In February 1944 the population of the Leicestershire village of Lubenham, west of Market Harborough, more than doubled in size.
With the arrival of hundreds of Glider Artilleryman at their temporary camp at Papillon Hall, life in the village changed dramatically for its residents.
The 319th Glider Field Artillery Battalion, an Artillery support unit of the 82nd Airborne Division, occupied the hall itself, its stables, and Nissen huts constructed on site. After settling in, the men of the Battalion began to explore their surroundings and soon discovered Lubenhams quaint pubs, the Paget Arms and the Coach and Horses, both separated by just a few meters.
Above: Papillon Hall and a jeep of the 319th GFAB.
Aside from the Americans, the village also had to deal with the regular visit of airmen and ground crew from the nearby RAF Market Harborough and Husbands Bosworth, who often shared the establishments with the GIs and the locals, draining them of their rationed beer before closing time.
The Paget Arms, which closed its doors to the public in 1961 and became a private residence, was home to a table which the British and American service personnel carved their names, units, and badges into. With the closure of the pub, the table was, thankfully, saved from the skip and found a home for itself on the wall of the Coach and Horses, where it remained for nearly 60 years. That was until it was removed by a former landlord and taken to a pub in Peterborough.
I discovered through Nik Brown on Twitter that the table was gone, so contacted Everards (who own the pub) to find out what was being done to return the table back where it belongs. For Everards the position was difficult, as they did not own the table, but an inventory proved that the table was customer-owned and, therefore not subject to the sale of items when the franchise changed hands.
Cutting a long story very short, the involvement of Heritage Crimes officers from both Leicestershire and Cambridgeshire Police facilitated the safe return of the table, which was achieved at the end of March and is now safely back on its hook in the Coach and Horses pub in Lubenham.
In 2013, when I was researching for my book on the 82nd Airborne Divisions time in England, I discovered 11 names that I was able to link to members of the 319th GFAB, two of which were seriously wounded during WWII. As I write this, I am working on a display to be gifted to the pub containing information about each of these men.
Thanks must go to Nik Brown for raising the issue in the December of 2022, and to Ben Mayne for his help in reporting it to the Heritage Crimes Officer for Leicestershire, as well as Dan Hill and Lawrence Waller for their valued input on how best to deal with returning the table to Lubenham. Special thanks must also, of course, go to Rhiannon from Leicestershire Police, whose professionalism was vital to the table's safe return.
Me and my mini-me's admiring the table. The smile on my face tells a tale.
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