From early times the Commons have been a place for assemblies, military reviews, parades, manoeuvres and other military activities.
By order of the Lord of the Manor the inhabitants of 16th century Wimbledon were required to arm themselves with bows and arrows and to practice archery on the Commons. They could be fined 20 shillings if they neglected to set up or renew the archery butts.
In 1648, the year before King Charles 1 was executed, 3,000 Surrey men mustered on the Commons, led by a miller from Wandsworth, to petition Parliament to restore to the King his due honour and rights. They marched to London Bridge (the only bridge across the Thames in or near London) and then to Whitehall. There they were met by Cromwellian troops who killed the miller and some of his followers.
As far back as 1684, Charles II came to Putney Heath to inspect his troops. King George III came to Wimbledon several times to review troops on Wimbledon Common. These reviews included The Guards in 1767, The London and Westminster Volunteer Cavalry in 1797, the 2nd Regiment of The Life Guards in 1798 and in 1799 The Light Horse Volunteers and The Surrey Volunteers.
In 1797 England was at war with France and there was a threat of invasion. Volunteer forces were raised for the defence of the Country and in Wimbledon two bodies of troops were raised: a regiment of infantry and a squadron of cavalry. By 1799, when the Surrey Volunteers were reviewed by George III, they numbered 1,958 infantry and 676 cavalry. In 1891 the Emperor of Germany, Kaiser Wilhelm II, inspected 22,000 troops on Wimbledon Common of whom 16,000 were volunteers.
n 1808 Sir William Congreve, who lived at No.1 The Green, carried out tests of his military rockets on Wimbledon Common. We do not know the size of rocket tested but he did produce them in weights up to 300 lb. They were used in a number of military actions including the war of 1812, Between Britain and the U.S.A. when they were fired against Fort McHenry in Baltimore. Their effect is commemorated in the American national anthem which refers to "the rockets' red glare".
In 1907 the aircraft pioneer A.V. Roe built his first full sized aircraft, Roe 1, at 47 West Hill, Wandsworth and flew it on Putney Heath in the early hours of the morning, without the Conservators' permission. Passat's Ornithopter, which had been built in a field in Durham Road, was tested on Wimbledon Common in 1912 but it is not known if it ever left the ground. It seems unlikely because later that year it appeared again but this time with a fixed wing and propeller rather than the original flapping wings.
During the 1914-18 war an area of land alongside Windmill Road, from Parkside to the Windmill, was cleared and used as a fighter station for the defence of London.
In both wars the Commons were intensively used by the army. Camps were set up for training, as transit camps and for manning defences. In the 1914-18 war the Commons played an important part in the training and temporary housing of troops before they were sent overseas.
n the 1939-45 war, trenches were dug as defensive positions and as barriers to enemy aircraft or gliders landing. An ammunition dump was concealed in the trees by Queensmere and barbed wire marked the boundaries of an army camp near the windmill where heavy guns were sited for anti-aircraft use. The gravel pits and sand dunes became marked with the tracks of Bren gun carriers and an assault course was set up by Rushmere pond. Corn and vegetables were grown near West Place and these were tended by Italian prisoners of war who were housed in a camp on Southside.
In 1940 a volunteer force was again raised for the defence of the Country. At first known as the Local Defence Volunteers they later became the Home Guard and parades and manoeuvres were frequently held on the Commons.