineer General Service Regt, 2 Bn, Company D and 3409 Quartermaster Truck Company" (taken from a website, good regimental information)
"He said: "My father, a black GI, was based at Houndstone Camp in Yeovil around 1944. He used to organise dances and probably met my mother at one of these. Local people were okay but certainly there was a reaction among white GIs (about the mixed race relationship) and if they went anywhere together there were comments... He (became?) was a photographer in the Army." (from a newspaper report, second (but possible first hand) account, good information on social issues at the camp during the war)
"A FORMER American soldier is trying to track down a Yeovil woman more than 50 years after he crashed into her in his war-time ambulance. (name) of Greenland, Michigan, was a driver stationed with the 121st General Hospital at Lufton Camp from 1944 to 1945. He was transporting a load of patients to Yeovil station when he accidentally struck 14-year-old cyclist (name) of (adress). (ex-GI): "Her knee was injured and I returned her to our hospital where she received treatment. I visited her and her family on several occasions after that." (taken from a newspaper report. good first hand evidence including nationality, regiment, and job of the source, with dates, and suggests uses of Lufton Camp)
"According to (name), he was a member of Yeovil Town's team in their most famous FA Cup triumph over Sunderland in 1949. He vehemently claims that while stationed at Houndstone Camp, hotbed of so much soccer talent recruited to the benefit of Yeovil in those post- war years, he was selected at left back for the historic tie." (from a newspaper report, interesting source concerning sporting activities for the boys for the local football team, interestingly now, the football pitch is located at houndstone)
"(name)...is looking for (names) or anyone from ACC Training College Houndstone Camp Yeovil Somerset in the late 1947 or Middle East Traing College 1948 -1949" (first hand source, showing regiment and date, AAC= Army Catering Corps)
"Regt/Corps: Womens' Royal Army Corps - Name: ****** - Submission-comments: Anybody out there who was at Queen Elizabeth Barracks Guildford Summer 1966, Lufton Camp, Yeovil also summer 66 and Rheindahlen 1966/67" (This shows a regiment which was based at Lufton Camp at this time).
"MoD land sell-off - 06/05/1999 - District councillors have adopted a Ministry of Defence draft planning brief to sell a 13.6 acre patch of land at Houndstone Camp near Yeovil. The planning brief will help the MoD get rid of the land by providing a description of the site, a summary of planning policies and histories, an examination of development constraints and illustrating the lines along which the land should be developed." (taken from a newspaper report, gives dates and intended uses of the camp site)
"Ministry of Defence plans to sell land - 29/04/1999 - THE Defence Ministry is planning to sell a 13.6-acre site at Houndstone Camp, Boundary Road, adjoining Yeovil Town FC's Huish Park ground. Agents GVA Grimley have prepared a planning brief for the sale on behalf of the Defence Estates, which administers the MoD's land holdings. In the South Somerset Local Plan deposit draft the land is said to provide an "excellent opportunity for further employment development as it adjoins existing employment land to the east". (taken from a newspaper report, gives dates and intended uses of the camp site)