BARRACKS, the buildings used for the accommodation of military or naval forces, including the quarters for officers, warrant officers, non-commissioned officers and men, with their messes and recreation establishments, regimental offices, shops, stores, stables, vehicle sheds and other accessory buildings for military or domestic purposes. The term is usually applied to permanent structures of brick or stone used for the peace occupa tion of troops; but many hut barracks of corrugated iron lined with wood have been built, generally in connection with a train ing ground for troops, and in these the accommodation given is somewhat less than in permanent barracks, and conditions more nearly approach those of a military encampment.
As long as operations in the field were carried on by troops levied especially for the war in hand, no barracks apart from fortifications were required, except those for the royal bodyguard ; and even after the standing army exceeded those limits, the necessity for additional barracks was often avoided by having recourse to the device of billeting, i.e., quartering the soldiers on the populations of the towns where they were posted. This, however, was a device burdensome to the people, subversive of discipline, and prejudicial to mili tary efficiency in many ways, while it exposed the scattered soldiers to many temptations to disloyalty. Hence barracks were gradually provided, at first in places where such an ar rangement was most necessary owing to the paucity of the popu lation, or where concentration of troops, was most important, owing to the disaffection of some of the inhabitants. The earliest barracks of which there is any record as regards England, were those for the foot guards, erected in 166o. Among the earliest of those still existing are the Royal Barracks at Dublin, dating from 1700, and during the i8th century barracks were built in several parts of Ireland ; but in England it was at the end of the i8th and beginning of the i9th century that most of the earlier barracks were constructed. So long as barracks were mainly in connection with fortresses their construction naturally fell to the duty of the King's Engineers, afterwards the Corps of Engineers, working under the master-general of the ordnance. About 1796, however, a special civil department was formed to deal with barracks apart from fortifications. In 1816 we find a warrant appointing a civilian comptroller of the barrack department to deal with the erection and upkeep of barracks and barrack hos pitals not within fortified places. This warrant gives one of the earliest records of the nature of accommodation provided, and a few extracts from it are worth notice. No definite regulations as to cubic or floor space per man are laid down ; but in the infantry, twelve men, and in the cavalry, eight men are allotted to one room. "Bedsteads or berths" are allowed, "a single one to each man, or a double one to two men," or "hammocks where neces sary." The married soldier's wife is barely recognized, as shown by the following extract :—"The comptroller of the barrack de partment may, if he sees fit, and when it in no shape interferes with or straitens the accommodation of the men, permit (as an occasional indulgence, and as tending to promote cleanliness, and the convenience of the soldier) four married women per troop or company of sixty men, and six per troop or company of a hundred men, to be resident within the barracks; but no one article shall on this account be furnished by the barrack-masters, upon any consideration whatever. And if the barrack-master perceive that any mischief, or damage, arises from such indulgence, the com manding officer shall, on their representation, displace such women. Nor shall any dogs be suffered to be kept in the rooms of any barrack or hospital." Another regulation says : "Where kitchens are provided for the soldiers, they shall not be allowed to dress their provisions in any other places." In about 1818 the civil barrack department was abolished on account of abuses which had grown up, and the duke of Wellington as master-general of the ordnance and commander-in-chief transferred to the Corps of Royal Engineers the duties of construction and maintenance of barracks. In 1826 a course of practical architecture was started at the school of military engineering at Chatham under Lieut.-Col. (afterwards Sir Charles) Pasley, the first commandant of the school, who himself wrote an outline of the course. Wellington interested himself in the barrack question, and under his orders single iron bedsteads were substituted for the wooden berths, two tiers high, in which two men slept in the same bed, then a certain cubical space per man was allotted, and cook-houses and ablution rooms were added. Next, sergeants' messes were started, and ball courts allowed for the recreation of the men. It was not, how ever, till after the Crimean War that public attention was directed by the report, dated 1857, of the royal commission on the sanitary state of the army, to the high death-rate, and certain sanitary defects in barracks and hospitals, such as overcrowding, defective ventilation, bad drainage and insufficient means of cooking and cleanliness, to which this excessive mortality was among other causes assigned.
In 1857 a commission appointed for improving the sanitary condition of barracks and hospitals made an exhaustive inspection of the barracks in the United Kingdom, and reported in 1861. This was followed by similar commissions to examine the barracks in the Mediterranean stations and in India. These commissions, besides making valuable recommendations for the improvement of almost every barrack inspected by them, laid down the general sanitary principles applicable to the arrangement and construction of military barracks and hospitals; and established a definite standard of accommodation with 600 cu. ft. per man as the mini mum scale. To give every soldier his allotted amount of 600 cu. ft., meant a reduction in accommodation of the barracks by nearly one-third the number. Many buildings were condemned as being entirely unsuitable for use as barracks; in other cases improve ments were possible by alterations to buildings and opening-up of sites. Separate quarters for the married soldiers did not exist in many barracks, and in some instances married men's beds were found in the men's barrack rooms without even a screen to sepa rate them; in other cases, married people were accommodated together in a barrack-room, with only a blanket hung on a cord as a screen between the different families. The recommendations of the committee resulted in a single room being allotted to all married soldiers, and this accommodation has gradually improved up to the comfortable cottage now provided.
Steady and systematic progress has been made in barrack ac commodation. In 1857, the annual rate of mortality in the army at home per i,000 men was 17.5 (compared with 9.2 for the civil male population of corresponding age), forty years later, in 1897, the rate of mortality in the army was only 3.42 per i,000. Improved barrack accommodation undoubtedly contributed to this result. Barrack construction work remained in the hands of the Corps of Royal Engineers until 1904, when a civil department was again formed, under an architect styled "director of barrack con struction," to deal with the construction of barracks at home stations, and the construction and maintenance of military hos pitals. In 1918, however, this department was abolished and the control of barrack construction reverted to the Royal Engineers.
The accommodation to be given in British military barracks is scheduled in the Barrack Synopsis. Each item of ordinary accommodation is described in the synopsis, and the areas and cubic contents of rooms therein laid down form the basis of the designs for any new buildings. Supplementary to the synopsis is a series of "Standard Plans," which illustrate how accommodation may be arranged. The selection of a healthy site for a barrack building or new military station is of great importance. In earlier days of barrack construction, barracks were, for political reasons, usually built in large towns, where troops would be at hand for putting down disturbances. Cramped and inconvenient buildings of many storeys, were erected on a small piece of ground often surrounded by the worst slums of the city. In the present day, except in a few cases where strong local in fluence is allowed to prevail to retain troops in towns, where their presence is appreciated for patriotic or other motives, every opportunity is taken to move troops from the vicinity of crowded towns, and quarter them in barracks or hutments built in the open country. Due regard can then be given to sanitary location, and military training can more effectively be carried out.
A description of a modern bar rack for a "battalion of infantry will give an idea of the standard of accommodation which is now authorized, and to which older barracks are gradually being remodelled as funds permit. The unmarried soldiers are quartered in barrack rooms usually planned to contain fifteen men in each ; this number forms a convenient division to suit the organization of the company, and is more popular with the men than the larger numbers, which were formerly the rule. The rooms give 600cu.ft. of air per man and have windows on each side : the beds are spaced 6ft. apart from centre to centre, and are arranged so that there are not more than two between any two windows : over each man's bed is a locker in which he keeps his kit, and his rifle stands near the head of his bed. Convenient of access from the door to the barrack room is the ablution room ; also disconnected by a lobby, water closets and urinals. Slipper and spray baths are usually grouped in a central bath-house adjacent to the cook house and have hot water laid on. For every two barrack rooms, a small single room is provided for the sergeant in charge. Adja cent to the barrack blocks and next to the cook-house are arranged the dining-rooms.
Next to the dining-room is the cook-house where the meals for a battalion are cooked and served direct to the dining rooms. A wash-up room, equipped with a plate washing machine and shelves for the storage of the crockery after it has been washed, is ar ranged off the serving-lobby. The cook-house is well lighted and ventilated by a glazed lantern with opening sashes and the cook ing apparatus is designed for the economical use of coal fuel.
Under the kitchen block is a small basement containing the boiler for heating the dining-rooms and another for the supply of hot water to baths and sinks.
Not far from the barrack blocks is placed the regimental insti tute, or soldiers' club, where the rank and file may go for relax ation and amusement when off duty. This establishment comprises a restaurant, a large and lofty room with a stage at one end and at the other a supper bar where light refreshments are sold, a soldiers' room served by a beer bar which also serves a separate room for corporals and a jug department for the supply of fami lies, a billiards and games room, and a reading and writing room and library. Shops are provided where the men and their families may purchase groceries and other commodities ; a quarter for the manageress, a common room for the staff, an office for the check ing of accounts, and the kitchen premises complete the establish ment.
For the senior non-commissioned officers a sergeants' mess is provided, containing a dining-room, a reading-room and a billiard room, with kitchen premises and a liquor store, which also has a jug department for the sergeants' families. The single non-com missioned officers have all their meals in this mess, and the married members also use it as a club. The warrant officers and the proportion of non-commissioned officers and men who are on the married establishment, are provided with accommodation at some little distance from the men's barracks. The warrant officers are allowed a living room, kitchen, and scullery with three bed rooms and a bath room. The married soldiers have a living room, scullery and bath room, and one, two, or three bedrooms, accord ing to the size of their families.
At a little distance from the men's bar racks, and usually looking over the parade or cricket ground, is the officers' mess. This building has an entrance hall, on one side of which is the mess room (or dining room) with a band alcove, where the band plays on guest nights, and on the other the ante room (or reading room), whilst the billiard room and kitchen are kept to the back so that lantern lights can be arranged for. A mess office is provided, and all the accessories required for the mess-waiters' department, including pantry, plate-closet and cellarage, and for the kitchen or mess-man's department ; also a quarter for the mess-man. The single officers' quarters are usually arranged in a storey over the mess itself. Each junior officer has a large room, part of which is partitioned off for a bed alcove, and the field officers are allowed two rooms. The officers' servants have small rooms allotted for cleaning purposes, and bath rooms, supplied with hot water from the mess kitchen, are centrally situ ated. A detached house, containing three sitting rooms, seven bed and dressing rooms, bath room, kitchen, scullery and the usual accessories, is provided for the commanding officer, and smaller houses, usually semi-detached, are provided for the other regi mental married officers and the quarter-master.
Apart from the buildings providing accommodation, others are required for administrative, educa tional and military purposes. These are the guard-house and regimental offices, the small-arm ammunition store, the fire engine house, the gymnasium, the 3oyd. miniature rifle ranges and classrooms for the instruction of the men when working for educational certificates, also a medical inspection block, with dispensary, where the sick are seen by a medical officer and either prescribed for or sent into hospital, as may be necessary. Stables are provided for the officers' and transport horses, and a vehicle shed and store house for the mobilization equipment. Store rooms are required for bread, meat, coal, clothing, and for weapon training, signalling, and general small stores under the quarter master's charge ; also workshops for armourers, carpenters, plumb ers, painters and glaziers, shoemakers and tailors. Mention of the recreation ground and parade ground completes the description of a battalion barrack.
The accommodation provided for cavalry is very similar to that already described for infantry. The barrack blocks are arranged to suit the organization of the regiment and are placed so that the men can turn out readily and get to their horses. Detached buildings are provided for cavalry troop stables, one block for the horses of each troop. Each horse is given 1,500 cu.ft. of air space, the horses' heads being turned to the outer walls. Above the horses' heads are windows, while ridge ventila tion and skylights are given so that all parts of the stable are well lighted and airy. Cast-iron mangers and hayracks are provided and the horses are separated by bails with chains to manger brackets and heel posts; saddle brackets are fixed to the heel posts. Each stable has a store, in which spare saddles and gear are kept; also an expense forage store, in which the day's ration, after issue in bulk from the forage barn, is kept until it is given out in feeds.
The space between the blocks of stables is paved with cement concrete to form a yard, and horse-troughs, litter-sheds and dung-pits are provided. Officers' stables are built in separate blocks, the stalls are divided by partitions and separate saddle rooms are provided. The unit sick lines are usually placed at some distance from the troop stables in a separate enclosure. They comprise infirmary stables for the sick horses, and a phar macy for their treatment. The stables contain a number of loose boxes in addition to the stalls and the space allowed for a horse is greater than in the troop stables. A forge and shoeing shed is provided in a detached block near the troop stables. A forage barn and granary is usually built to contain a fortnight's supply and a chaff cutter is fixed close by. Cavalry regiments each have a large covered riding school and a number of open mangges for exercise and riding instruction.
The accommodation provided for horse and field artillery is arranged to suit their organization in batteries and brigades, and is generally similar to that already described, with the addition of vehicle sheds for guns and ammu nition wagons and special shops for wheelers and saddlers; while mechanized field artillery require, in addition, garage acconimoda tion for their dragons and other mechanical transport vehicles, and a small workshop for light repairs. The special buildings required by a tank battalion comprise garage accommodation for the tanks and mechanical transport vehicles, workshops for light repairs, and a school for instruction in tank maintenance. Accom modation for other units follows the above general lines. Garrison Accessories.—Military hospitals are established at home and abroad for the treatment of sick officers and soldiers as well as their wives and families. Military hospitals are classi fied as follows : first-grade hospitals are large central hospitals serving important districts. These hospitals are complete in themselves and fully equipped for the carrying out of operations of all kinds; they generally contain wards for officers, and may have attached to them separate isolation hospitals for the treat ment of infectious cases, and military families' hospitals for women and children. Second-grade hospitals are smaller in size and less fully equipped, but are capable of acting independently and have operation rooms. Third-grade hospitals or reception stations are required for small stations principally, to act as feed ers to the large hospitals and to deal with accidents and non transportable cases. Ward blocks usually have two storeys, and normally 1,2oocu.ft. of air space per patient are provided.
are built to give slightly more liberal accommo dation than is laid down as the minimum by the Board of Edu cation, but the principles of planning are much the same as in civil elementary schools.
are built when arrangements for the troops to attend divine service at neighbouring places of wor ship cannot well be made. Only one Military prison now remains, viz., Aldershot, and this is for soldiers discharged from the service with ignominy. For ordinary sentences detention barracks and branch detention barracks are attached to the mili tary commands and districts. These are constructed in accordance with the Home Office regulations for prisons. Barrack expense stores, for the issue of bedding, utensils and other stores for which the troops depend upon the Royal Army Service Corps, are neces sary in all barracks ; and in large stations a supply depot for the issue of provisions, with abattoir and bakery attached to it, may be necessary. In important districts large central workshops are provided for the carrying out of such repairs to guns and gun carriages, tanks, dragons and mechanical transport vehicles, etc., as cannot be undertaken by the unit repair shops. An Engineer office, with building yard and workshops to deal with the ordinary duties in connection with the upkeep of War Department prop erty, is required at every station ; and for large stations, such as Aldershot, it may be necessary to undertake special water supply schemes, works for disposal of sewage, and for the supply of electricity or gas for lighting the barracks. The system of roads, pipes and mains within the barracks are in all cases maintained by the Royal Engineers, as well as the buildings themselves. District and brigade officers are necessary for the administration of large units, and quarters for the general officer commanding and the headquarters staff may sometimes be required.
Since the Crimean War it has been recog nized that the leading principle of barrack policy must be to facilitate in peace time the training of the army for war and that this can only be done by quartering troops in large bodies in posi tions where they have space for training and manoeuvring. The camps at Aldershot, Colchester, Shorncliffe and The Curragh were started accordingly between 1855 and 186o and in subsequent years the policy was continued by the construction of further training camps. On the outbreak of war in 1914, a demand arose once more for training centres and the problem of hutments had to be dealt with. It was decided to adopt a cheap design of hut, readily erected and easily adaptable to any form of temporary material, and the following types were standardized: (a) A barrack hut, 6oft. by 2oft., for one sergeant and 24 men; (b) a dining hut, 1 oof t. by 28ft., for 500 men, with a scullery attached; (c) a cook-house, 6oft. by 28ft., with cooking apparatus capable of serving two dining rooms; (d) a bath house with a central heating boiler and hot and cold water laid on to showers; (e) a regimental institute, I9oft. by 28ft., containing a games and reading room, a supper room, a corporals' room, a bar and a beer cellar, with a kitchen and scullery in an annexe; (f) officers' and sergeants' messes, comprising a mess room and anteroom in one block joined by a short passage with a kitchen block, and accommodating 30 officers and 5o sergeants respectively; and (g) a hut, fitted with stoves, in which wet clothing could be dried.
The following types of hospital huts were also standardized: (a) A ward hut, 14of t. by 2oft., comprising a 24-bed ward for ordinary cases and a small ward for one special case, a nurses' duty room, a scullery and a sanitary annexe; (b) a hut, i6oft. by 28ft., containing the administrative offices, a clinical labora tory, and an out-patient department; (c) an operation hut, 51 ft. by 36ft., containing the operation, anaesthetic, sterilizing, and preparation rooms, and an X-ray department; (d) a mortuary hut, 30f t. by 14f t. 8in., containing a post-mortem room, a body chamber, and a viewing room; and (e) a disinfecting hut in which all foul clothing, bedding, etc., is disinfected.
Selection of Site.—The following principles govern the selec tion of a site for a training camp: (1) Open ground, available at all times for manoeuvring, and suitable positions for rifle ranges, entrenchments, etc., are essential; (2) the soil should be, prefer ably, gravel or chalk; there should be a good water supply and good drainage and generally healthy surroundings; (3) there must be ample means of communication by rail or by water, or by both; (4) and lastly, labour and building materials should be easily procurable, and an established system of waterworks, drain age works and electrical power is desirable, in which, by agree ment, the camp might partake.
System of Grouping.—The area required for a hutted camp for an infantry battalion is about I , I oof t. by roof t. The build ings are grouped round a parade ground about 43oft. by 3oof t. in area. The officers' mess and quarters face one side; on the op posite side are the barrack huts which are grouped on either side of a central line of buildings comprising the sergeants' mess, the shower baths, dining rooms and cook-house, the drying room and the regimental institute. Flanking the parade ground are the guard-house and offices, the horse shelters, saddle and harness rooms and forage stores, the vehicle shed and the mobilization equipment store. Hutted camps for other units are designed on generally similar lines. In grouping such unit hutments into a divisional camp or cantonment, it is desirable that such buildings as the hospital, post office, power station, army ordnance stores, supply depot, etc., should be centrally situated. The main train ing ground should lie on one side of the camp, and as near to it as possible. The accessory services for a large cantonment com prise : (r) hospital, (2) roads and railways, (3) water supply, (4) lighting, and (5) refuse disposal and sewage.
Indian Barracks.—In India, barracks for British troops are built by the Royal Engineer officers detailed for military work duties, assisted by military foremen and by a native subordinate staff. The scale of accommodation to be provided is laid down in the Barrack Synopsis (India). In the plains the barrack rooms are lofty and airy with verandas all round and clerestory win-. Bows. Electric punkahs or fans are provided and the roofs are usually of double tiling. The allowance of space is gosq.f t. per man in rooms Oft. high and a separate dining room is provided in addition. In hill stations the rooms are smaller and punkahs are not provided. Recreation establishments are provided on a liberal scale and also other means of recreation, such as ball courts and fives courts, plunge baths and cricket grounds. Separate blocks of married quarters are provided, and schools for the children. Hospital accommodation on a higher scale than at home is necessary, but hill sanatoria have done much to improve the health of the troops by giving change of air, during the hot weather, to a large proportion of the men and families. Piped water supplies have replaced the old wells at most stations, and cooking and sanitary arrangements have been much improved.
Naval Barracks.—Naval barracks differ from military princi pally in that they keep up the system of board ship life to which the men are accustomed. Large barrack rooms are provided with caulked floors like ships' decks, and have rows of hammocks slung across them; these are stowed in the daytime when the rooms are used as mess rooms. In some places, however, separate mess rooms have been provided. Ablution and sanitary arrange ments are grouped together on the basement floors. Fine recre ation establishments and canteens are provided. The officers' messes have splendid public rooms, but the officers quarters are not so large as in military barracks. Married quarters for the men are not provided, except in connection with coastguard stations.
Other Countries. -A great number of the German and French barracks are erected in the form of a large block of three or four storeys containing all the accommodation and accessories for officers, married and single non-commissioned officers and men, of a complete battalion or regiment in one building. Some of the modern barracks, however, are arranged more on the pavilion system, with separate blocks; but the single block system is well liked on account of its compactness and the facility it gives for supervision; it is also more satisfactory from the architectural point of view. The system of allotment and arrangement of accommodation for these two armies does not differ much, except in detail, from that adopted by the British army. The floor and cubic space allotted per man is a little less; accommodation for officers is not usually provided, except to a limited extent, unless the barracks are on a country site. The German army, however, now provides every regiment with a fine officers' mess-house furnished at the public expense. Married quarters for some of the non-commissioned officers are provided, but not for privates. American barracks are arranged usually on the separate block system, placed round a post-exchange, or soldiers' club, which is a combined recreation establishment, gymnasium and sergeants' mess, with bath-house attached. They are well designed and superior finish internally is given.
The Barrack Synopsis (1023) ; The Handbook of Design and Construction of Military Buildings (10o5) ; The Barrack Synopsis (India) . (R. G. P. H.)
