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Lyndhurst in the New Forest was one of the first places to fully appreciate the scale and cost of the war. In the glorious autumn of 1914, residents watched the gathering of the 7th Division on White Moor. But a month after going into battle, more than half of the men were killed or wounded. They came to be known as 鈥楾he Immortal Seventh鈥�.

After weeks of route marches and training, the orders for embarkation came in October 1914. Even in the middle of the night, 鈥渃heering folk lined the road waving their farewells鈥�. The marching column was so long that as the front arrived at Southampton Docks, the rear was still in Lyndhurst 12 miles away.

The Division suffered heavy losses in a largely successful attempt to hold the line against the Germans. Some histories record that the vast majority of men were dead within weeks, while the Divisional history by CT Atkinson, who served with the 7th, puts the number of early casualties (including those wounded) at something over half of its strength.

Location: Lyndhurst, Hampshire SO43 7BS
Image: Troops of the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards polishing their and their fellow soldiers shoes at a camp at Lyndhurst in the New Forest where the 7th Division was forming (September, 1914), courtesy of Colonel Henry Cadogan
Presented by Marcus White