Morant Hall – Meerut Indian General Hospital – Morant War Hospital
Morant Hall, also known as New Forest Hall, once stood on the Lyndhurst Road approximately opposite Greenways Road, Brockenhurst.
Soon after the establishment of the Lady Hardinge Hospital for Wounded Indian Soldiers in c.1914 at what is now Tile Barn the facilities quickly became overcrowded. The hospital had tented and galvanized roofed buildings as patient accommodation and had commandeered Balmer Lawn and Forest Park Hotels.
Morant hall was set up to take some of these patients in an attempt to relieve some of the overcrowding treating the Indian troops of the Meerut and Lahore Divisions, who fought on the Western Front, and were patients at the Lady Hardinge Hospital. The hall became known as the Meerut Indian General Hospital and was managed by a committee of local citizens and could provide accommodation for up to 120. There is a Meerut Road in Brockenhurst in their memory.
When the Indian hospital was closed and moved elsewhere the main facilities were taken over by the No.1 New Zealand General Hospital and continued in use until 1919. Auckland Avenue and Auckland Place commemorate the stay of the New Zealanders. When these New Zealand troops arrived, in 1916, the Hall became a British Red Cross Auxiliary facility (also known as a Convalescent Depot) called Morant War Hospital.
Read more about the Lady Hardinge Hospital for Wounded Indian Soldiers: Here