Blog
Oxfordshire D-Day Stories: Abingdon's D-Day Four - Guest Blog with Steve King
In this guest blog from Abingdon historian Steve King, he tells the story of four of the town’s D-Day heroes – at least one of whom will be instantly familiar to regular visitors and readers of the blog! Abingdon’s D-Day Four Steve King 3 June 1944 (D -2) The greatest invasion force the world had ever seen has assembled along the south coast of England, from Cornwall to…
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Oxfordshire D-Day Stories: L/Cpl. Fred Greenhalgh - the first casualty of D-Day?
The First Fatality of D-Day? While Lt. Den Brotheridge, taking part in the capture of Pegasus Bridge, is considered to be the first allied soldier killed in action, L/Cpl Fred Greenhalgh (3449663) was possibly the first fatal casualty of D-Day on 6th June 1944. Who was he and how did it happen? Fred was born in 1915 in Chorlton, Lancs, the son of Sam & Lily Greenhalgh. The Greenhalgh’s…
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Oxfordshire D-Day Stories: Lt. Colonel John Granville
Johnny Granville joined the 2nd Battalion of the Regiment as a Second Lieutenant in August 1936, when the Battalion was in India. He quickly made his mark as an instructor and as a polo player in the regimental team, as well as a fine shot. Posted home early in 1940 he was appointed Adjutant of 7th. Battalion of the Regiment as it was formed in Aldershot. As the Battalion expanded…
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Colonel John Granville 2nd Battalion Medal Donation for D-Day 80th.
To help us mark D-Day 80th we are enormously grateful to the Granville family for the donation of John Granville’s medals. LIEUTENANT COLONEL JOHN GRANVILLE OXFORDSHIRE AND BUCKINGHAMSHIRE LIGHT INFANTRY 1913 – 1984. Johnny Granville joined the 2nd Battalion of the Regiment as a Second Lieutenant in August 1936, when the Battalion was in India. He quickly made his mark as an instructor and as a polo player in the…
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10 Years of SOFO: Join us for our Armed Forces Day Garden Party!
Armed Forces Day Garden Party Saturday 22 June 2024 12pm – 8.30pm Join us to mark Armed Forces Day and celebrate 10 years of Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum! On Saturday 22 June we’ll be holding a Garden Party in the beautiful gardens of The Oxfordshire Museum, just outside our front door! Our museum galleries, including our recently updated permanent galleries and our trio of brand new temporary exhibitions, Oxfordshire to…
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Women of the WAAF - Joan Woodruff
Our thanks to RAF Benson for providing this article and photographs. Women of the WAAF: Joan Woodruff (née Heraghty) Joan Heraghty was born on 4 November 1923 and originally came from Goldthorpe, a few miles away from Doncaster in South Yorkshire. At eighteen years of age she decided to join the Woman’s Auxiliary Air Force. After her days of learning to march and learning about the Royal Air Force (square…
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Women of the ATA - Freydis Mary Sharland
Women of the Air Transport Auxiliary – Freydis Mary Sharland Thanks to RAF Benson for providing us with this article Between 1939 and 1945, more than 1,300 ATA pilots delivered warplanes between factories, facilities and bases across Britain, and, later, into mainland Europe and the Mediterranean. In January 1940, the ATA’s first eight female pilots were recruited, and, based at what had been the De Havilland airfield at Hatfield in…
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A remarkable story of kindness during wartime forms new display at the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum for Holocaust Memorial Day 2024
Naomi & Arthur: Letters from Liberation A new permanent exhibition opens on 27th January 2024 at the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum, tells a story of how a small act of kindness can have a life-changing impact. It will focus on two people from different worlds – Arthur Tyler, a soldier with the Oxfordshire Yeomanry, and Naomi Kaplan, a Polish Jew who survived both Auschwitz-Birkenau and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps. When the…
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The Attack on Monte Camino 1943 (80th Anniversary)
The Attack on Monte Camino 1943 (80th Anniversary) Of course 11 November 2013 marks 105 years since the signing of the Armistice in 1918, but it also marks 80 years since 7th Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry were engaged in the Attack on Monte Camino during the often-overlooked Italian Campaign of the Second World War. The following entries from the Regimental War Chronicle record the events leading up to…
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Man Behind the Medals: Frank Kirby VC
The Man Behind the Medals In this blog series, SOFO Museum’s Research volunteers look at the stories behind some of the medal sets in the museum’s collection, from those that can be seen on a visit in our dedicated Medals display, to some of those that are still tucked away in the archive. This is our third VC special, looking instead at men named on our new Oxfordshire Gallantry Board,…
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MBTM Blog - The Real Charles Bourne Part 2
The Men Behind the Medals: The Real Charles Bourne – Part 2 With our new exhibition, Into Battle: The Art of British War Comics, opening recently this special installment of the Men Behind the Medals blog continues the story of a real Private Charles Bourne, serving with 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry during the First World War. If you’ve not read Part 1, you can find it here. One…
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MBTM Blog: The Real Charles Bourne Part 1
The Men Behind the Medals: The Real Charles Bourne – Part 1 With our new exhibition, Into Battle: The Art of British War Comics, opening recently this special installment of the Men Behind the Medals blog looks at the service of Private Charles Bourne. One of the comics which features heavily in the new exhibition is Charley’s War by Pat Mills and Joe Colquhoun. Originally published in Battle Picture Weekly…
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The Man Behind the Medals: Alfred Wilcox VC
The Man Behind the Medals In this blog series, SOFO Museum’s Research volunteers look at the stories behind some of the medal sets in the museum’s collection, from those that can be seen on a visit in our dedicated Medals display, to some of those that are still tucked away in the archive. While medals will tell you a little bit about a soldier’s service, it’s only with further research…
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Unveiling the New Oxfordshire Gallantry Board
New Oxfordshire Gallantry Board to commemorate the county’s military and civilian heroes On 22 October 2023 we open a brand new permanent display to celebrate some of the county’s most remarkable heroes – the 31 men who have been awarded the Victoria Cross, the George Cross, or the Edward and Albert medals that preceded its institution. We always aim to excite the curiosity of visitors through the diverse…
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The Man Behind the Medals: Frederick Augustus Smith VC
The Man Behind the Medals In this blog series, SOFO Museum’s Research volunteers look at the stories behind some of the medal sets in the museum’s collection, from those that can be seen on a visit in our dedicated Medals display, to some of those that are still tucked away in the archive. While medals will tell you a little bit about a soldier’s service, it’s only with further research…
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Join us at one of the regular Veterans' coffee mornings at Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum
Veterans’ Coffee & Chat We’re starting a new, regular veterans’ coffee morning at the museum. Starting on Thursday 28 September the event will become a bi-monthly fixture, with future dates falling on the final Thursday of every other month. Open to all veterans, they’ll offer an opportunity to meet up and catch up with fellow veterans as well as a chance to browse the museum galleries free of charge. With…
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The Man Behind the Medals: Colour Sergeant Thomas McManus
The Man Behind the Medals In this blog series, SOFO Museum’s Research volunteers look at the stories behind some of the medal sets in the museum’s collection, from those that can be seen on a visit in our dedicated Medals display, to some of those that are still tucked away in the archive. While medals will tell you a little bit about a soldier’s service, it’s only with further research…
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Join us for our Armed Forces Day celebration on 1st July 2023
Join us for our Armed Forces Day celebration on 1st July 2023! Serving Armed Forces, Veterans and Cadets can visit FREE One week on from National Armed Forces Day, we’re inviting members of the Armed Forces community to come and enjoy the museum, a range of events, and our Women and War exhibition, FREE! Alongside our permanent exhibitions, covering the history of the county regiments and many other aspects of…
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Share your story at our Their Finest Hour Second World War Collections Day
Their Finest Hour Second World War Digital Collections Day at Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum Join us at SOFO Museum to share your Second World War stories, photos and items on the 1st April 2023 – we’ll record your stories and photograph your objects to add to the Their Finest Hour online archive. The museum will open to visitors free of charge throughout the day and will be hosting a range of…
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A Brief History of Cowley Barracks
A Brief History of Cowley Barracks Cowley Barracks was the spiritual home of the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and its antecedent regiments from 1876. Under the Localisation Scheme introduced in 1873, the British Isles were divided into sixty-six Sub- districts. For recruiting and recruit training purposes, two regular infantry battalions were allocated to each Sub-district, where a ‘brigade depot’ was established to house their depot companies. Previously, the depot…
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The Man Behind the Medals: Sgt Henry Neill of the 43rd
The Man Behind the Medals In this blog series, SOFO Museum’s Research volunteers look at the stories behind some of the medal sets in the museum’s collection, from those that can be seen on a visit in our dedicated Medals display to some of those that are still tucked away in the archive. While medals will tell you a little bit about a soldier’s service, it’s only with further research that their…
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The Man Behind the Medals: Lt. Vivian Edward Fanning
The Man Behind the Medals In this blog series, SOFO Museum’s Research volunteers look at the stories behind some of the medal sets in the museum’s collection, from those that can be seen on a visit in our dedicated Medals display to some of those that are still tucked away in the archive. While medals will tell you a little bit about a soldier’s service, it’s only with further research that their…
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New Volunteer Opportunities at SOFO Museum
New Volunteer Opportunities at SOFO Do you enjoy telling the stories about the museum’s collection? Are you someone who enjoys being hands-on and getting stuck into events? The museum is on the lookout for Engagement Volunteers to support the museum to engage visitors from all ages. Become an Engagement Volunteer! About the Role We are looking for Engagement Volunteers to support the museum in engaging visitors of all ages. For…
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The Man Behind the Medals: Reverend Edward Montmorency Guilford MC
The Man Behind the Medals In this blog series, SOFO Museum’s Research volunteers look at the stories behind some of the medal sets in the museum’s collection, from the awards that can be seen on a visit in our dedicated Medals display to some of those that are still tucked away in our archive. Our volunteers have been supported by the Royal Army Chaplains’ Museum in this special edition of the blog looking…
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The Man Behind the Medals: CSM 5373227 Cecil Bailey, DCM
The Man Behind the Medals In this blog series, SOFO Museum’s Research volunteers look at the stories behind some of the medal sets in the museum’s collection, from those that can be seen on a visit in our dedicated Medals display to some of those that are still tucked away in the archive. While medals will tell you a little bit about a soldier’s service, it’s only with further research that their…
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Major (retired) Tom Shannon TD
Major (retired) Tom Shannon TD We are very sad to have to record here the death of Tom Shannon on August 13th – a most effective, painstaking, determined and enthusiastic trustee of the Museum. He fought a valiant battle against cancer over the last 6 months of his life but never lost his sense of humour or his positive outlook on life. Many of his museum colleagues will smile at…
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The Man Behind the Medals: Private 5374551 Louis Norman Wallington MM
The Man Behind the Medals In this blog series, SOFO Museum’s Research volunteers look at the stories behind some of the medal sets in the museum’s collection, from those that can be seen on a visit in our dedicated Medals display to some of those that are still tucked away in the archive. While medals will tell you a little bit about a soldier’s service, it’s only with further research that their…
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The Man Behind the Medals: Corporal Edward T Bowles
The Man Behind the Medals In this blog series, SOFO Museum’s Research volunteers look at the stories behind some of the medal sets in the museum’s collection, from those that can be seen on a visit in our dedicated Medals display to some of those that are still tucked away in the archive. While medals will tell you a little bit about a soldier’s service, it’s only with further research that their…
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The Man Behind the Medals: Sergeant George Turk
The Man Behind the Medals In this blog series, SOFO Museum’s Research volunteers look at the stories behind some of the medal sets in the museum’s collection, from those that can be seen on a visit in our dedicated Medals display to some of those that are still tucked away in the archive. While medals will tell you a little bit about a soldier’s service, it’s only with further research that their…
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The Man Behind the Medals: Alfred Wilcox VC
The Man Behind the Medals In this blog series, SOFO Museum’s Research volunteers look at the stories behind some of the medal sets in the museum’s collection, from those that can be seen on a visit in our dedicated Medals display to some of those that are still tucked away in the archive. As this week’s blog fell on the anniversary of the action that saw Alfred Wilcox awarded the Victoria Cross…
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The Man Behind the Medals: Colour Sgt Alfred James Durn
The Man Behind the Medals In this blog series, SOFO Museum’s Research volunteers look at the stories behind some of the medal sets in the museum’s collection, from those that can be seen on a visit in our dedicated Medals display to some of those that are still tucked away in the archive. While medals will tell you a little bit about a soldier’s service, it’s only with further research that their…
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The Man Behind the Medals: CQMS Thomas Mallin
The Man Behind the Medals In this blog series, SOFO Museum’s Research volunteers look at the stories behind some of the medal sets in the museum’s collection, from those that can be seen on a visit in our dedicated Medals display to some of those that are still tucked away in the archive. While medals will tell you a little bit about a soldier’s service, it’s only with further research that their…
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The Man Behind the Medals: Major John Windham Meade
The Man Behind the Medals In this blog series, SOFO Museum’s Research volunteers look at the stories behind some of the medal sets in the museum’s collection, from those that can be seen on a visit in our dedicated Medals display to some of those that are still tucked away in the archive. While medals will tell you a little bit about a soldier’s service, it’s only with further research that their…
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SOFO Summer Shelter Competition
SOFO Summer Shelter Competition! To celebrate our recently opened Anderson Shelter display (built with the support of our wonderful Crowdfunder backers!) we’re running a special competition this Summer – show us your own home-made air-raid shelters and we’ll award prizes to the best! Plus, we’ll feature submissions in an online gallery – so they’ll all be museum pieces! Here are a couple of examples of shelters crafted by the museum team’s…
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Winston Churchill, Blenheim Palace, and the Oxfordshire Yeomanry Connection
Winston Churchill, Blenheim Palace, and the Oxfordshire Yeomanry Connection Guest blog by Douglas S. Russell, author of Winston S. Churchill: Soldier, The Military Life of a Gentleman at War (2005) From the time of the first Duke of Marlborough (1650–1722) each succeeding generation of Spencers, Churchills, and Marlboroughs was active in the military service of Great Britain, and Blenheim Palace has been a part of that tradition. Each duke from the first in…
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The Queens Own Oxfordshire Hussars and Private Motor Cars
THE QUEEN’S OWN OXFORDSHIRE HUSSARS’ AND PRIVATE MOTOR CARS 1914-1915 The following excerpts, researched and compiled by Harry Staff, were all taken from The Oxfordshire Hussars in the Great War by Adrian Keith-Falconer (KF), and touch on the way private motorcars were brought over to France and used by officers for much of the war. KF was an officer who served with the Queens Own Oxfordshire Hussars/Oxfordshire Yeomanry during the…
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The Man Behind the Medals: Private Timothy Bright, 43rd Regt of Light Infantry
The Man Behind the Medals In this blog series, SOFO Museum’s Research volunteers look at the stories behind some of the medal sets in the museum’s collection, from those that can be seen on a visit in our dedicated Medals display to some of those that are still tucked away in the archive. While medals will tell you a little bit about a soldier’s service, it’s only with further research that their…
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The Man Behind the Medals: Private Henry Hobbs
The Man Behind the Medals In this blog series, SOFO Museum’s Research volunteers look at the stories behind some of the medal sets in the museum’s collection, from those that can be seen on a visit in our dedicated Medals display to some of those that are still tucked away in the archive. While medals will tell you a little bit about a soldier’s service, it’s only with further research that their…
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The Man Behind the Medals: Lt Charles Henry Wallington MC
The Man Behind the Medals In this blog series, SOFO Museum’s Research volunteers look at the stories behind some of the medal sets in the museum’s collection, from those that can be seen on a visit in our dedicated Medals display to some of those that are still tucked away in the archive. While medals will tell you a little bit about a soldier’s service, it’s only with further research that their…
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The Man Behind the Medals: Private William Basser, 43rd Foot
The Man Behind the Medals In this blog series, SOFO Museum’s Research volunteers look at the stories behind some of the medal sets in the museum’s collection, from those that can be seen on a visit in our dedicated Medals display to some of those that are still tucked away in the archive. While medals will tell you a little bit about a soldier’s service, it’s only with further research that their…
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The Man Behind the Medals: Private William John Watts
The Man Behind the Medals In this new blog series, SOFO Museum’s Research volunteers look at the stories behind some of the medal sets in the museum’s collection, from those that can be seen on a visit in our dedicated Medals display to some of those that are still tucked away in the archive. While medals will tell you a little bit about a soldier’s service, it’s only with further research that…
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Reflections of an Army Child
As part of our new exhibition, Children and Military Lives, we have invited contributors to share their stories of adventure, family and exile. 1944 to 1964 “I was born in the war you know” I say to my Grandchildren evoking a response from the older ones of “Which one Grandpa?” At which point I put them straight. I mention it to them as it begs further questioning from them about…
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The Oxfordshire military connection to a Suffolk tragedy, 1914
The Lowestoft Journal published an article on 29th March 2022 covering the story of a unique photographic collection with historical connections to a tragic drowning of a number of Sea Scouts that had “come home” to a local Air Scout troop that had won bidding when the photos went to auction. The tragic events of June 1, 1914 saw three Sea Scouts, their two Scout Masters and a naval instructor drown when…
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A look at our upcoming exhibition, Children and Military Lives
Children and Military Lives – Stories of Adventure, Family and Exile Exhibition – 2 June to 24 November 2022 The new exhibition will tell the stories of today’s service children (children of serving British Armed Forces personnel) and their experiences of living life in the military community, as well as stories of children who become victims of war, experiencing the effects of military conflict – from Second World War evacuees…
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Featured: The Great War POW Album and Pilot's Log Book of Lt. Frederick Matthews
Featured: The Great War POW Album and Pilot’s Log Book of Lt. Frederick Matthews Recently donated to the museum was an incredible collection of items relating to Frederick Matthews, often referred to as ‘Eric’, who served with the Queens Own Oxfordshire Hussars and later the Royal Flying Corps. Eric’s story is already featured in our Airpower display in the museum’s permanent exhibition space, alongside copies of images now part of…
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Military Life: A Child's Experience - Object Appeal
Military Life: A Child’s Experience – Appeal for Objects & Stories From June until November 2022, we have a new exhibition, Military Life: A Child’s Experience and one of the themes it will explore is what life is like for the children of serving military. We are covering the 1950’s up to present day and have lots of current material but very little that cover 1950-1990. If you have any…
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63RD (OXFORDSHIRE YEOMANRY) ANTI-TANK REGIMENT RA (TA)
OXFORDSHIRE YEOMANRY ‘QUEENS OWN OXFORDSHIRE HUSSARS’ 63RD (OXFORDSHIRE YEOMANRY) ANTI-TANK REGIMENT RA (TA) SECOND WORLD WAR 1939-1945 In 1938 the regiment was converted from its artillery role to that of an anti-tank unit and renamed the 53rd Anti-Tank Regiment Royal Artillery (TA) (Worcestershire and Oxfordshire Yeomanry), the 4.5-inch Howitzer guns were now replaced with two-pound anti-tank guns. The Oxfordshire Yeomanry had two batteries, 211 at Oxford and 212 at Banbury.…
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Welcome to Villa Patricia - Our Featured Object
One of our recent acquisitions is Villa Patricia, which was donated by a local couple in Woodstock. The doll’s house was commissioned by Dr Richard Blaiklock who served with the Hampshire Regiment as Regimental Medical Officer. He was sent overseas to Southern Italy in 1944 to assist local hospitals, and from there was sent into several prisoner of war camps to assess the prisoner’s medical needs. One of the camps…
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A Great War Great Escape - Captain Shaw and the Holzminden Escape Tunnel
An incredible story from the SOFO Museum Archives, Captain J Shaw’s account of how he became a Great War POW and his involvement in a number of escape attempts was originally published in three instalments in the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry’s Regimental Journal from September 1931 to January 1932. A few years later, in March 1939, the Journal would also publish a number of Shaw’s sketches of the tunnel which he…
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Osmond Bartle Wordsworth - The Missing Great War Officer Finally Identified
Osmond Bartle Wordsworth – An Unknown Officer killed during the Great War has now been identified as collateral descendent of poet William Wordsworth In late October, volunteers at the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock received good news after years of research that took them on a journey from a garden in Northern France to across the United Kingdom, Australia, The United States of America, Ireland, Canada -and back to the battlefields…
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Visiting the E H Shepard Archives
Visiting the E H Shepard Archives In September our Collections Manager Peggy visited the University of Surrey archives to see their E H Shepard archives, with a view to a potential exhibition at SOFO in 2023. The initial research follows the story of Shepard during his service with the Royal Artillery in the Great War, and explores the stories of other creatives who served in the Army. Peggy said of…
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Cavalry training manuals to go on display at SOFO
Cavalry training manuals to go on display at SOFOFour cavalry training manuals from the collection at Blenheim Palace are due to go on display at the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum, Woodstock in November 2021 including a copy of Field Service Regulations (1905) signed by Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough. These manuals offer an insight into the manoeuvres and training of cavalry regiments including the Queen’s Own Oxfordshire Hussars (QOOH),…
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When the Oxf and Bucks went “A Bridge Too Far” - 26th September 1944
On this day 26th September 1944 1ST AIRBORNE DIVISION – ARNHEM During the night 25th/26th the withdrawal, codenamed “Operation Berlin”, takes place under heavy German fire. Boats of the British and Canadian engineers ferry about 2500 men across the Rhine. ‘Market-Garden’ is over. Brigadier Lathbury (43rd) Commander 1st Parachute Brigade – Wounded & Evader. Major Haig (4th Bn & 52nd) Divisional Provost – Wounded twice & Evacuated. Major Wallis (4th Bn)…
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When the Oxf and Bucks went “A Bridge Too Far” - 25th September 1944
On this day 25th September 1944 1ST AIRBORNE DIVISION – ARNHEM The situation had become hopeless. A mere eleven percent of the supplies dropped by the Royal Air Force had fallen within the perimeter. The troops were exhausted by lack of food, water and sleep. There was very little ammunition. The crossing of the Polish Parachute Brigade which had dropped near Driel had become a failure due to a shortage of…
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When the Oxf and Bucks went “A Bridge Too Far” - 24th September 1944
On this day 24th September 1944 1ST AIRBORNE DIVISION – ARNHEM Since the formation of the Oosterbeek Perimeter, the 1st Airborne had accumulated an enormous quantity of wounded, both British and German, and by the morning of Sunday 24th September, the medical staff had approximately one thousand two hundred men in their care. On Sunday 24th, Colonel Graeme Warrack, the 1st Airborne Division’s senior medical officer, obtained permission to arrange a…
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When the Oxf and Bucks went “A Bridge Too Far” - 23rd September 1944
On this day 23rd September 1944 1ST AIRBORNE DIVISION – ARNHEM Everywhere now shows signs of the Germans sustained mortar and artillery bombardment. All the trees have had their branches blown off, and stripped of their foliage, and consequently movement around the area is like trying to move through a jungle. All the buildings are pockmarked, with their tiles and doors blown off. The whole perimeter area has shell craters every…
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When the Oxf and Bucks went “A Bridge Too Far” - 22nd September 1944
On this day 22nd September 1944 1ST AIRBORNE DIVISION – ARNHEM The first attempts to get the Polish paratroopers across the Lower Rhine into the Oosterbeek perimeter have not been completely successful, and only a few men are able to move into the northern part and assist in continuing to hold the positions. All troops are now dug-in, or have put buildings into a state of defence, and there is almost…
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When the Oxf and Bucks went “A Bridge Too Far” - 21st September 1944
On this day 21st September 1944 1ST AIRBORNE DIVISION – ARNHEM By 21st September 1944, the 1st Airborne Division’s perimeter is holding firm on all sides, but is under pressure from tanks and assault guns, supporting S.S. Panzer Grenadiers. They are backed up by ferocious barrages from mortars and artillery of all calibres from 20mm to 150mm. The artillery is around the Old Church near the Rhine. The eastern side…
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When the Oxf and Bucks went “A Bridge Too Far” - 20th September 1944
On this day 20th September 1944 1ST AIRBORNE DIVISION – ARNHEM Reinforced by around 1000 men of the 1st and 4th Parachute Brigades, the 2nd South Staffords and the 7th King’s Own Scottish Borderers, the horseshoe-shaped position (perimeter) is formed by the divisional troops, around 3600 men, little more than thirty percent of the troops which have landed. The force at the bridge had to give up and the Germans…
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When the Oxf and Bucks went “A Bridge Too Far” - 19th September 1944
On this day 19th September 1944 1ST AIRBORNE DIVISION – ARNHEM The attempts, in the town of Arnhem, to fight through to the British Force holding the northern end of the main road bridge had failed, and the survivors fell back to the little village of Oosterbeek. The units which had been defending the DZ’ s and LZ’s had now moved towards Oosterbeek as well, having been almost overrun trying…
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When the Oxf and Bucks went “A Bridge Too Far” - 18th September 1944
On this day 18th September 1944 – 1ST AIRBORNE DIVISION – ARNHEM German resistance on the first day was stronger than expected and only the 2nd Parachute Battalion, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel John Frost, got through to the main objective along with elements of other units. The Divisional Commander, Major General Urquhart, and Brigadier Lathbury were both missing, so command was now in the hands of Brigadier Hicks…
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When the Oxf and Bucks went “A Bridge Too Far” - 17th September 1944
On this day 17th September 1944 – 1st Airborne Division – Arnhem At 1 pm, 17 September 1944, the gliders carrying the 1st Airlanding Brigade, divisional staff, transport and guns land at Landing Zone ‘S’. They were preceded by the pathfinders who marked the Dropping Zones and Landing Zones with large letters and had contact with the tug planes with radio beacons. One hour after the gliders landed the 1st…
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When the Oxf and Bucks went “A Bridge Too Far”
When the Oxf and Bucks went “A Bridge Too Far” The Battle of Arnhem and the subsequent defence of the Oosterbeek Perimeter have passed into legend and the subject of numerous books and films, meaning that the story of the Operation is quite well known by most who have an interest in military history, what is probably less known is the contribution of the Regiment in Operation Market Garden. Operation…
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Stories from the SOFO Archives: Flight Lieutenant Bernard “Pop” Green RAFVR, MC
Stories from the SOFO Archives: Flight Lieutenant Bernard “Pop” Green RAFVR, MC Decorated Great War Officer in the Ox & Bucks, and in the Second World War, a Great Escaper and Long March Survivor Bernard Green from Bourne End, Bucks survived both the Great War and the Second World War – just. 2nd Lieutenant Bernard Green served with distinction in the First World War at Ypres, and on the Somme…
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SOFO Museum Chairman Ian Inshaw steps down after 15 years
SOFO Museum Chairman Ian Inshaw Steps Down Brigadier Ian Inshaw, longstanding Chairman of the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Trust, has stepped down after fifteen years which has seen the creation and establishment of one of Britain’s leading military museums in Woodstock and the only such museum in Oxfordshire. A career Army Officer, Ian spent his last five years as Commander of the Bicester Garrison and on retirement joined the Trust to help…
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Oral Histories - Air Raids, Anderson Shelters and Evacuation
Oral Histories – Air Raids, Anderson Shelters and Evacuation Since SOFO began we haven’t just collected objects and records. Volunteers have helped us record the memories of Oxfordshire people affected by historic conflicts in the form of recorded oral history interviews. You can hear some of these in use in the museum’s galleries when you visit (such as in our Liberation of Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, Airpower and D-Day displays), and…
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SOFO's Reminiscence Pod - built with community support!
SOFO Museum’s Reminiscence Pod A successfully funded project – with help from the local community! With support from West Oxfordshire District Council and the Tesco Bags of Help scheme, SOFO installed a Reminiscence Pod in the main gallery in 2019. The pod was unveiled during a special Collections Day event held at the museum on 2 November 2019, with content developed and curated by our Collections Manager Peggy, along with…
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Operation Pig Ark - Uncovering an Anderson Shelter in 2020
Operation Pig Ark – Uncovering an Anderson Shelter in 2019 In 2019 members of the SOFO Museum Team collected an Anderson shelter roof from a farm in Deddington, Oxfordshire, where it had been repurposed into a pig ark. The metal was attached to large wooden blocks which were anchored to the ground, so our team had to carefully prise the metal away from the wood to free it. The roof was in several parts…
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Can You Help Us Build A WW2 Air-Raid Shelter?
How You Can Help Build a Second World War Air-Raid Shelter At SOFO we tell stories of everyone affected by war in the county of Oxfordshire; from the soldier on the front line to ordinary families on the home front. Our small but dedicated team of staff and volunteers work hard to tell these stories of conflict and county in many different ways, including museum displays and learning sessions. Our latest…
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Refugee Week 2021 - Gunner Gerin: Refugee and Liberator
Refugee Week 14-20 June 2021 ‘Gunner Gerin: Refugee and Liberator’ How did a Jewish Polish refugee come to be one of the liberators of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in April 1945? A brief mention in a soldier’s war-time diary led Harry Staff, a volunteer researcher with the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum, to track down a remarkable story. Gunner Henry Gerin was formerly Henryk Bochynski. Born 1905 in Poland he arrived in…
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Bergen-Belsen - Beyond May 1945
Bergen Belsen – Beyond May 1945 Nic Vanderpeet (SOFO Learning and Outreach Officer) Arthur Tyler, second left, with other men of the 63rd Anti-Tank Regiment (Oxfordshire Yeomanry), near Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, 1945. The survivors of Bergen Belsen would continue to live in camps after their liberation in April 1945. Camps were established to house Displaced Persons (DPs). Displaced persons were those who had been deported or sent as forced labour to…
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Pegasus Stories: A Letter From Major John Howard in Normandy, 1944
Letter from Major John Howard in Normandy, 1944 These brief diary-style letters from Major John Howard DSO were published in the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry Quarterly Journal November 1944 and cover his experiences in the months following the successful operation to capture of the Caen Canal and Orne River bridges which he led. In the two brief entries he describes everything from his experience of landing to the quality of his…
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Star Objects - Waterloo
Star Objects – Waterloo OBLI:5356 – unattributed print of an Officer of the 52nd Foot c.1815 To get us prepared for our upcoming Waterloo lecture with historian Gareth Glover, we will be looking at a few of the Waterloo-era objects from our archive. In this post we will look at the uniform of an Officer of the 52nd. OBLI:5803 – 52nd Officer’s shako c.1815 This shako was…
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Pegasus Stories: Day by Day - A 2nd Battalion, Ox and Bucks Light Infantry Diary, June 1944
Day by Day: A 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry Diary, June 1944 After individual accounts from officers in our last two Pegasus Stories, this time we’re sharing a broader regimental account which covers the men’s experiences day by day, and at times hour by hour, following their gliderborne arrival on 6th June 1944. Building on details from the last two accounts we posted, we hear more about the…
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Pegasus Stories: Captain Priday's Account
Pegasus Stories: Captain Priday’s Account As anyone watching The Pegasus Bridge Story will know, five of the six gliders that made up the ‘coup de main’ party tasked with capturing the Orne River and Caen Canal landed remarkably close to their objective, and soon after had successfully taken them both. However one landed about 8 miles off course at another bridge near Varaville, over a different river – the Dives. The…
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Pegasus Stories: Parachute Operations
Pegasus Stories Following the success of The Pegasus Bridge Story, a Lockdown Lecture produced in co-operation between the Army Flying Museum and Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum, we’re posting a series of blogs which include accounts of the events surrounding D-Day and the capture of the bridges from individuals involved – many written in the months that followed. In this first Pegasus Story is an account of Parachute operations in the early…
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The Pegasus Bridge Story - A Thank You To All Our Supporters
The Pegasus Bridge Story – SOFO Thanks You After a few unfortunate technical issues meant we initially had to reschedule what would be our first online talk, the Pegasus Bridge Story succesfully broadcast to an audience of over 800 viewers from 7pm on Thursday 21st January and many, many, more watching the archived video of the lecture over the following days. While the talk was the first in what we…
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The Black Soldiers of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Regiments 1782-1831 (Part 3)
The Black Soldiers of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Regiments 1782-1831 (John D Ellis) Marking Black History Month 2020, we’re publishing a series posts by John D Ellis, researcher, historian and educator specialising in race and ethnicity in Britain and Ireland during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. John’s research sheds light on little-known stories of black soldiers serving with the forerunners to the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. This final part looks at the stories of a few…
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The Black Soldiers of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Regiments 1782-1831 (Part 2)
The Black Soldiers of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Regiments 1782-1831 (John D Ellis) Marking Black History Month 2020, we’re publishing a series posts by John D Ellis, researcher, historian and educator specialising in race and ethnicity in Britain and Ireland during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. John’s research sheds light on little-known stories of black soldiers serving with the forerunners to the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. This second part goes into more detail about…
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The Black Soldiers of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Regiments 1782-1831
The Black Soldiers of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Regiments 1782-1831 (John D Ellis) Marking Black History Month 2020, we’re publishing a series posts by John D Ellis, researcher, historian and educator specialising in race and ethnicity in Britain and Ireland during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. John’s research sheds light on little-known stories of black soldiers serving with the forerunners to the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. In the eighteenth century the fashion for…
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Oxford Open Doors 2020 - The Regimental Chapel
Oxford Open Doors – The Regimental Chapel at Christ Church Cathedral Unfortunately the ongoing Covid-19 situation meant that this year, the usual tours of the Regimental Chapel at Christ Church Cathedral didn’t go ahead during Oxford Open Doors. As an alternative we’re updating the blog with some background information on the Chapel, along with a few images, from A brief guide to the Regimental Chapel Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. The…
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VJ Day - The Oxfordshire Yeomanry
VJ Day 63rd (Oxfordshire Yeomanry) Anti-Tank Regiment RA (TA) War In the Far East 251 Banbury Battery Prisoners of War in Thailand In February 1942, Singapore fell and the men of 251 Battery who had been involved in the attempt to defend it became some of the 61,000 prisoners taken by the Japanese. for three and a half years they were prisoners and used as slave labour, made to work…
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VJ DAY 15th August 1945
VJ DAY 15th August 1945 On the 15th August 1945, Japan finally surrendered to the allies bringing the bitter fighting in the last theatre of the second world war to an end. This day would be known afterwards as “VJ Day” or “Victory over Japan Day”. On this day two units of the county’s infantry regiment were present in theatre:- The 6th Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and a…
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Dunkirk
The week starting on the 25th. May eighty years ago, was to be a memorable week for the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. On the day that Lord Gort the commander of the British Expeditionary Force made the crucial decision to evacuate his troops through Dunkirk, three battalions of the Regiment were ordered to take up positions on the perimeter of the pocket that was being formed to protect the…
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Operation Dynamo
Operation Dynamo – 80 years ago in May 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…
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VE Day QOOH
Having entered Belsen on 15 April 249 Battery were relieved on the 20th of April. From Belsen the battery moved to Celle. Its task in Celle was to establish a camp for newly released Russian Prisoners of War (PoWs) Having been in Celle for just over a week another move was made to Luneberg where the battery would undertake garrison duties in the town. Luneberg would become famous for the…
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VE Day May 4th 1945
At 6.20pm on the 4th May 1945 in a tent on Luneberg Heath in Northern Germany a German delegation signed the instrument of surrender of all German forces in Holland, Denmark and North Western Germany. The surrender was taken by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery commanding the 21st Army Group comprising the British Second Army and the First Canadian Army. The cease fire in the British and Canadian sector was to…
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Anzac Day
The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and the Hauraki Regiment 25 April is ANZAC Day in New Zealand. ANZAC Day is the equivalent of Remembrance Day in the UK. ANZAC Day commemorates the landing at dawn of New Zealand troops, along with Australian, British, French and Indian forces, on the Gallipoli Peninsula on the 25th of April 1915. This is viewed as the first time New Zealand fought under its…
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The Legacy of Bergen-Belsen
Bergen Belsen – The Legacy The liberation of Bergen Belsen began on the 15th of April but the legacy of the camp would remain. The Queens Own Oxfordshire Yeomanry (QOOY) were in the camp between the 15th and the 20th of April 1945. Some of the men have shared their stories… Contacting families – Arthur Tyler On display at the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum is a piece of paper with…
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15th April 1945: Taking Over the Camp
Today marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camp at Bergen Belsen by units of the British Army including the Queens Own Oxfordshire Hussars (QOOH). Commemoration of the events of the 15th April 1945 ensures that the horrors experienced by those involved, both liberators and liberated are not forgotten and that the lessons of the Holocaust are not lost due to the passage of time. The War…
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‘Operation Plunder’ – Crossing the Rhine
Operation Plunder started on 23 March 1945. Operation Plunder was a combined operation of amphibious and airborne assaults by US, British and Canadian troops. 249 Battery crossed the River Rhine on the night of 26 March. Between crossing the Rhine and the middle of April the regiment experienced a lot of ‘toing and froing’. Firstly the regiment came under the command of the 6th Airborne Division. Within days the regiment…
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Into Germany
C Troop of 249 Battery returned to Mierloo on 8 March. On the 13th the Battery (minus A Troop who had moved the previous day tasked with providing protection for the Royal Artillery 8 Corps Headquarters) left for the German town of Issum. There is little reported in the War Diary between the 9th and the 20th apart from details of moves made by the various batteries of the 63rd…
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IN HEUSDEN - More information
January 1945 In October 1944, 249 Battery, 63 Anti-Tank Regiment (Oxfordshire Yeomanry), Royal Artillery arrived in France and moved forward into Belgium. The battery’s duties consisted mainly of guarding the flank of advancing troops as they moved into the Noord Brabant region of the Netherlands. In January 1945 249 Battery established their headquarters in the Dutch village of Heusden. As the first Allied soldiers the villagers had seen they were made…
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THAW POINTS - WINTER 1945
The effects of the winter thaw of 1945 were varied for the men of the Oxfordshire Yeomanry. The roads of Noord Brabant suffered considerable damage and according to the War Diary of 7 February…”All available men from the Regiment were sent on road repairing….road to be repaired was the Deurne to Venray Road.” 10 February ‘C’ Troop of 249 Battery were moved to the Boxmeer area to protect a bridge across…
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IN HEUSDEN
January 1945 In October 1944, 249 Battery, 63 Anti-Tank Regiment (Oxfordshire Yeomanry), Royal Artillery arrived in France and moved forward into Belgium. The battery’s duties consisted mainly of guarding the flank of advancing troops as they moved into the Noord Brabant region of the Netherlands. In January 1945 249 Battery established their headquarters in the Dutch village of Heusden. As the first Allied soldiers the villagers had seen they were made…
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75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LIBERATION OF BERGEN BELSEN
2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Bergen Belsen Concentration Camp. The Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum will be following the story of the men of 249 Battery, 63 Anti-Tank Regiment (Oxfordshire Yeomanry), Royal Artillery from January 1945 to the end of the war. These men and others would be involved in, what was described by the battery commander, Major Barnett as “one of the most extraordinary and…
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LOOKS LIKE LAMB FOR DINNER!
Members of 252 (City of Oxford) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery, Royal Artillery outside the cookhouse Christmas 1940. 252 Battery were stationed on the south coast of Britain during this period. They would go on to serve in North Africa and Italy before the war ended. We would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year from everyone at the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum.
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OBJECT OF THE MONTH - DECEMBER 2018
Try to guess what the theme is for December’s OOTM… of course it’s Christmas!In previous OOTMs I have tried to stick with a theme for each month, which has proved fairly difficult for some months. Luckily, we have many Christmas cards sent from and to Oxfordshire soldiers in our archive, so I was rather spoiled for choice.I also featured a Princess Mary tin, with 1914, 1918 and 2018 Christmas cards,…
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OBJECT OF THE MONTH - NOVEMBER 2018
November’s Object of the Month (OOTM) was chosen by another of our work experience students; Adam. He chose further items from the Private Alfred Franklin collection – many of these objects were also displayed in our Oxfordshire Remembers Part II exhibition, which has now finished.Adam chose a letter detailing Franklin’s struggle with Spanish Flu, with two photographs and his forage cap displayed alongside. I think that whilst displaying one object…
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OBJECT OF THE MONTH - OCTOBER 2018
October’s Object of the Month (OOTM) started well, as I forgot to photograph it. The images attached to this blog post are from the object itself, and I printed them out alongside for the display.The object was a notebook of recipes from Gunner L H Webster, who was born in Oxford and attended the Army School of Cookery in Weymouth in the August of 1915. I liked this notebook for…
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