Buckinghamshire Reflects

JEAN CEIRIOG JONES’ TIME IN THE WOMEN’S LAND ARMY

Jean Ceiriog Jones was 15 years old when war broke out in 1939. She experienced many aspects of wartime life in Buckinghamshire and kindly shared her memories with us. Jean was still at school at t…

A PROUD DAY IN THE OX & BUCKS LIGHT INFANTRY’S HISTORY

At 02:30 on the 24th March 1945 the men of the 2nd (Airborne) Battalion, Ox and Bucks Light Infantry were roused from their beds. They were given a breakfast of fried eggs, bacon
and beans. At 0…

BUCKS’ VC NAVAL HERO

Peter Scawen Watkinson Roberts was born at the family home in Chiltern Road, Chesham Bois in July 1917. After leaving school in 1935 he joined the Royal Navy and in 1936 was posted to HMS…

THE HISTORY OF HURRICANES BUILT IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE

Buckinghamshire can be proud of its contribution to the WWII effort in so many ways: food and military equipment production, the secret war waged at some of Buckinghamshire’s stately homes, militar…

THE STORY OF MARIE-FRANCE MacCARTHY 

Marie-France MacCarthy was brought up in the most rarefied French circles, becoming a fine singer; yet it was in action during the Second World War that she especially distinguished herself. Her ex…

THE CAPTURE OF U-110 AND THE ENIGMA DECRYPTION BREAKTHROUGH

Arnold Hargreaves, age 99, is the last surviving member of a boarding party from HMS Bulldog that in 1941 captured an Enigma machine from a stricken German U-boat. The information discovered from a…

THE SECRET MAPMAKERS OF RAF BOMBER COMMAND

To most Buckinghamshire inhabitants, Hughenden Manor will usually invoke the link with its most famous incumbent, the Victorian Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. With passing generations, the house…