Marlow at War

Marlow has long been an important town in Buckinghamshire. Lying by a crossing on the River Thames, the thriving market town was preparing for war by the late 1930s, similarly to the rest of the country. For the six long years of the Second World War, from 1939 to 1945, the inhabitants of Marlow were to experience the often devastating effects of war alongside day-to-day hardships and the movement of people to and away from the town. At the same time, there was a strong sense of civic belonging and many industries such as brewing and river trade continued under wartime working conditions and institutions such as the church, scouts, cadets and rotary club nourished local patriotism. In this book, local author Julian Dutton explores the tribulations of the times to show how the town and its inhabitants lived through this most testing period.

Marlow at War pays tribute to the people of this Buckinghamshire town who served, died and lived through the Second World War, and how they managed to endure in the face of the horrors of war. It features many personal accounts of experiences of the oldest inhabitants, as well as archive history from interviews, journals, and newspaper articles.