This page simply aims to provide hyperlink references to everything collected about the two
World Wars with the hope the data will get tidied up in due course.  It is also a convenient place to
record various anecdotes as they are told.

First World War

Isolated report of a putdown crash in 1917 in a Blisworth field.

8th June 1917 Blisworth
2/Lt. Lucien Herbert Higgs 25 years.
No. 5 Training Squadron, Castle Bromwich, Warks (sic).
Maurice Farman S.11 Shorthorn A6897.

Crashed attempting to land in a field near Blisworth. Based at Castle Bromwich and had only 3 hours 15 minutes dual flying. Higgs was on his first solo and must have been lost because he had only 15 minutes petrol left and was 50 miles from base. Mr. Edwin T. Freeston saw the plane glide in to land in a field of clover, but it stopped suddenly and turned over and was wrecked. Higgs received a fractured skull. He was taken a quarter of a mile to the railway station and by train to Northampton General Hospital, where he died on 9th June 1917.  His instructor thought that he landed downhill and with a following wind.

Second World War

Air crashes logged by Gibson (WWII)

Crash of a Blenheim bomber (9 Nov 1941) - listed by Gibson above.

This was seen by a six year old Derek Cherry with his father one evening over Tiffield, quite low, heading for Roade but loosing height and in flames. It landed/crashed near the quarry behind Stoneworks Farm. There were seven aboard, no-one killed but two with severe injuries. They were gathered up efficiently by the military who later sent some lorries, which had to be towed up the field by Cherry's tractor, so that all the bits of the Blenheim could be taken away.

Canadian troops based at Weedon Barracks camp.

They occupied the football field between Stoneworks Farm buildings and the Stoke Road allotments.  There were some tanks, many gun carriages, 20 horses for the gun carriages and about 30 men. The men slept in the top barn of Cherry's farm. They were on maneuvres for some months but, as with many other reports of Canadians at Blisworth, the time during the war is forgotten.  The tanks often let stock out of fields by crashing through hedges.  There was one tragic incident where a tank left the road near Gayton by driving through a hedge but failed to notice that the field was 15 feet lower due to ironstone mining.  The tank rolled over and the crew were killed.

Cash Fund for Soldiers at the Royal Oak 

During WWII there were money collections organised at the Royal Oak Inn for soldiers abroad.  Postal orders were written and sent out.  One recipient who is known was Fred Payler (Jim Payler's father) who was attached to units in North Africa.  He wrote a diary and the following emtries have been found:

26/2/41  Received a 6/- Postal Order which had been sent on the 6th January.  Went into Cairo and bought a fountain pen. [it appears he was a great letter writer!]

10/3/42  Received 14/-, no further details.  He was near Tobruk and Sidi Rizah at the time.

It seems strange that a UK sterling postal order can be negotiable in Eygpt during the war.  Charles Holding, who was a commandos frogman operating in the far east had never received any money from UK during the war and is unaware of the Royal Oak activity.  Can anyone shed light on this mystery?

For relief, Fred Payler records that he swam in the sea whenever possible. Dust storms, wet weather
and cold nights were a problem - presumably it was "winter".