In January 1909, the Leeds University contingent of the Officers' Training Corps was formally raised in response to the recommendations of the committee formed by Lord Haldane. The contingent was initially based at Woodhouse Lodge. During the First World War some 1,596 officers were recruited from Leeds University: of these some 328 were killed. The contingent received an inspection by King George V on 27 September 1915. Captain David Hirsch, a former member of the contingent, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions on the Western Front during the First World War.