The Secrets of Croxley House in WW2 ?
The village of Croxley Green experienced another surge in house building in the 1930’s prior to WW2. The current villagers along with new residents volunteered to protect the community and joined the Civil Defence and Home Guard groups between 1939-1945.
Records were kept of war related incidents that occurred in the village as well as the ‘comings and goings’ of activities that happened in the immediate area. These were documented by the groups for the official record and log books. At the end of the war, for security reasons, the log books would be surrendered to Government officials.
Enquiries were made in recent years at the Hertfordshire Local Studies & Archives at County Hall, Hertford (HALC), to see if any information was now available on the local Civil Defence and Home Guard activities in WW2 which might be posted on the Croxley Green History Project (CGHP) website, as the period of time had elapsed when most wartime records cease to be confidential and were open for public viewing. At the time of the enquiry, it appeared the Croxley Green records were the only records HALC did not have in their archives.
In January 2022 the CGHP received an enquiry from the U.S.A. regarding a document that contained details about special secret WW2 activities that were connected with Croxley House.
This once classified secret document, now declassified, revealed Croxley House had been chosen as the initial venue for a joint Anglo-American organisation that would be connected with the planned Operation Marathon and Operation Overlord invasion of Northern France - D Day 6th June 1944.
In February 1944 the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) was a joint U.S. - British military organisation created in England to carry out the invasion of Western Europe. The British side was commanded by Lt Col Langley and his deputy was Major Airey Neave. The British section, with origins in M19, and their American counterpart M.I S. X., met from the 9th April until 1st May 1944 at Croxley House, and would be known jointly as IS9 (WEA).
Operation Marathon was devised to rescue allied airmen who had been shot down or had crash-landed in German occupied Europe to evade capture by the Germans. The plan was to gather downed airmen into isolated forest camps where they would await their rescue by allied military forces advancing after the Normandy Invasion of June 6, 1944.
The major role of IS9 (WEA)Western European Allies, was to create escape lines in Europe to assist the recovery of Allied escapers or evaders from German concentration camps with the aid of local volunteer civilian Resistance Movement groups in France and Belgium. The aim was to assist them in safety to get to neutral countries and back to the UK.
The document sent to the CGHP is available to read, and gives some details of the time at Croxley House, prior to the move to larger premises at Fulmer House, Fulmer, Buckinghamshire. This is close to Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, that was the Headquarters of M19. Before the secret rendezvous at Croxley House, as part of M19 there already existed a sophisticated organisation called ‘Room 900’ in London which formed the IS9( WEA)
Previous owners of Waterdell House, Little Green, Croxley Green, near Croxley House, are aware that in their grounds it is believed that there was a building used in secret for early telecommunications in WW2.
Our thanks to Richard Kessler who sent us the document from the USA and allowing us to include it on the website. Both his mother and grandfather were connected with this operation.
We have been in touch with British family members of James Smith who was also involved in this operation and they have given permission to include their website details
IS9 WEA - A Husband's Most Secret War in MI9 IS9 (mi9-is9.com)
(Barbara Smith, Sarah Hardcastle) Please contact them if you can add to their website too.
If you have any information to help shed more light and give any further information on the ‘Secrets of Croxley House’ please do get in touch.
Contact - Croxley Green History - Croxley Green History Project
Information has been used from the following titles
Saturday at M.1.9. by Airey Neave
M19 A History of the Secret Service for Escape and Evasion in World War Two
by Helen Fry
Records were kept of war related incidents that occurred in the village as well as the ‘comings and goings’ of activities that happened in the immediate area. These were documented by the groups for the official record and log books. At the end of the war, for security reasons, the log books would be surrendered to Government officials.
Enquiries were made in recent years at the Hertfordshire Local Studies & Archives at County Hall, Hertford (HALC), to see if any information was now available on the local Civil Defence and Home Guard activities in WW2 which might be posted on the Croxley Green History Project (CGHP) website, as the period of time had elapsed when most wartime records cease to be confidential and were open for public viewing. At the time of the enquiry, it appeared the Croxley Green records were the only records HALC did not have in their archives.
In January 2022 the CGHP received an enquiry from the U.S.A. regarding a document that contained details about special secret WW2 activities that were connected with Croxley House.
This once classified secret document, now declassified, revealed Croxley House had been chosen as the initial venue for a joint Anglo-American organisation that would be connected with the planned Operation Marathon and Operation Overlord invasion of Northern France - D Day 6th June 1944.
In February 1944 the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) was a joint U.S. - British military organisation created in England to carry out the invasion of Western Europe. The British side was commanded by Lt Col Langley and his deputy was Major Airey Neave. The British section, with origins in M19, and their American counterpart M.I S. X., met from the 9th April until 1st May 1944 at Croxley House, and would be known jointly as IS9 (WEA).
Operation Marathon was devised to rescue allied airmen who had been shot down or had crash-landed in German occupied Europe to evade capture by the Germans. The plan was to gather downed airmen into isolated forest camps where they would await their rescue by allied military forces advancing after the Normandy Invasion of June 6, 1944.
The major role of IS9 (WEA)Western European Allies, was to create escape lines in Europe to assist the recovery of Allied escapers or evaders from German concentration camps with the aid of local volunteer civilian Resistance Movement groups in France and Belgium. The aim was to assist them in safety to get to neutral countries and back to the UK.
The document sent to the CGHP is available to read, and gives some details of the time at Croxley House, prior to the move to larger premises at Fulmer House, Fulmer, Buckinghamshire. This is close to Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, that was the Headquarters of M19. Before the secret rendezvous at Croxley House, as part of M19 there already existed a sophisticated organisation called ‘Room 900’ in London which formed the IS9( WEA)
Previous owners of Waterdell House, Little Green, Croxley Green, near Croxley House, are aware that in their grounds it is believed that there was a building used in secret for early telecommunications in WW2.
Our thanks to Richard Kessler who sent us the document from the USA and allowing us to include it on the website. Both his mother and grandfather were connected with this operation.
We have been in touch with British family members of James Smith who was also involved in this operation and they have given permission to include their website details
IS9 WEA - A Husband's Most Secret War in MI9 IS9 (mi9-is9.com)
(Barbara Smith, Sarah Hardcastle) Please contact them if you can add to their website too.
If you have any information to help shed more light and give any further information on the ‘Secrets of Croxley House’ please do get in touch.
Contact - Croxley Green History - Croxley Green History Project
Information has been used from the following titles
Saturday at M.1.9. by Airey Neave
M19 A History of the Secret Service for Escape and Evasion in World War Two
by Helen Fry
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