Collection description:
Oxfordshire County Council Oral History Archive was created in 1991 when the Oxfordshire Studies service was established, bringing together separate collections of recordings built up by Oxfordshire Libraries and Oxfordshire Museums since the 1970s. The archive is seen as complementary to the other collections of the County's Museums & Heritage Service in that it provides a window on the past which is educational, informative and even inspirational; it also provides a focus for oral history activity throughout Oxfordshire. Recordings and transcripts are freely available for research purposes and the catalogue is now searchable on the web at www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/heritagesearch The archive comprises around 700 field recordings, some made by County Council staff and volunteers from the 1960s onwards and others the result of work by local groups and societies; it also includes over 3,000 BBC Radio Oxford recordings from 1970 onwards and around 400 transcripts.

Recordings relating to World War II:
120 (Total includes both recordings solely focused on wartime experience & life histories which include references to wartime experiences)

Subjects covered:
Home Front • Evacuees • British Army (Northern Europe) • Royal Air Force (Bomber Command & Fighter Command) • POWs (in German/Italian camps) • Women's Land Army • German POWs (in Allied camps) • Italian POWs (in Allied camps) • Other: Home Guard • Refugees

Access: 
Researchers can currently access the archive without restriction and free of charge at Oxfordshire Studies during the normal opening hours of the service: Mon, Fri, Sat 9-5; Tue, Thu 9-7; closed Wed, Sun. Prior notice may be needed if surrogate copies of original recordings still have to be made. Copies of recordings can be supplied for private use subject to copyright and order forms are available on the web at www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/orderforms
For up to date information please check www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/oxfordshirestudies

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Collection description:
2004.68 - series of tape recordings made by David Jeffery when writing "Petersfield at War".
2004.69 - recollections of D-Day landings. Audio cassette (backup of minidisc recording - master held at Hampshire Record Office)
2004.70 - recollections of D-Day landings. Audio cassette (backup of minidisc recording - master held at Hampshire Record Office)
2004.71 - recollections of D-Day landings. Audio cassette (backup of minidisc recording - master held at Hampshire Record Office)
2004.72 - audio cassette recording of childhood memories of Petersfield during WWII and of D-Day June 6 1944 (master held at Hampshire Record Office)
2004.73 - audio cassette recording of memories of WWII and D-Day.
2004.74 - audio cassette recording of memories of WWII and D-Day.

Recordings relating to World War II: 
7 (Recordings are solely focused on wartime experiences)

Subjects covered:
Not specified

Access:
Prior notice is required to access the collections

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Collection description:
Portsmouth Museums & Records Service includes the City Museum & Records Office, and the D-Day Museum. The Service collects oral history material relating to all aspects of the history of Portsmouth, and with reference to the D-Day Museum, material relating to D-Day and the Battle of Normandy. In total the Service holds around 1,500 oral history interviews, many of which were conducted as part of a Heritage Lottery Fund project. Of these, around 300 relate specifically or mainly to the Second World War. These include:

70 interviews with people who lived in wartime Portsmouth;
30 inteviews with former members of the local Home Guard;
150 interviews with mainly British D-Day veterans;
50 interviews conducted with D-Day veterans of all nationalities by the author Russell Miller in the early 1990s for his book "Nothing Less Than Victory. An Oral History of D-Day".

As well as the 300 war-related interviews mentioned above, many others cover a broader chronological period but do mention the war (such as, for example, some of the 455 interviews from the Portsmouth Royal Dockyard Historical Trust Collection, recorded with people who worked in the Dockyard and which are deposited with the Service).

In addition to the material described above, the D-Day Museum's archives also contain, as part of the Russell Miller collection, copies of transcripts of 50 oral history interviews conducted in the 1950s by Cornelius Ryan for his book "The Longest Day". The original interviews are now in the Cornelius Ryan Collection at Ohio University. These Ryan interviewees include Rommel’s adjutant Helmut Lang, and the German Naval C-in-C West, Admiral Theodor Krancke. In addition, this collection includes partial transcripts of 60 oral history interviews (or memoir-style self made recordings) of American D-Day veterans, the originals of which are held by the Eisenhower Centre. The D Day Museum website contains a number of extracts of transcriptions of recordings held in the Museum collection.

Recordings relating to World War II:
300 (Total includes both recordings solely focused on wartime experience & life histories which include references to wartime experiences)

Subjects covered:
Home Front • Evacuees • British Army (Northern Europe) • British Army (N. Africa/Italy) • British Army (unspecified) • Royal Navy • Royal Air Force (Bomber & Fighter Command) • WAAF (Women's Auxiliary Air Force) • WRNS (Women's Royal Naval Service) • ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service) • Women's Land Army • Canadian Armed Forces • American Armed Forces • German Armed Forces

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Collection description:
The Southampton City Council Oral History Unit has been interviewing local residents for a number of years, and two of their projects have focused specifically on wartime experiences:

Blitz in Southampton - memories of civilians who experienced the bombing 

D-Day - memories of the preparations in the Southampton area before the invasion of Normandy in June 1944

In addition, there are a number of recordings which were collected for other projects which include references to the war. Please contact the Unit for more details.

Recordings relating to World War II:
c. 60 (Total includes both recordings solely focused on wartime experience & life histories which include references to wartime experiences)

Subjects covered:
Home Front • Evacuees • British Army

Related products:
Southampton Blitz - the Unofficial Story. This book was written using interviews from the Blitz project. It is now out of print but is available second-hand via Amazon.

Southampton and D-Day. This book was the result of the D Day project. It is still available for sale from the Unit, or via Amazon.

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Collection description:
West Sussex Record Office Oral History Collection (WSRO OH Series)
Started in 1972. To create an archive for the county of West Sussex of recollections of events and ways of life within living memory. To complement other archive sources held in the Record Office. Interviews are recorded directly by the Record Office and are acquired from individuals, groups and societies within the county.

Recordings relating to World War II:
50 (Total includes both recordings solely focused on wartime experience & life histories which include references to wartime experiences)

Subjects covered:
Home Front • Evacuees • British Army (Northern Europe) • British Army (North Africa / Italy) • Royal Air Force (Fighter Command) • Prisoners of War (in German/Italian camps)

Format of recordings:
Audio - all or some with transcripts
Video - no transcripts
DVD (included within)

Additional notes:
A Home Front Recall project in 2005 produced 32 audio interviews of WW2 Home Front experiences. A reunion of WW2 evacuees was organised at Parham House, West Sussex, in 2005 and produced audio and DVD recordings. Our Oral History collection as a whole extends to 1000 tapes. These include general recollections of life in the county plus recorded magazine programmes for the local area talking news for the blind. Many of these include wartime reminiscences. The Record Office has, of course, other archive sources to complement the recorded wartime recollections.

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