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…
Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum was recently approached by historian Feutry Bernard about a memorial to Allied airmen who were killed during the Second World War in the Avesnois region of France, which was recently unveilled in the village of Boussières sur Sambre. Of the 116 named on the memorial, 69 are British, with one Flight Lieutenant known to have hailed from Leafield in Oxfordshire. Paul Geoffrey Chapman flew with No.…
Welcome to the first of a 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 into the exhibition alone! Last year, Tom Davis shared his many finds from…
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…
Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum signs the Armed Forces Covenant On Wednesday, 29 January 2025, the museum signed the Armed Forces Covenant in front of gathered members of the Armed Forces community and representatives. Trustee Mike Montagu, who served in The Light Infantry and then The Rifles, signed on behalf of the museum, alongside Lt. Col. Ged Hennigan RLC, Bicester Garrison Commander. The Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum recognises the contribution…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
