Talk:Princess Royal Barracks, Deepcut

Latest comment: 8 years ago by Kookiethebird in topic New page for 'Trainee deaths at Deepcut'?

Neutrality edit

OK, I've added a little about the Barracks itself and renamed as appropriate. It probably needs a bit more material on RLC training and the assets in the camp though. I've also fleshed out the material on the deaths based on the Blake review which restores some balance. If nobody has any objections I'm happy to remove the POV tag.ALR 15:19, 14 January 2007 (UTC)Reply

The article appears to consider the findings of Blake's closed-door review as the absolute truth. Not everyone agrees, and the article should reflect that to be truly NPOV. See e.g. http://media.guardian.co.uk/mediaguardian/story/0,,2021115,00.html for some background. Cd52x 10:59, 27 February 2007 (UTC)Reply
That link is behind a subscription barrier. And yes I'm well aware of the ongoing conspiracy theories, but unless they're adequately sourced then they have no place in the article.ALR 12:33, 27 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

It is NOT behind a subscription barrier —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.20.94.121 (talk) 12:58, 31 March 2011 (UTC)Reply


It looks like the place is about to get flattened. I guess the article should reflect the impending closure in a NPOV kind of way. I'm kind of keen on all warmongering "soldier" being tortured to death, so I'd vote to keep it open. But hey, can't have it all my own way. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.125.5.236 (talk) 03:21, 6 January 2008 (UTC)Reply

Information wants to be free! edit

Wikileaks.org has just released a secret document about the Deepcut deaths. 82.131.210.162 (talk) 07:54, 21 May 2009 (UTC)Reply

Notability of Deep Cut edit

There seems to be absolutely no doubt that the play Deep Cut is notable given it's award from Amnesty International! TeapotgeorgeTalk 20:30, 1 June 2010 (UTC)Reply

New article in media to do with Deepcut death edit

There is a new article in the media (Daily Mail) relating to one of the deaths at Deepcut. I thought I would mention it for reference:

Fresh calls for Deepcut Barracks inquest as family of 18-year-old Army recruit found dead force police to disclose secret files

Kookiethebird (talk) 23:41, 18 October 2013 (UTC)Reply

For people who are quick, there is an article in this fortnight's Private Eye relating to one of the deaths at Deepcut. Kookiethebird (talk) 01:06, 20 April 2014 (UTC)Reply

A long time ago..................... edit

I have just found this page about Deep Cut, and I would just like to say, that I lived in Deep Cut as a 7yr old child. I remember it well----we had to walk quite a way to school, through the woods, etc. I remember that there were WW II broken aeroplanes, one of which had a board and we used to climb up and slide down. One day, I had a terrible accident on that "board", I went down on my stomach and caught a nail in the top of my left leg, which dug into my leg, and rippped it open!!! I was taken down to MI Room (as it was then), no stitches, but iodine was poured all over my leg--you can imagine the screams!!! We lived in the old "Victorian" houses, my Dad being a bandsman in the Royal Artillery Mounted Band at that time. The Canadians had lived there before we arrived, and our kitchen had a copper kettle in the middle of the room, which apparently was used for making coffee!! I was told this by my mother. There is another incident that I remember well, my handicapped brother (Muscular Dystrophy) got out of the house and fell down a fifteen foot air-raid shelter--a soldier on a motor bike just happened to be riding by, when his bike broke down, and he stopped to get it going again----he could hear a "distant" voice saying "help me", and the kind solder went down into the shelter and took him home to my mother, who was absolutely horrified!!! Another trip to the MI Room, and eight stitches in his forehead. On a lighter note, my parents went to see "Gone With the Wind" showing in the camp theater - they took me along, and I remember the big staircase in the house Tara--also still remember a big fire. I hope that this has not bored too many people. I just saw the words "Deepcut Camp" and brought it all back to me. I am now the grand old age of 74yrs!!!! God bless you all. Heather A. Cane---now living in the USA. Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.134.14.185 (talk) 00:02, 20 April 2015 (UTC)Reply

New page for 'Trainee deaths at Deepcut'? edit

I'm increasingly aware of (and partly responsible for) the fact that the tragic events surrounding the deaths of the young recruits at the barracks in the mid 1990s-early 2000s now represent a significant proportion of the information on this page. Although those events clearly need acknowledging here, perhaps they should be moved to a new article dedicated to them? Regardless of their outcomes, it is unlikely that reports concerning the fresh inquests are unlikely to end anytime soon. What do others think? JezGrove (talk) 22:30, 10 September 2015 (UTC)Reply

I think it is right that there is the amount of information on this page that there is, as this group of cases has been going on for a very long time with, over the years, a very large amount of media coverage. But I agree with the idea that the time is now right to create an article dedicated to them. No idea how to do so though. Kookiethebird (talk) 21:26, 11 September 2015 (UTC)Reply
Thanks for your thoughts (and previous contributions to the article's page!) Kookiethebird. Sadly, for many people the name of the barracks and the deaths of the recruits will always be synonymous (like many other people, I probably would never heard of the barracks otherwise) and so you're right that there should be a significant section on the main page here. There is no rush, as I don't think there will be any significant developments now before Pte James' inquest next year, so there is plenty of time for other editors to add their views here. But if there is eventual agreement that a dedicated page is the way forward I'd be happy to create it, although I'm sure it will be greatly improved by the input of others once it is up and running! JezGrove (talk) 22:01, 11 September 2015 (UTC)Reply
Thanks for your reply! Just to clarify, my view is that it's right to have a significant section on this page right now, but if a separate article was to be created I would have the information on this page cut right back to one or two paragraphs. The separate article would then, ideally, cover it in great detail. Kookiethebird (talk) 22:38, 11 September 2015 (UTC)Reply
Yes, the key details / events would be mentioned here but the full version given in the new page. JezGrove (talk) 22:58, 11 September 2015 (UTC)Reply

I believe that now is the right time to create a standalone article about the Deepcut deaths. With the amount of media coverage, along with the general amount of information about the deaths, I think having a separate article is the way to go. Plus other Wikipedia editors are more likely to come across the article and perhaps improve it. There is also then the possibility of adding external links like the following one: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-35458611

I am willing to give it a go myself, but if someone with some experience of creating new articles could do it that would suit me better. Kookiethebird (talk) 19:00, 2 February 2016 (UTC)Reply

Hi Kookiethebird, I hadn't forgotten that I had promised to have a go and made a start on getting sources etc ready yesterday. I'm hoping to have something ready by the end of the week - unless someone beats me to it! Once I have a rough draft to share I'll stick it in my sandbox and post a message here so that you (and anyone else who is interested, of course) can take a look before I create it or make any significant changes to this article. I'll include versions of i) what I think should still be included on this article's page, and ii) the suggested version for the new page.JezGrove (talk) 22:05, 2 February 2016 (UTC)Reply
Hi JezGrove, thanks and I'm sure it will be good! Kookiethebird (talk) 19:15, 3 February 2016 (UTC)Reply
Thanks Kookiethebird - I'm sure there will be plenty of room for improvement! The Army's Board of Inquiry reports into the deaths make for interesting reading (though I've still got a couple to track down). It turns out one of the recruits had the same birthday as my oldest daughter and was likely born in the same hospital, though years earlier - brought home the tragedy a bit to discover that fact! JezGrove (talk) 20:37, 3 February 2016 (UTC)Reply

Hi JezGrove, just to let you know that I'm going to go ahead and create a new article on the Deepcut deaths in the next couple of days, but I wanted to let you know in case you had already done some of the work or wanted to create the article yourself. There's another big article to do with the deaths in Private Eye this fortnight. I'm just going to copy the relevant parts of the current article and paste them into a new article to start with. Then I will start going through all the references to make sure that they all work. I was going to go with the article name, "Deaths at Deepcut army barracks", with the following redirects: "Deepcut deaths", "Deepcut inquest", "Trainee deaths at Deepcut", and perhaps the names of the four trainees, something like, "Cheryl James (Deepcut death)". It would be my first article! Kookiethebird (talk) 01:23, 19 March 2016 (UTC)Reply

Hi Kookiethebird, that all sounds absolutely fine so please feel free to go ahead, I’m sure your first page will be great! I’m sorry to have been so s-l-o-w delivering on my promise (and my apologies for not posting something here or on your talk page to give an update). I wanted to include some pre-Deepcut info about the recruits (e.g. Geoff Gray was the East London 100 metres champion when he was at school, etc) but my research ended up getting bogged down in WAY too much detail, hence the delay. (I only finished wading through the appendices of the Blake Review on Thursday.) But on the plus side if there are any details you want there is a good chance that I probably have them now. Best wishes and good luck. JezGrove (talk) 20:45, 19 March 2016 (UTC)Reply
Hi JezGrove, I've now created the page. Feel free to edit. Kookiethebird (talk) 20:57, 20 March 2016 (UTC)Reply