This book has been one of the most ambitious projects I have undertaken and I could not have completed it without the help, support, advice and good humour of a very large number of people. I have chosen to mention them in connection with the house they were concerned with, though several were of course involved right across the book. Any errors are my responsibility.
Jim Crace, the novelist, inspired me to research the story of Brocket Hall during the war as he was born in the Ribbentrop bedroom in 1947, something that made an indelible impression on him. The full story could not have been told without the brilliant website for the Brocket Babies, managed by David Green. Of those whose stories have contributed to the chapter I thank warmly Alan Brocket Lowe, Janice Hawker, Julie Bloomfield, Les Cook, June Godby, Mo Neate, Barbara Perry and Timothy Reeves. Terry Morris, Mary de Soyres and Andy Chapman of the Lemsford Local History Group were very generous with their research and support.
Waddesdon Manor is run by the National Trust and the archives are outstanding. The archivist, Catherine Taylor, could not have been more generous or welcoming and I spent many hours in the magnificent Rothschild archive building. Thanks are also due to Pippa Shirley, head of collections and gardens and Nicola Tinsley, Waddesdon’s photo librarian.
I first visited Aldenham Park in 2015 and met the present owner, Hettie Fenwick. Since then I have met members of the Acton family who have read and made tweaks to the story of their ancestral home, sharing their memories of their parents and Father Ronald Knox. My warm thanks go to Edward Acton, Pelline Marffy and Jane Smiley. The nuns of the Assumption live in St James’s Square and Sister John-Mary made me welcome when she showed me the archive and introduced me to a number of old girls: Alannah Dowling, Nicola McCaskie, and Faine Meynell kindly shared their memories.
Malvern College’s retired archivist, Ian Quickfall, has an encyclopaedic memory and knack of bringing the best stories to my attention, for which I am most grateful. Paul Godsland and Syd Hill have also been helpful in tracking down statistics and photographs. Tace Fox at Harrow gave me material from the archives there and Sir Stephen Brown talked to me about life at Malvern and Harrow in the 1940s. Louise Locock kindly let me use her father’s memoir written for his grandson in 2000. She said he would be amused to appear on the same page as Winston Churchill.
Lord and Lady Howick were hospitable and generous in letting me stay at Howick Hall and rummage through their photograph albums at leisure. Anne Dawnay remembered the hall during the war and told me some amusing stories. A thank you is extended to Avril and Arthur Meakin who were helpful to me at every turn whether sharing their own research, helping me to get photographs taken or rescuing me from Alnwick station in the pouring rain. Extracts from the diaries of Lady Sybil Middleton are reproduced in the book with kind permission from Simon Boyd, Caroline Boyd, James Boyd and Diana Braithwaite from the estate of Lady Sybil Middleton.
Upton House in Warwickshire was gifted to the National Trust by Lord and Lady Bearsted. NT volunteer Charlie Cox was particularly kind to me on my visit. My thanks also to Michelle Leake and Jane Roughley of the National Trust and to Robert Whaley Cohen, who was able to give me a little insight into the most private of men, Lord Bearsted. Family members of wartime banking staff kindly spoke to me about their parents: Patrick Hope Falkner, Philippa Munday, Charles Tubbs and Ruth Liss. Mark Summers explained the workings of a merchant bank, for which I am very grateful.
I first visited Coleshill House in 2013 with Dr John Forster. I have been in contact Bill Ashby, Nina Hannaford and Tom Sykes, all members of CART (Coleshill Auxiliary Research Team), who help to run the British Resistance Archive. Thank you all.
My visit to northern Scotland remains one of the highlights of my research for this book. I am grateful to Sarah Winnington-Ingram at Arisaig House who looked after us and let us look through the map chest that contained plans of the house with wartime annotations including the pistol gallery in the servants’ quarters. I was fortunate to meet Donald Cameron of Lochiel in his ancestral home of Achnacarry Castle and also Christine Falconer at Achdalieu who were both very generous with their time. My thanks to Michael Gubbins who gave permission for me to quote from his grandfather, Sir Colin McVean Gubbins’ papers at Imperial War Museum, London.
My interest in the Czechoslovak forces in the UK and subsequently the whole story of the Czech government in exile was piqued by a conversation in 2015 with the manager of the Cholmondeley Estate, James Hall. I met Neil Rees, who shared the history of the Czechs in exile. My dear friend, Ingram Murray, shared his vast knowledge of the Second World War and kindly read this and other chapters.
Bignor Manor is a private house in Sussex. I thank the current owner for letting me visit in 2016. The team at RAF Tangmere have been helpful and I thank Dudley Hooley for sourcing images for me. I also wish to thank Father Jerome Bertram for permission to use excerpts from his parent’s papers.
Ian Valentine’s book on the war years at Audley House is outstanding and I am grateful to him for letting me use excerpts from it. I also thank Chris Bozejewicz from the Polish Underground Movement Study Trust and Sarah Turpin at Saffron Walden Library.
Melford Hall is owned by the National Trust. My thanks to Sir Richard and Jeanie Hyde Parker for allowing me to interview them along with Sir Richard’s sister, Lady Camoys. Trudi Jefferis of the National Trust showed me wartime memorabilia that had been found beneath the floorboards and John Toosey, my cousin, was a very entertaining host when I was weary of research.
Others who have helped with their time and expertise are Justine Hobson, Melanie Bryan and Toby Keel of Country Life; Simon Offord, Richard Hughes and members of the Department of Documents at Imperial War Museum, London; Rachael Merrison at Cheltenham College.
Friends and family have answered endless queries over the last four years: Jane Summers and Leonoragh Teak helped me with Gaelic translations; Martin Poole showed me how a Sten gun works or indeed fails to work; Paul and Brenda Carden, Roger Barrington, Graham Ives, Andy Ballingall, Naomi Sharma and Owen Whittaker cheered me along and my great friend and fellow author, Diane Setterfield, offered an expert ear and a kind hug when the book felt unwieldy. There can be no substitute for someone who understands, truly, what writers go through.
Alex Harrison helped me for several months working in the Red Cross archives and at the National Archives. He has an excellent nose for a good story and I really appreciated his skill. Stephen Rockcliffe also helped to dig out extra details as did Florence Smith. Francine Fletcher told me the story of Tyneham. Kate Ogilvy read an early draft and my father Peter helped with proof reading.
The team at Simon & Schuster have been exceptionally supportive. Iain MacGregor, my editor, challenged me with great tact and lots of enthusiasm which I appreciate immensely. Suzanne Baboneau has been a good friend and support throughout. Liz Marvin copy-edited with patience. Catherine Clarke, my literary agent, is so positive and encouraging: I cannot thank her enough. And thanks also go to Michele Topham and Jackie Head at Felicity Bryan Agency who were sane voices when I needed them.
The book is dedicated to the memory of Helena Pozniak, known to us all our childhood as Mrs P. She was a refugee from Poland who came to Britain with her four sons, one of them a babe in arms, during the war. A true lady, a deeply wonderful human being and an eternal optimist, she represented for me everything that I admire about Poland and its people.
Finally, none of this could have been achieved without the emotional support and wicked humour of my family. Simon, Richard and Sandy are wonderfully encouraging and my husband Chris, who puts up with hours of pillow talk, will finally get to read this book when it appears in hardback. Thanks boys. You’re fantastic.