Editing Hampshire (section)

===Modern era===
Hampshire played a crucial role in both World Wars due to the large [[Royal Navy]] [[HMNB Portsmouth|naval base]] at Portsmouth, the army camp at [[Aldershot]], and the military [[Netley Hospital]] on Southampton Water, as well as its proximity to the army training ranges on [[Salisbury Plain]] and the [[Isle of Purbeck]]. [[Supermarine]], the designers of the [[Supermarine Spitfire|Spitfire]] and other military aircraft, were based in Southampton, which led to severe bombing of the city in [[World War II]]. Aldershot remains one of the [[British Army]]'s main permanent camps. [[Farnborough, Hampshire|Farnborough]] is a major centre for the aviation industry.

During World War II, the [[Beaulieu, Hampshire|Beaulieu]] estate of Lord Montagu in the New Forest was the site of several group B finishing schools for agents<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/soe_training_01.shtml |title=Training SOE Saboteurs in World War Two |last=Ross |first=Bernie |date=17 February 2011 |website=BBC |access-date=21 December 2019 |archive-date=22 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222151408/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/soe_training_01.shtml |url-status=live}}</ref> operated by the [[Special Operations Executive]] (SOE) between 1941 and 1945. (One of the trainers was [[Kim Philby]] who was later found to be part of a spy ring passing information to the Soviets.) In 2005, a special exhibition was established at the Estate, with a video showing photographs from that era as well as voice recordings of former SOE trainers and agents.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/hampshire/4349121.stm |title=Wartime school for spies revealed |website=BBC News |date=15 March 2005 |access-date=7 September 2019 |archive-date=18 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200118124016/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/hampshire/4349121.stm |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Lett2016">{{cite book |last=Lett |first=Brian |title=SOE's Mastermind: The Authorised Biography of Major General Sir Colin Gubbins KCMG, DSO, MC |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3JO0DAAAQBAJ&pg=PT155 |date=30 September 2016 |publisher=Pen and Sword |isbn=978-1-4738-6382-8 |page=155 |access-date=18 January 2020 |archive-date=28 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210528114241/https://books.google.com/books?id=3JO0DAAAQBAJ&pg=PT155 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Although the [[Isle of Wight]] has at times been part of Hampshire, it has been administratively independent for over a century, obtaining a [[county council]] of its own in 1890. The Isle of Wight became a full [[ceremonial counties of England|ceremonial county]] in 1974. Apart from a shared [[Hampshire Constabulary|police force]], no formal administrative links now exist between the Isle of Wight and Hampshire, though many organisations still combine Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

In the 1970s, local government reorganisation led to a reduction in Hampshire's size; in 1974, the towns of [[Bournemouth]] and [[Christchurch, Dorset|Christchurch]] were transferred to [[Dorset]].<ref name=lga1972>{{cite book |title=Local Government Act 1972. 1972 c.70 |publisher=The Stationery Office Ltd |isbn=0-10-547072-4 |year=1997}}</ref>