A Country At War 1942 - Mosquito's take to the skies
My father Andrew Oliver was involved in the development of the Mosquito. He worked in a factory in Wycombe and was an expert on glues. He attended top secret meetings at Salisbury Hall, near the De Havilland works, where the plane was designed.
Parts for the plane were made in many of the Wycombe factories. A great many women were employed as most of the young men were at war.
Bomber Harris ordered Dad to inspect every plane which came down in England. He used Harris's private plane to fly to the crash sites to see if the accident was due to a failure in the glue, but it never was!
Rosemary Mortham nee Oliver
More Information on the Mosquito and Andrew Oliver
The Navy
Lord Louis Mountbatten (1900 - 1979)
Mountbatten was a British naval officer who oversaw the defeat of the Japanese offensive towards India during World War Two. He was appointed the last Viceroy of British India and first Governor General of independent India.
I was a Naval Gunner on an escort oiler, a Merchant Ship, supposedly disguised to look like a tanker. We survived heavy fire around Sicily, but were torpedoed while sailing on to Greece. Thank God, the fuel and ammunition did not catch fire. We abandoned ship, but were able to get back on board and managed to limp into Tobruck.
Brian Panter
Rationing
My first memory is of the air raid siren and being in the Anderson shelter in the garden. This seemed quite normal at the time and I wasn't at all frightened of the bombs. My mum told me later that we had lots of narrow escapes. My gran was bombed out of her West Ealing home.
I liked powdered egg more than real ones, and I liked Spam, although I never liked meat. My first taste of a banana was a real disappointment. I didn't seem to like fruit at all.
Rita Probert
The Black Market
Harry was coming home one dark night with a black market side of pork in the boot of his car, when he spotted the local policeman behind him. He was rather worried but continued home, hoping that nothing would happen. Unfortunately the police car followed down his drive and Harry got out in fear and trepidation. The policeman then said, "Harry, did you realize that one of your rear lights is not working" ...Phew!
Dad had a very sweet tooth and decided to keep bees during the war. An allocation of sugar was made to keep them alive during the winter. Dad made two hives, and put bees in one. When the inspector came it was a hot day and bees were flying about everywhere. He was satisfied that we had two hives of bees and we received a double ration.
Rosemary Mortham
The Special Operations Executive.
We went on holiday to our relative's farm near the Suffolk coast but we were not allowed to go to the sea. There were rumours that some of the farm workers had rifles and dugouts to defend against invasion. The outside toilet was stuffed with ammunition. I now think that they were part of the S.O.E.
John Mortham
Major General Sir Colin McVean Gubbins KCMG, DSO, MC.
Founder & First Commander of The S. O. E., lived at White House Farm, Kiln Lane, Lacey Green.
Born: 12.07.1896 Shiba, Tokyo, Japan
Parents: Younger son and third child of John Harington Gubbins, CMG (1852-1929), Oriental Secretary at the British Legation and Helen Brodie McVean (1869-1922)
Educated: Normanton Grammar School, Yorkshire; Cheltenham College; Royal Military Academy, Woolwich; Staff College (pac)
Died: 11.02.1976 Stornoway, Hebrides
Commissioned: 16.09.1914 [Army No. 14618] Royal Field Artillery
Bevin Boys
At 18, I was conscripted, and I was one of the boys selected to become a Bevin Boy, and work in the pits, even though I was already working in a reserved occupation. I was trained at Creswell where the famous Colliery Band practiced. I was underground for 4 years and ended up at Langley Mill where I met my wife.
I knew no one and it was a great change from what I had been used to. Jimmy Savile and Eric Morcambe were also Bevin Boys.
Ted Janes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Bevin Boys receiving training from an experienced miner at Ollerton, Nottinghamshire - February 1945
Bevin Boys were young British men conscripted to work in the coal mines of the United Kingdom, from December 1943 until 1948. Chosen at random from conscripts but also including volunteers, nearly 48,000 Bevin Boys performed vital but largely unrecognized service in the mines, many of them not released from service until years after the Second World War ended. Ten percent of those conscripted aged 18-25 were selected for this service.
The Back-Room Girls
I joined up at seventeen and a half as a Wren and worked as a topographer. Unknown to me I was working on Sword Beach when the invasion occurred. After that, I was sent to Ceylon, and worked for Mountbatten on the proposed invasion of the Malaysian coast. Unfortunately, Intelligence failed to realize that the area contained quicksand, and the attempted invasion failed.
On August 15th 1945, the Americans dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and thus, ended the war. Our homecoming ship collected all the poor men from Changi jail. They were a pathetic sight which I shall never forget. Some died on the journey home.
Pam Lidgeley.
Factory Girls
At the beginning of the war, I decided that, rather than being told what to do; I would seek work at the factory near where I lived. I was sent to Marchwood for training in engineering.
At first I was put on a bench where we put brass ferules into tank gearboxes. Then I fitted tappets, and later, oil seals, into Merlin engines.
We were near Birmingham but there were only occasional bombs. However we lived on a hill and could see all the fires around.
Trudy Saunders
The Land Army
Mucking in, the Women's Land Army had a rather soft 'girls' school' reputation at first, but it soon turned out to be one of the hardest jobs open to women. The working week was 50 hours - and much more at harvest time.
I was one of 24 Land Girls who were billeted at Wardrobes. The owners were not there, but we had a Warden to look after us. She was strict, and gentlemen callers were not allowed in the house. We had reasonable food, but only the amounts allowed by rationing. There were two uniforms, one for work, with no tie. The other was just for best, and this was worn to the dances at the Village Hall where the band was run by Jack Parnell, the son of the famous Val Parnell.
We went out in groups of six on lorries to nearby farms. I well remember threshing with a threshing machine. When we wanted a rest, we used to detach the belt, and it would take a few minutes to get it put on again. It was hard work and eventually I injured myself and had to be sent home. I was then sent to work on Lancaster bombers.
Joan Cooke aged 91.
Social Life
I had just left school. A gang of us girls used to go to the dances at the Liberal Club and the Town Hall in Wycombe. There was never any shortage of partners as Wycombe was a garrison town. My friend's mother worked for the YMCA, so we always knew when new men were arriving. I was having a wonderful time!
We also went swimming at Bourne End, and I often went to the theatre in London to see all the great stars like Noel Coward. I was never worried by the bombs.
When the docks were hit, the flames lit up the night sky, and could be seen from Wycombe.
Joyce Delnevo.
Home Guard
"A" Company Bucks Battalion, Home Guard
In 1940, 55 men and 3 women were recruited from Lacy Green, Loosley Row, Great Hampden, Speen and Bryants Bottom. The Pink and Lily was the headquarters where the landlord, Captain Fairbrother, became CO.
Doug Tilbury
More about this...
The Lancaster Bomber
On the night of Friday July 7/8 1944, I was in a Lancaster bomber over France. It was on our third run that we were hit and set on fire. Our pilot gave the order to abandon the aircraft. It was my responsibility to open the escape hatch and I well remember thinking that I mustn't waste time and hold up the rest of the crew. Eventually five of us got out, but sadly, two did not make it.
I don't know how much height we had lost before I bailed out. Fortunately we must still have been fairly high because when I pulled my rip cord the handle came away in my hand. However, there was still enough height to permit me to "thread out" the chute by hand. I landed safely on the side of a bomb crater at the edge of an aerodrome.
Michael Cockrean
P.O.W's.
In the past, Norduck Farm was part of the Aston Abbotts Abbey estate. During the second world war, a number of nissen huts were built along the drive leading to the farm, and these were used as accommodation for members of the Czechoslovak government-in-exile and Czechoslovak troops.
Camp at Norduck farm, Aston Abotts. The farm was first occupied by part of the Czech government-in-exile housed in Nissan huts which subsequently needed renovation. Meanwhile the tented camp seen here in 1945-6 was in use by German prisoners.
Mary Mountain (Wingrave WI)
Friend or foe? Italian POWs were a common sight on farms in the West Country, as were evacuee children from London. It was no surprise that these two groups, both far from home, found a way to make friends.
John West born 1937 at Stocken Farm.
During WW2 every spare room at Stocken Farm was taken by Bomber Command for officers and their families, but also John's mother's father (Grandad Crook) and Harry Floyd, who came temporarily to recuperate from bronchitis. Both were still with them thirty years later.
John got friendly with the prisoners of war who worked on the farm. They begged worn out hessian sacks to make rope shoes to sell, for they were not given money. The bread they brought for their lunch was often green with mould. They longed for crusty bread from the bake-house. John secretly bought bread for them with the cash they made.
They lived in a building at the bottom of Smalldean Lane. Others working in Highwood Bottom.
[Italians} cooked wonderful chips and gave some to John in exchange for a football. They all liked to work overtime for then the farm provided a packed tea.
Coventry
I lived in Coventry in World War Two when I was aged 11 to 16. Our family first lived one mile west of the centre near my Dad's workplace at the respected Europe wide leading engineering firm of Alfred Herbert Ltd. We we were in danger of being bombed.
We then moved to Hen Lane on the Northern outskirts of Coventry, fronting the countryside. From there, I and my four siblings were evacuated in 1939. We all lived at different addresses but my Dad used to walk seven to eight miles from our home every weekend to see us.
I was apprenticed to A.C.Wickman Ltd. on the extreme western edge of Coventry.
Norman Tyler
B-17 Flying Fortress
On the morning of the 13th November 1943 I was standing on the platform of Risborough station waiting for the train to Thame with three or four school friends when we saw a B17 (flying fortress) in trouble.
It was trailing smoke and was on fire. Losing height rapidly and looking as if it would crash in the middle of the village, it increased the power of its remaining engines and gained a little height, banked hard to starboard and crashed in a field next to Thame railway, one field south of the Bledlow road. A spectacular explosion and firework display of tracer ammunition followed.
The pilot was killed in the crash and the plane was completely destroyed. The remainder of the crew had bailed out towards Haddenham.
Ronald Goodearl
B-17 Flying Fortress G-BEDF Sally B is the last remaining airworthy B-17 in Europe. She is based in the UK from where she flies regularly at air shows, memorial flypasts and commemorative events as a memorial to the USAAF in Europe. Since 1982, Sally B has been operated by Elly Sallingboe of B-17 Preservation with the help of a dedicated team of volunteers and the backing of one of the largest supporters clubs of its kind in the world - the Sally B Supporters Club. Sally B is maintained by Chief Engineer Peter Brown and his team of volunteers, and flown by volunteer experienced professional pilots.
Army - Monte Cassino: Italian Bloodbath
Edward had been in the Territorial Army so he was in the war from the very beginning. He became a Sergeant in the British Army. His group was making their way up through Italy, fighting as they went. There was a Long and bloody battle at Monte Cassino with a huge loss of life to capture the high ground. Edward was injured, and his great friend was blown up right in front of him. This severely affected him, and he was never the same again.
Eileen Thomas
The Battle of Monte Cassino was one of the toughest battles fought in Western Europe in World War II, and still one of the most controversial. The allies were fighting their way up from southern Italy towards Rome, and the monastery of Monte Cassino stood at the strongest point of a powerful German defensive line.
The battle for Monte Cassino was one of the most devastating of World War Two. The battle took four months, and by one estimate it left a quarter of a million dead or wounded. Matthew Parker, the author of a recent book on the battle, writes "Only the bloodbaths of Verdun and Passchendaele, or the very worst of the Second World War fighting on the Eastern Front, can compare to Monte Cassino."
Doodle-Bugs
David Hunt, of the Oxon & Bucks Light Infantry Cadet Force, Risborough Unit, guards a 'doodle-bug' or V-1 bomb which landed harmlessly on Kimblewick Farm. 1945.
I had just started Secondary School when my whole school was evacuated from London to Northampton. A year later, when the blitz started, my mother took me to Wales and I started at the Welsh speaking village school. At the end of that year, we returned to London, just in time for the doodle-bugs! My education ended just as the war finished.
Doreen de Grey
Victory Europe (V.E.) Day
Celebrated on the 8th May 1945. Princess Elizabeth and her sister join the King and Queen on the balcony at Buckingham Palace to share the jubilation of the people at the news of the surrender of Germany the day before, after nearly six years warfare.
On V. E. Day, I remember being in front of Buckingham Palace, sitting on Dad's shoulders, and seeing the King and Queen and the two Princesses on the balcony. They were later joined by Winston Churchill. I was afraid of the crowds of people cheering, although bombs and air raids had seemed normal to me!
Rita Probert.
Men of Lacey Green Parish who gave their lives in the Second World War, 1939-45.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Thomas Hugh Young Caldwell.
Lieutenant 193211.
Royal Engineers attd. King George V's Own Bengal Sappers and Miners,
died 10.10.1942, aged 29.
Rawalpindi War Cemetery, Pakistan. (Grave Reference 1 E 13.)
Son of James and Blanche Brunhilde Caldwell.
Memorial window, St. Mary Magdalene Church, Great Hampden, Buckinghamshire.
Reginald Bob Dell.
Pvt 5387187.
2nd Oxford and Bucks Lt Infantry,
died 2.2.1945, aged 27.
St. John's Churchyard, Lacey Green, Buckinghamshire.
William Bernard Frederick.
S/Ldr, 10091.
RAF
died 2.3.1941. Aged 54.
St. John's Churchyard, Lacey Green, Buckinghamshire.
Albert Victor Greenmon.
Senior Second Engineer Officer,
Merchant Navy,
died 16.12.1944, aged 39.
Lost at sea. (M.V, Regent Lion (London))
Commemoration Panel 86, Tower Hill Memorial, London.
Reginald Charles Jordan.
Gp. Captain.
126 Sqd. RAF,
died 23.6.1943, aged 36.
Malta Memoriai, Panel S, Malta.
Husband of Anne Longheed Jordan, South Kensington, London.
Son of Robert and Alice Jordan.
Frank William Lacey.
Gunner 1718256.
327 Btt. 79th Lt. AA Regt. Royal Artillery,
died 10.5.1944 aged 35.
Cassino War Cemetery, Italy. (Grave Reference II E 21.)
Aubrey Clifford Rixon.
L/Cpl 539276.
1st. Bn. Gordon Highlanders,
died 27.2.1945, aged 22.
Lacey Green Methodist Church Cemetery, Buckinghamshire.
Harold Stevens.
Pvt 6094979
2/6th Bn. Queens Royal Regt. West Surrey,
died 17.1.1944, aged 26.
Minturno Cemetery, Italy, (Grave Reference VII K 24.)
Lucian Dennis Julian Watson.
L/Cpl 2193322.
59th Field Comp. Royal Engineers,
died 16.5.1944, aged 25.
Cassino War Cemetery, Italy. (Grave Reference XIV G 14.)
