Current Affairs Unearthing 'The Czech Connection' in WW II-era Buckinghamshire
When the wartime blitz hit London in 1940, Czechoslovak President in exile Edvard Benes was urged to pack up and seek refuge in the English countryside. For the next five years, Benes and his wife lived in The Abbey, a country estate owned by friends of the Rothschild family, in the picturesque village of Aston Abbots. His cabinet found safe haven at Wingrave Manor in a nearby village, while some 100 Czechoslovak soldiers kept a watchful eye. Local history enthusiast Neil Rees has a new book on the period, full of local colour and drawing heavily on the stories of villagers and Czechoslovak veterans alike. Brian Kenety has more.
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