Wingrave and Aston Abbotts
Jan Hyrman and Neil Rees

Most text books speak of our government in Britain as a London government. However in the words of Czech President Vaclav Havel during his visit to Wingrave in October 1998: "history is sometimes unjust".

President Benes did not live in London all through the war. The government in exile had offices in Park Street; Fursecroft, George Street; and Grosvenor Place, London, but from 1941 they also lived in and had offices in the villages of Aston Abbotts and Wingrave.

The President, his private office and his military intelligence staff moved away from London because of the dangers from German bombing. In mid-November 1940 the new locations in Buckinghamshire were chosen because they were safe, near London and close to secret operations at Woburn and Bletchley Park.
Benes' private staff moved to the Old Manor House in Wingrave, while The Abbey in Aston Abbotts, a country house, was chosen as the seat of President Benes, where he lived with his family and members of his staff.

A detachment of about one
hundred Czechoslovak
The Manor House at Wingrave, the seat of the Czechoslovak government-in-exile.
Courtesy of Mr. Derek Emson
soldiers of the Czechoslovak Independent Brigade, stayed at Aston Abbots as the President's guard. They were called  the Czechoslovak  Special Defence Platoon (C.S.D.P.). They stayed in so-called Nissen huts, two of which still stand in the garden of a house near the Abbey.

President Benes kept very friendly relations with the village people and the local school. He gave money to Aston Abbotts School and he paid for a bus shelter in Wingrave. Friendly relationship between the Czech Republic and Wingrave have been renewed in recent times.

Related website: www.czechsinexile.org
The German bombing of London forced the government and the President to move away from the danger which it proved to be. In mid-November 1940 the above mentioned villages in Buckinghamshire were chosen as an ideal compromise between safety and the vicinity to London.
The Abbey at Aston Abbotts, where President Benes lived during WWII.
Courtesy of Mr. Neil Rees