AN AMATEUR historian from Witney who carried out a research project on local soldiers who fought and died in the two world wars has now published a second book.

After the success of his debut – Remembered: The Men on the War Memorials of Witney, Crawley and Hailey Volume 1 1914-1919 – Jeff Clements has now finished Volume II, this time featuring the lives of 35 men who fought and died in the Second World War.

Mr Clements, 46, a prison guard, did all the research in his spare time, and is delighted the latest book will go on sale at Blackwell’s in Oxford and Waterstones in Witney from tomorrow.

Mr Clements said: “It started in 2009 when my father, a few friends and I went on a battlefield tour in France and Belgium.

“We visited the museums and the cemeteries and when we came back, I googled Witney War Memorial. Nothing came up – there was nothing online.

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“I thought that was strange so I got the list of names and four years later I published the book.”

Mr Clements, who lives with his wife Wendy and four children, said the second book was even more emotional to write than the first, as he interviewed the families of those who died.

He added: “I got to speak to people who remembered these men and had known them.

“I spoke to widows, sisters, brothers, children, nephews, nieces – close family members.

“The sad thing is that some people I spoke to have passed away and will never get to see the book.”

Mr Clements is grateful to Donald Garner, of Witney, who has spent the last few years reading everything he has written many times before it is published.

Mr Clements said: “He has been a massive help and I have kept him busy. He celebrated his 89th birthday last Friday.”

Among the men mentioned in the new book is Witney soldier Ted Bishop, who died during a flash flood in Austria while trying to save a child caught in the water. He is remembered by local Austrians as a hero.

Also included is Jimmy Marriott, the only son of Fred Marriott, of the family blanket making industry, who was with the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry on D-Day.

In just over a year of being mobilised, he won the George Medal for gallantry and the Royal Society’s Bronze Medal. He was killed in Normandy in June 1944.

Sgt Jimmy Hadland, who used to live in Corn Street, joined 76 Squadron in November 1943.

In January 1944 his bomber was one of 768 aircraft to attack Berlin. His plane was shot down and none of the crew survived.

Lance Corporal Harold ‘Dick’ Simpson of the Royal Marines from Witney served in North Africa and the Mediterranean before returning to the UK in preparation for D-Day.

Witney Trooper Roy Painter of the Royal Tank Regiment trained as a tank driver and was sent to France after D-Day to take part in the Battle of Normandy.

Lance Corporal Edward Robinson from Hailey worked at the glove making factory of Pritchett & Co before joining the Army in 1940. He was part of the assault force in the Rhine Crossing but was killed in 1945.

Ordinary Seaman Ken Billett was the son of the caretaker of Witney’s Wesleyan School.

A former Boys’ Brigade member, Ken volunteered for the Royal Navy on the outbreak of war.

In1940 he was aboard the destroyer HMS Glowworm off the coast of Norway when it came across the German heavy cruiser, Admiral Hipper.

Only 31 Royal Naval crewmen survived the engagement, and OS Billett was not one of them.

But the captain of the German vessel was so impressed with the tenacity of the Glowworm’s crew he sent a message to the Admiralty, via the Red Cross, recommending the captain of the destroyer for a Victoria Cross – the only time such a recommendation has been made by an enemy.

Sergeant Wallace Gregory of Crawley was a member of the Territorial Army and mobilised on the outbreak of war.

Posted to 7th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment, he served in France and Belgium before being evacuated from Dunkirk. He was killed in 1944.

The writer is considering a revised version of his First World War book as many people got in touch after it was published with more photos and stories.

Anyone with information on the men Mr Clements has researched in Witney can contact him on witneywarmemorial@hotmail.co.uk