The period since the end of The Second World War has included at least five wars and some forty other conflicts in which British Armed Forces have been involved. The undeclared 'Cold War' against Soviet Russia - which very nearly became an exremely 'hot' nuclear war during the Cuban Missile crisis of 1963 - was a constant background scenario dominating military resources and strategy from the early 1950's through to 1990 when the Berlin wall was dismantled.
The list that follows includes both Regular Service Volunteers and National Servicemen; they all participated equally in whatever tasks the armed forces were required to undertake including, as in Richard Hall in the Malayan conflict in 1950, their deaths in many cases.
For anyone born before 1 September 1939, National Service formally ended on 31 December 1960 but those who had deferred service for reasons such as university studies or on compassionate or hardship grounds, still had to complete it after this date. The last NS man therefore left the services in 1963.
I have been assisted by many people - notably Bill & Joe Cowley, Daphne Canning, the Clarke, Garrett, Malcher and Harper families, Joan Haywood, Arthur Lewis, Joyce Minnear and José Stevens - and, of course, all those people who served and are still resident in Deddington or, if deceased, their relatives. I am extremely grateful for everyone's willingness to help me but I would emphasise that the compilation and editing of this section and also the section covering those who served and returned from service post 1945 has been entirely my responsibility. I have tried to cross check everything but if errors remain I can only apologise and ask you to tell me by email or by telephone to 01869 338384.
(D) denotes Deceased Click on blue links for photos or more information
ROYAL NAVY
Ernest (Ernie) ANDERSON National Serviceman
Terence (Terry) Henry CLARKE (b1940) Chief Petty Officer
Joined the Navy in 1955 as a boy seaman at HMS GANGES where tradition required all boys to climb the 142 foot high mast. He subsequently served in submarines.
Robert (Rob) S FORSYTH (b1939) Commander
Served from 1957 to 1980; mainly in the submarine service which was employed on Cold War Operations. Commanded diesel and Nuclear submarines. More details of his experiences can be found HERE
Horace FRENCH National Serviceman
John HOLIDAY National Serviceman
John PARKINSON (b1942) Petty Officer Mechanical Engineer
John ran away from home in 1959 to join the Navy as a Junior Stoker. Life in the training establishment, HMS Raleigh, was tough; instructors still used 'starters' (short sticks carried by Gunnery Instructors) to discipline the boys, many of whom deserted 'over the wall' at night. After a short sea qualification period in HMS Roebuck he joined HMS Lion which was commissioning for the first time since being built and then laid up at the end of the war. The first 6 months were a 'flag waving' tour of the Mediterrranean escorting the Queen in the Royal Yacht. This was followed by a year also showing the flag round South America. He thought that joining the navy had been a good decision! The story of these nearly 2 years is recorded in HMS Lion's First Commission Book (1960 -1962). It makes good reading for those who want to know what life on a big ship was like. At the end of 1962 he joined HMS Belfast. The ship received the Freedom of the City of Belfast on his 20th birthday. He recalls celebrating both occasions with a memorable (or not!) run ashore. He left the navy to get married - and came to live in Deddington not long after.
Ronald (Ron) SHEPHERD National Serviceman
Herbert SMITH National Serviceman
WOMENS ROYAL NAVAL SERVICE (WRNS)
Barbara FROST Wren (D) neé Lewis, sister of Sergeant Arthur Lewis)
Served at HMS MERLIN, Fife in Scotland. She named her house Merlin after it.
ARMY
Leslie BERRY (D) Horseguards
John BOWLER MC Lieutenant
John was commissioned into the Welch Regiment during his National Service (1950-52) and went with them to the Korean War. He arrived in Korea in 1951 on the same day his father had arrived in France in 1915 and, like him, he was a Platoon Commander and was also wounded twice. He won an MC, aged 19, through active patrolling against the Chinese. The story of The Bowler Boys (3 brothers and son John) can be read in Personal Stories
George Henry BRAIN (b1935)
Served from 1953 to 1957 in the Royal Army Service Corps with the 16th Field Ambulance Division attached to the 63rd Infantry Brigade of Gurkhas in Malaya. George also had a brother who served in the army but we hold no details.
Christopher (Chris) Clark National Serviceman
Donald DAVIDSON Lance Corporal Ox & Bucks Light Infantry
Norman DRAKE (b1939) Sergeant. National Serviceman.
served 1959 -1961. Royal Army Educational Corps. Stationed in Ipoh, Malaya (State of Emergency in force so awarded General Service Medal) and then to Singapore to teach military map reading. His Personal account of his time as National Serviceman can be found HERE
Peter FARLEY (b1937) Bombardier. National serviceman.
Served 1959- 1961. Trained in Guided Weapons. Posted to 23rd Gibraltar Battery, Outer Hebrides Benbecula Range, Dortmund Germany.
Dennis FREEMAN (b1929) Rifleman. National serviceman.
Served in the UK with the Ox & Bucks Light Infantry from May 1947 to mid 1948 then was transferred to the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry serving to Greece - where the British Army still had a military presence - until he finished his NS time in May 1949.
Brian FRANKLIN
Victor FULLBROOK
Leslie (Les) GEORGE (D)Ox & Bucks Light Infantry
Geoffrey GIBBS
Roger GINES Guards
David G HOOD. MC. Major (b 1933)
Served 1951 - 1977 with Sherwood Foresters in Germany, Malaya, Norway, Libya, Cyprus and Northern Ireland. Current President of the Deddington Branch of the Royal British Legion.
Gordon McCUTCHEON Paratroop Regiment
James (Jim) Henry MORRIS (1929-2004) Rank unknown
Jim (a Kings Sutton man) served as a regular in the Grenadier Guards from 1946 - 1952 as part of the British Army on the Rhine and was then a reserve for a further 7 years. In 1958 he married Mary Malcher whose 3 brothers all served during the war, one in each of the services, and whose father, Jack, was in The Royal Observer Corps
Simon PLEYDELL BOUVERIE (b1928) 2nd Lieutenant
Simon served from 1946 to 1948 in the Life Guards. After 14 months training with various Officer Cadet Training Units (OCTUs) he then spent 6 months with his regiment in Palestine on peace keeping duties. He was in the leading armoured car when the British Army pulled out on the 15th May 1948. 15 miles inside the Palestine border they encountered the Egyptiam army - who, he says, 'were very trigger happy' - invading; presumably to attack and eliminate Jewish settlements. This never received any publicity for whatever reason - perhaps to avoid hostlle Israeli reaction? - and the invasion was aborted quite quickly and the Egyptian army withdrew behind its own borders.
Patrick READ National Serviceman
John WALLIN Paratroop Regiment
Edmund PEARSON
Thomas (Tommy) SMITH
?? TROLLEY
ROYAL AIR FORCE
James (Jim) BELL ( b 1939) Corporal
Jim was born and grew up in Oxford. He joined the RAF in February 1957 rather than waiting to be called up for National Service. He served 3 years as a regular in the RAF Police based at RAF Brampton, Huntingdonshire, where he met his wife Barbara who was an Aircraftswoman at the time, working in the Station Headquarters
He recalls that one of the buildings they had to guard contained German WWII aerial reconnaissance photographs of Russia that were, of course, very valuable in the cold war. However they were also extremely inflammable and needed to be stored under refrigerated conditions as they were a constant security and safety hazard.
Another recollection is the time that all the local recruited staff in Cyprus had to be replaced, almost over night, by UK servicemen and women because of bombs being placed in British bases by EOKA sympathisers.
On completion of his R.A.F service in January 1960, Jim joined Oxford City Police, which in April 1968 amalgamated with other local forces to become Thames Valley Police. He worked in a wide range of Police posts and on retirement he was a Detective Sergeant on the Serious Crime Squad. For details about his family see the entry for Barbara in WRAF section below.
Anthony (Tony) BOLTON (1920 – 2010)
Tony had served in the RN throughout the war and afterwards to leave in the mid 1950’s. After a brief spell in commerce he re-enlisted in the RAF.
Terence (Terry) COUSINS
Jim FRANKLIN
Kenneth (Ken) HART Squadron Leader
1952-1957. Engineering Branch.
John HIRONS National Serviceman
Stephen (Steve) George MALCHER*(b1928) Leading Aircraftman (Ground Gunner) National Serviceman.
The youngest of three boys, Steve was just too young to serve during the war like his brothers, so became a National Serviceman from 1946 -1949. More about the Malcher boys can be found HERE
Alistair McCUTCHEON National Serviceman
Based at Moreton in the Marsh so was able to cycle home at weekends to continue playing for Deddington Football team!
The Venerable Hewitt WILSON CB. (1924 - 2008)
Hewitt took a commission in the RAF Chaplain’s department in 1950; His distinctive career included being Senior Chaplain at the RAF College, Cranwell, Honorary Chaplain to the Queen and the longest serving Chaplain-in-Chief of the RAF in the service's 90 year history. The October 2008 issue of the Deddington News (p 6) contains a fuller record of his life as did his obituary in the Daily Telegaph on 22 July 2008.
ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE (TRAINING BRANCH)
Brian COSGROVE MBE (1926 -2010) Flight LieutenantBrian had been a Meteorological Air Observer from 1943 to 1947 (see WWII section). Having been demobbed and got a job with Spillers, he joined the RAFVR(T) in 1948 where he continued to pursue his love of flying by becoming a gliding instructor. He retired from the RAF a second time in 1964 as a Flight Lieutenant. By 1981 he had given up his main job and become secretary to the British Microlight Association. He subsequently became its Chief Executive and set up the existing office in The Bull Ring in Deddington from whence, almost single handedly, he turned micro-lighting from an aerial Hell's Angels into a fully competent authority authorised to administer air worthiness. He retired in 1993 and was awarded the MBE for his services to Microlighting.
WOMENS AUXILIARY AIR FORCE (WAAF)
Barbara Mary BELL (neé HOLT) (b 1940) Senior Aircraftswoman
Barbara joined the WRAF in September 1957 following a visit by an RAF recruiting team to her school in Kendal, Westmorland.. To a 17 year old, in the fifties, it seemed to be a much more exciting thing to do than what were, at the time, other quite limited opportunities for women. Following three months basic training at RAF Wilmslow , Cheshire she was posted to RAF Credenhill in Hereford for trade training as a typist . She was then posted to RAF Brampton where she met her future husband, Jim, who was serving in the RAF Police.
A highlight of her time in the service was taking part in the 1958 Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall. This requires each service contingent to march down steps onto the arena floor, keeping in step as they transition to marching forward across it, then marching up the steps of the stage - not at all an easy thing to do in the presence of the Queen and senior members of the Royal family!!. The following day she took part in the Service of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey
Barbara & Jim married in 1961, living in Oxford until 1971 when they moved to Banbury and where they brought up 2 sons – Andrew (1963) and Chris (1966). The family moved to Deddington in 1981. Andrew served as a volunteer, manning the Royal Observation Corps nuclear war monitoring post on Barford airfield.