Secondary Research

Sport in Shoreham Army Camp

There was a stadium in the camp, located near the Quarry on the Westside of the camp. In this stadium, there was a boxing match held for the entertainment of the soldiers. The bout included then British Heavyweight champion and first winner of the Lonsdale belt, Bombardier Billy Wells. Billy Wells was the British and British Empire champion from 1911 to 1919, defending his title 14 times. He joined the military in May 1915, he later became sergeant and boxed while in the army until 1916. He is also known for being the Rank Films gongman. His boxing record is as follows:

The stadium was fairly big for its time, as you can see from this still. Both fighters were known for having a very orthodox boxing style. This event was very big considering it was held in an army camp opposed to an official venue.

Bombardier Billy Wells RecordPlayed 52Win 41Loses 11Knockouts 34

Apart from boxing, there were a few other forms of entertainment inside and outside of the army camp. Soldiers wearing their uniform were exclusive allowed free entry to what is now known as the Sealife Centre in Brighton. This day out was very popular for soldiers of the camp, seeing as there were over 20,000 soldiers there at one point.

Furthermore there was a cinema on campus, which held screenings for the soldiers of popular films and encouraging patriot documentaries (propaganda) about the war and updates on the position of the soldiers already fighting.

There is also a YMCA, which was used recreationally by soldiers.

YMCA and Cinema

This is roughly where the stadium would’ve been, located on the Westside of the camp and near the Quarry.