Hello everyone, Just wanted to post a word about our little museum in Wiltshire. The Kennet Valley at War Trust Museum is in Littlecote House near Hungerford Berks and features WWII activity in the Newbury/Hungerford/Marlborough area. Take a look at Kennet Valley at War We are constantly adding to the collection as more items surface. Recent acquisitions include a collection of US Army equipment from a garden shed in Bedwyn and a paratrooper folding stock carbine from the attice of a house near to the museum. Hope you enjoy it Trustees Tim Green Sam McCallum Roger Day
Pleased to have you as a member here - not come across your museum before, but your site looks very interesting indeed.
Welcome aboard, I used to know Littlecote rather well as one of the places for Civil War artifacts, looks like it's changed somewhat since my last visit though! Will have to pop in next time I'm in the area. Cheers, Adam.
We just returned from 2 nights at the Littlecote Hotel (now a Warners Hotel). While there, I looked around the WW2 Museum located in a small room (next to the Haunted Bedroom) in 'the old house'. Small it maybe, but I found a few interesting bits & pieces. In the Home Guard section... ...worth 12 old pennies of anyone's money, I should think this is full of fun ideas & experiments for the garden shed. And this left me wondering about the No.1 ointment... ...was it discontinued because it was too weak, or maybe too strong! Or was it reserved for Officers? In the American section:- Spot the Sherman Tank fuse box... Described as typical playing cards of the era, this left me wondering what the Joker in the pack looks like... (...must be my age) Although this museum is in the grounds of the hotel, don't let that put you off visiting. Just head towards the hotel grounds and park in the car park for the Roman Villa (also well worth visiting). You can then wander into the hotel grounds and I doubt you will be challenged when you enter the old house, so long as you don't take your dog, or children, and you don't have muddy boots! They also serve great coffee!
Also in the grounds of this hotel is an Aldbourne Stable... The wireless in this stable looks more 50's than 1940's (I'll try to track down the model)...
That's some three-card-brag hand Steve, though I fear you may be playing with a stacked deck Kind regards, cut the cards - not the cheese, always, Jim.
Band of Brothers are always used to attract visitors to the area, they could also mention others before them. Worcester Terriers The first to arrive was the 67th Field Regiment Royal Artillery, Territorial Army (affectionately known as the Worcester Terriers). The regiment was part of the 48th Division (Western Command) which was building up strength in the Hungerford area. The Divisional formation sign (worn as a shoulder patch on uniforms and painted on to the mudguards of each vehicle) consisted of a dark blue oval in the centre of which was a blue macaw superimposed upon a red diamond. The macaw was chosen by General Thorne, 48th Divisional Commander, who was greeted on first entering his HQ at Littlecote by the words “Good luck, good luck” shouted by a pet macaw kept in the house. Roger Day, Ramsbury at War
Roger is a vey pleasant and helpful chap, with a number of local history books under his belt. He deserves to be mentioned here. He co-authored "Tonight We Die As Men" about the sister unit to Easy Company 506 PIR. He has a website: Ramsbury at War and a book with the same title.
