Shortly after the first Blitzkreig strike on 10 May 1940, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was in disorganised withdrawal before the tide of German Panzers, and Operation Dynamo jolted into action. A 60 mile escape corridor was organised to buy time for the BEF to evacuate from Dunkirk. The 1st Buckinghamshire Battalion and the 4th Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, the TA Battalions of 145 Brigade, were deployed to fight rearguard actions at Hazebrouck and Cassel, two of a number of strongpoint hubs on the corridor’s south-west perimeter.
The heroic last stands of the two battalions between 25 and 29 May won priceless extra time for the evacuating forces, but both battalions were decimated in the process. Of the 1st Bucks, overrun at Hazebrouck, 340 officers and men were captured and became prisoners of war. 56 men were killed in the defence of Hazebrouck, with less than half the battalion’s strength returning home via Dunkirk.
Surrounded and heavily bombed at Cassel, the 4th Oxfords lost half the battalion. 21 officers and over 180 men became prisoners of war, of whom 20 were to die in captivity.
Bringing Belsen Back to Banbury: Tony Ginger’s Photobook By Harri Flynn Enclosed within one of the museum’s display pods is a photobook created by a soldier involved in the liberation of Bergen-Belsen. Many visitors may never see this item as the topic of the pod diverges from the tone across the rest of the museum. And yet, for those that do enter, the photobook forms a central part of the…
Evacuee’s Coat from our Oxfordshire’s Military Heritage in 50 Objects Exhibition By Geraldine Howell Object photography by Colin Morris Philip Williams’ woollen, fully-lined children’s coat would certainly have satisfied the requirement for evacuees to take with them a warm winter coat as they moved from their homes to safer locations elsewhere, often in the countryside. This smart, yet also sensible and practical design, very much reflected the type of coat…
