Second World War

Subjects

Follow these links if you would like to find information about Bedfordshire during World War II.

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Airfields

Articles by Bedfordshire Libraries

• Cranfield Airfield
• RAF Henlow
• Tempsford Airfield

Images

• Tempsford Airfield - Barn
• Tempsford Airfield - Commemorative Sign
• Tempsford Airfield - Interior of Barn
• Tempsford Airfield - Interior of Bar

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Aircraft

Books

• Log Book of the Biggleswade Urban District Savings Committee for the Wings for Victory Campaign 1943 with operational flight details of Lancaster Bomber ME 626 and its crew

Images

• Memorial to the crew of Liberator KN736 in Cockayne Hatley churchyard

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Army Cadets

Images

• Biggleswade Army Cadets - Inspection by H.M. The Queen, 1944
• Biggleswade Army Cadets - Salute the Soldier Week, 1944

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Auxiliary Territorial Services

Reminiscences

• Second World War ATS Service of Eleanor Mary Watts by Mrs Dorothy Sewell

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Bombs

Reminiscences

• A bomb drops on Marlborough Park, Kempston

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Civil Defence

Images

• Biggleswade Civil Defence

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The Home Front

Articles by Bedfordshire Libraries

• The 'Kitchen Front'

Newspaper Articles

• Barton News (Extract) (Removal of iron railings)

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Home Guard

Images

• Biggleswade Home Guard - Inspection by H.M. The Queen, 1944
• Biggleswade Home Guard - Inspection by H.M. The Queen, 1944
• Langford Home Guard

Reminiscences

• Reminiscences of Home Guard service by Mr Victor Brunt (Biggleswade)

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Field Ambulance Service (Army)

Reminiscences

• Reminiscences of Mr Thomas M. Uff

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Music

Articles by Bedfordshire Libraries

• The BBC in Bedford
• Miller, (Alton) Glenn

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Notes from the Newspapers

Extracts and snippets from local Bedfordshire newspapers during the war years.

• Civil Defence
• Entertainment
• Evacuees
• Fund Raising Events
• The Home Front
• The War Effort

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Parachute Regiment

Reminiscences

• Serjeant Cyril John Watts, 8th Bn., Parachute Regiment, A.A.C.

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Royal Air Force

Reminiscences

• Reminiscences of Edward William Boness, R.A.F. by Mrs Susan Duncan (Potton)

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Royal Visits

Images

• Biggleswade Army Cadets - Inspection by H.M. The Queen, 1944
• Biggleswade Home Guard - Inspection by H.M. The Queen, 1944
• Biggleswade Home Guard - Inspection by H.M. The Queen, 1944
• Visit H.M. The Queen to Biggleswade, 1944

Video (supplied on licence by the Imperial War Museum, London)

• Princess Elizabeth visits Bedford, where she reviews a parade of the Women's Land Army, St. Paul's Square, 14th February 1946.  Members of the WLA march past Princess Elizabeth who stands on a raised viewing podium.  WLA members drive tractors and hay trucks past the reviewing podium. Copyright Imperial War Museum, London.

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Secret Operations

Articles by Bedfordshire Libraries

• Recording Studio (Milton Bryan)

• The Propaganda War (Woburn)

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VE Day

Images

• VE Day celebrations in Harding Close (Bedford)
• VE Day celebrations in Edward Road (Biggleswade)

Newspaper Articles

• Barton News (Extract)

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VJ Day

Images

• VJ Party Havelock Road (Biggleswade)

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War Memorials

Images

• Bedford Road War Memorial (Kempston)
• Memorial to the crew of Liberator KN736 in Cockayne Hatley churchyard

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War Weapons Week

Newspaper Articles

• War Weapons Week (Extract) (Barton)

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Weapons Production and Development

Articles by Bedfordshire Libraries

• Development of the Limpet Mine (Bedford)
• Royal Ordnance Factory (Elstow)

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Women's Land Army

Articles by Local Historians

• The history of Bedfordshire Women's Land Army by Stuart Antrobus (including a history of the individual hostels and a roll call of Bedfordshire Land Girls)

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Further Reading:

• Book List - Bedfordshire during the Second World War

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Page last updated: 23rd January 2014