ENIGMA 2000 Newsletter - Issue 22

May 2004
Articles, newsreports and Items of interest :enigma2000-owner@yahoogroups.com

ENIGMA 2000 article - The Czechoslovakian government in exile - WWII

Now we move on to a historic piece written by JoA as a result of his personal research., images are ONLY available from the ENIGMA 2000 Numbers Group. Please read the copyright statement regarding the use of these images.

JoA had an interesting tour around the villages of Aston Abbotts & Wingrave, near Aylesbury, and he reports:

When Nazi Germany occupied the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia in 1938, Edvard Benes, the Czech president, resigned, and after a period in Chicago as a university lecturer, came to London at the beginning of World War II where he assumed the presidency of the Czech government-in-exile, first living in the Putney area of London, but at the height of the blitz he and Mrs Benes were persuaded to move out of London, this being fortunate as a few days after having left Putney their house was bombed.

"The Abbey" a large mansion at Aston Abbotts was requisitioned for use by them and members of the Czech cabinet. Other members of the Czech government, including the foreign minister Jan Masaryk were housed at "Wingrave Manor" known during the war as "Mount Talbot" in the village of Wingrave, 2 miles to the east of Aston Abbotts and on the other side of the main A418 road.

President Benes and his ministers travelled frequently to the Czech Embassy in London, however he had many official visitors at The Abbey and a great deal of business was obviously conducted there, and in particular it must be assumed that many aspects of the planning of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, Head of the Reich Security Service, Chairman of the Wannsee Conference on the "Final Solution", and Reichprotektor of Bohemia & Moravia, took place in The Abbey. In May 1942 this led to men of the Czech Resistance being dropped by parachute in the vicinity of Prague. SOE trained sergeants Jan Kubis & Joseph Gabcik attacked Heydrich's open topped car at a bend where the car slowed down. Gabcik's Sten gun jammed and failed to fire, but a grenade thrown by Kubis fatally wounded Heydrich who died a few days later. Although the assassination was successful, it, unfortunately, resulted in repercussions, including 1,300 who were executed in reprisal, including Kubis & Gabcik who were found hiding in a church, and the whole male population of the village of Lidice were massacred, women and children being deported east, and the village razed to the ground.

President Benes had his own bodyguard of Czech soldiers who were housed in two Nissen huts in the grounds of The Abbey. These Nissen huts are still in existence today.

Relations between the Czechs and local people of Aston Abbotts were very good, the soldiers playing games with the children, and enjoying the whisky at "The Bull & Butcher" pub. President Benes felt great affection & gratitude for Aston Abbotts and when he left to return home at the end of the war he gave certain gifts to the village: a lime tree at the entrance to The Abbey, a globe to the children of the village school; which is now in the collection of The Bucks. County Museum [which can be viewed by appointment] and the brick bus shelter between the two villages at the crossroads on the A418. The shelter has a plaque on it stating: "This bus shelter was donated by President Benes of Czechoslovakia to thank the people of Aston Abbotts & Wingrave whilst he and his cabinet were in exile here during World War II."

Photographs of The Abbey, President Benes with Foreign Minister Masaryk, Czech soldiers, Nissen huts and the bus shelter are in the photo section of e2k group web-site.

Although the photo of Benes & Masaryk shows microphones, it is not thought that actual transmissions emanated directly from Aston Abbotts. A transmitting facility situated in a large bungalow known as "Funny Neuk" at Woldingham, Surrey, originally being one of many huts of an army camp dating from 1914, was used for a while by MI6-section VIII at the beginning of WWII.

Interestingly "Funny Neuk" was listed in the 1938 electoral roll as being occupied by Admiral Sir Hugh Sinclair - "C" Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service. "Funny Neuk" was handed over to Czech Intelligence in May 1940 as their communications centre, MI6-section VIII then operating from Whaddon, Buckinghamshire. The facility at "Funny Neuk" was directly involved with the episode of the Czech agents parachuted into Prague. The bungalow was demolished in 1998.

On defeat of Germany in 1945 Edvard Benes returned to Prague and became head of the second Czechoslovak Republic, but in February 1948 the Communists took power by means of a ‘coup d’ etat’.

In June Benes resigned once more and died in Sezimovo Usti on 3^rd September 1948 by causes not shown in the available literature.

He had, not long before his death, attended the funeral of Jan Masark who died in mysterious circumstances by falling out of a high window

Please note that The Abbey is a private residence and the Nissen huts are on private property and that visitors are not particularly welcome.

Sources, and thanks to:

"Aston Abbotts History Group"
Colin Higgs, Aston Abbotts
Sarah Corcoran, Aylesbury
Dr Catherine Weston, Bucks Co Museum
"Encyclopaedia of 3rd. Reich" by Louis L Snyder
"Hitler's 3rd. Reich" Publisher: Stan Morse
"The Secret Wireless War" by Geoffrey Pidgeon

ENIGMA 2000 acknowledge the use of two images taken from ‘Aston Abbotts 1000 – 2000 A Village History’ ISBN 0 9357496 0 6 [Fig 38, page 87 and Fig 39, page 88] and published by the Aston Abbotts History Group.

“With the exception of the photographs, and any other material identified in the text as originating elsewhere, any part of this publication may be reproduced elsewhere with appropriate acknowledgement”

[Tnx J of Aylesbury]