Share Your Story
Second World War Digital Collections Day
Saturday 1st April 2023, 11am – 3pm
Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum, Park Street, Woodstock, OX20 1SN
Admission: FREE
Join us at SOFO Museum to share your Second World War stories, photos and items – we’ll record your stories and photograph your objects to add to the Their Finest Hour online archive.
The museum will open to visitors free of charge throughout the day and will be hosting a range of other 1940s experiences, including living history displays, a replica Anderson Shelter, The Art of World War II and Aces High Gallery exhibitions and much more.
Contact:
Phone: 01993 810 210
E-mail: frontofhouse@sofo.org.uk
Website: www.sofo.org.uk
For parking please scroll down
Groups and displays joining us for the day are:
Doing Their Bit, Life on the Home Front
We will be concentrating on the role of women and children during WW2 and life on the Home Front, covering some of the more unusual and mostly forgotten organisations including, Housewives Service, Girl Guides, Women’s Junior Air Corps, Girls’ Life Brigade, as well as women’s involvement in the ARP, Civil Defence, Air Transportation Auxiliary, Women’s Voluntary Service etc. We are also covering many aspects of the Home Front, food and clothes rationing, come and try some wartime recipes and find out if you could have survived on rations. We are very happy to chat about anything to do the the Home Front. We are local historians and WW2 re-enactors, giving many talks locally and exhibiting at 1940s events all over the country.
Oxfordshire Home Guard
The very well known Oxfordshire Home Guard Living History Group will be in attendance and will be putting on some very interesting displays. The group is dedicated to the memory of those men who, during World War 2 volunteered their services when the invasion of Great Britain was a very real threat.
The group’s aim is to preserve and promote the memory of the Home Guard.
Special Operations Executive
Bill and Flora King are showing their fascinating display featuring weapons, sabotage and demolition materials and devices, communications equipment and specialist items of clothing used by members of Auxiliary Units, Special Operations Executive and resistance cells. It is a truly remarkable display which cannot be seen in any museum.
Ham and Jam
Originally formed in 2019 as a “one man show” Ham and Jam has grown considerably and represents various units from British 6 Airborne Division in WW2, including 2 Oxf and Bucks, 7 & 9 Battalions the Parachute Regiment and the Glider Pilot Regiment.
Also attending will be:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Army Chaplaincy Museum
Brize Norton Heritage
Gilder Pilot Regiment Society
Stephen Berridge Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum Volunteer/ Second World War memorabilia display
Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum Friends
Iraqi Women, Art & War Pop-Up Cafe
Exhibitions
The Art of World War II: The John Noott Collection
Aces High Gallery – Specialists in military and aviation fine art prints, autographed by veterans and artists
Replica Second World War Anderson Shelter
Directions and Parking
The SOFO Museum is located in Park Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire and is behind the Oxfordshire Museum. Go through the entrance to the Oxfordshire Museum and the SOFO Museum is at the back of the lovely gardens.
Event parking is available at Blenheim Palace main entrance on A44. The car park is half a mile from the museum through Blenheim’s Woodstock Town gate (see map). Mention that you are attending the SOFO Museum Collections Day when driving into Blenheim Palace.
There are some parking options in town.
Woodstock’s free, Long Stay Car Park is on Hensington Road, a 10 minute walk from the museum.
Sat Nav: OX20 1JQ
Disabled and Short Stay (1 – 3 hour) spaces can be found right outside the museum on Park Street
Photos from the museum:
