The Names on Olney War Memorial 1939-1945

Preface by Colin Mackenzie
2005: It is 60 years since the end of World War Two, a conflict still within living memory that engulfed Europe and extended half way round the world to the Far East. As with World War One (1914-1918) Britain’s sacrifice of life was great and in cities, towns and villages throughout the country there are public memorials with the names of the local men and women who failed to return.

Olney’s War Memorial stands in the centre of the town, in the Market place, and I like others, had passed it many times without particular thought of the individual names carved into it.

It was by chance that one day in conversation with the Reverend Nigel Pond (now retired), my attention should be brought to a ‘remembrance book’ kept in the church of St Peter’s & Paul’s, Olney. Compiled by Alec Morgan, who died in January 1996, it was his personal tribute to the men of the town who were killed - almost all of whom he had personally known. In looking through the collection of photographs and notes compiled in 1991, I was struck by how many branches of the Services were represented for such a small town. At the same time I was aware how difficult it must have been for him to obtain and check the details as in many cases even those closest to the men knew little about the circumstances of their loss. It is surprising therefore that since his work, and the passing of time, it has become easier to find out more! This is due to the power of computerised systems, and the Internet in particular, which together with improved access to official records have created new avenues for researching, publishing and sharing information.

Without wishing to modifying Alec’s work I have added to it from some of these sources, and by publishing in this format my hope is that the knowledge will be more accessible to relatives, local historians, and anyone else interested in remembering these men. Like him I have found the experience both fascinating and humbling, with insights into some of the lesser known areas of World War Two.

ODHS Comment

We are of course indebted to Alec Morgan for compiling such a worthwhile document in 1993; also to Colin Mackenzie for his keen interest in researching the background information and for the addition of the subsequent enhancements in 2005.

The presentation of this work has been mainly derived from that on Colin's own website at: www.mackz.net

Thanks are also due to the Royal British Legion and Pamela Morgan for the opportunity to present the work on this site.

(Please note that the three appendices to the original document are not included on this website at this stage.)

If you have any information, recollections or photographs, that might be added to this work please contact us at information@olneyhistory.org.uk ... before the opportunity passes!