Wickham During the Second World War

1944

Wickham's location between Portsmouth and Winchester meant the village was part of the wider military landscape during the Second World War. In the build-up to D-Day in June 1944, troops and equipment were staged across Hampshire, and the lanes and fields around Wickham were not exempt from military activity. The nearby Droxford station on the Meon Valley line was used for a secret meeting between Churchill and allied leaders in a railway carriage. The village experienced the disruptions of wartime: rationing, blackouts, and the absence of men serving overseas.