‘Mostly Blue’ – The Oxfordshire Aviation Archive Balloons to Concorde and Everything in Between (Part 2) Peter Burton and Peter Davis Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum is now the home of the Oxfordshire Aviation Archive which was founded in 2024 by Peter Burton and Peter Davis bringing their collections together which have since been delivered to the museum and recorded in the intervening period. It holds records of the history of…
‘Mostly Blue’ – The Oxfordshire Aviation Archive Balloons to Concorde and Everything in Between (Part 1) Peter Burton and Peter Davis Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum is now the home of the Oxfordshire Aviation Archive which was founded in 2024 by Peter Burton and Peter Davis bringing their collections together which have since been delivered to the museum and recorded in the intervening period. It holds records of the history of…
Oxfordshire Airpower Stories In the first of a series of blogs on Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum’s airpower stories, from local pilots to the many airbases across the county, Museum’s Director Ursula Corcoran presents a favourite story from our archives. When we first opened our doors to the public in 2014, Charles Owen ‘Aussie’ Stone’s story was one of our highlights. The account was brought to us by the family who…
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…
February’s Object of the Month follows a Valentine’s Day theme! Volunteer Geraldine has selected a First World War pin cushion, shaped like a heart, it has quite a story behind it! Sweetheart Pin Cushion By Geraldine Howell Object photography by Colin Morris This sweetheart pin cushion was made during the First World War by a member of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. Sweetheart cushions were not unknown before…
December’s Object of the Month had to be a Christmas special! Volunteer Geraldine has selected the iconic First World War gift sent out to troops overseas, researching the boxes themselves and where the men of the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry would have been spent their Christmas in 1914. Princess Mary’s Gift Boxes By Geraldine Howell Her Royal Highness The Princess Victoria Alexandra Alice Mary was the only daughter of…
Object of the Month (October 2025): Spitfire Rear-View Mirror, 1940 Object of the Month returned this October, with our first featured artefact chosen by volunteer Geraldine, who has also been selecting objects to go on display alongside our recent exhibition of Paul Joyce’s paintings in Remembrances of War. By Geraldine Howell This mirror was taken from a Spitfire that had flown from North Africa to RAF Lyneham after the…
Oxfordshire’s VJ Day Stories: Sergeant Major Albert Benjamin Pritchet By Joseph Vale Oxfordshire’s VE Day Stories are our series of articles covering Second World War stories with county connections, celebrating the 80th anniversary of VE and VJ Day in 2025. Our commemorative exhibition is now open until 18 November 2025, but when we called out for your stories from the local area, we received more than we could fit…
Life Lines: Naomi Warren Art Project Part of our commemorations of the 80th anniversary on 15 April 2025, Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum are inviting artists to participate in a three-part series of artist workshops to engage with the story of Jewish survivor Naomi Warren and the liberation of Bergen-Belsen, and create artwork in response to four themes: witnessing, kindness, vision and positivity. Artists will be encouraged to create artwork and/or…
Remembering the crew of AD714 A little over 82 years ago, at 6 minutes past midnight on 7 November 1942, an RAF Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bomber, serial number AD714, crashed at Ferryman’s Farm, in the small village of Northmoor, near Witney, following a night training exercise. Three of the five-man crew were killed and two injured. The men who died were the pilot, Sergeant Alfred Taney, navigator Sergeant Leonard Spratt…
