Codename Hillside

Codename Hillside - Hughenden Manor in WWII

A 60th anniversary WWII living history event for the National Trust

Hughenden Manor, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire

1.5 miles North of High Wycombe on the A4128

Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 June 2005

11am to 5pm

A huge success! this is the verdict from all involved after an excellent weekend of living history displays and entertainments. Well over 2,500 visitors - a record for Hughenden Manor - enjoyed an evocation of the 1940s within the attractive grounds where an RAF intelligence base was during the war carried out vital map making for crucial raids including the sinking of the Tirpitz and the bombing of Bergestgarten. Click for photos.

Programme

This was our programme over the weekend:

Time	Performers	Activity
11am	- All - Croix de Lorraine	Living history commences The Maginot Line – discover in a “virtual tour” how advanced it was, yet unable to resist German attack in 1940.
Noon	- WWII Display Team - Ancient Wisdom	- Open Fire! A spectacular (and loud!) 25 -pounder field gun firing display - Bombing Hitler – find out about Britain’s great bomber offensive and the role Hughenden Manor played.
12.30pm	Vickers Machine Gunners Society	British army weaponry talk
1pm	-Ian Tindle -Croix de Lorraine	-Junior SMLE rifle drill – all welcome! -As 11am
1.30pm	tbc	Community play Part 1
2-2.45pm	Silvery Moon Productions	Somewhere in France – 1940s music and song Part 1
2pm	- WWII Display Team -Croix de Lorraine	-As Noon -As 11am
2.30pm	-Ancient Wisdom - Ian Tindle	- As Noon - As 1pm
2.45pm	tbc	Community play Part 2
3pm	-Vickers Machine Gunners Society -Croix de Lorraine	-As 12.30pm -As 11am
3.15pm	Silvery Moon Productions	Somewhere in France Part 2
4.00pm	WWII Display Team -Croix de Lorraine	-As Noon -As 11am
4.30pm	-Ancient Wisdom	As Noon
5pm	All	Living history closes

Ongoing activities and displays:

Visit the checkpoint manned by British troops of the Vickers Machine Gunners Society and see the WWII Display Team's 25-pounder field gun close up.
Enjoy an interactive communications display including a chance to use a radio, see a small RAF artefact collection and view real WWII aerial photos through a wartime stereoscopic viewer, find out about RAF mapping techniques, and on the domestic front, learn how people coped in a “make do and mend” environment. Presented by Hands on History.
Find out about wartime air raid precautions from ARP wardens of the Home Front Heroes.
Meet other “Home Front” characters portrayed by the Blackout Volunteers – usually to be found at the NAAFI tea van!
Talk to re-enactor Ian Tindle about the life of a British soldier in WWII, his kit and weaponry
See period weaponry and artefacts from the collection of Croix de Lorraine
Visit Hughenden’s Ice House, which housed a vital copying camera during the war.
Enjoy the small wartime exhibition in the Stable Yard.

We were also delighted to be able to welcome back to Hughenden a small number of veterans who served there, including map makers. We especially hoped that they enjoyed their visits.

Enquiries

E-mail us or call 01509 815645.

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Updated 11 June 2006