Marston Hall
Brigadier General Paul Williams (left) and his Aide de Camp, Major Tom Lightfoot, outside the entrance to their quarters at Marston Hall in May 1944. (From the collection of Paul Williams, via Adam Berry)
This ancient hall echoes with history!
Marston Hall is a time-capsule boasting a 1,000-year history stretching through the Civil War and key World War II milestones - and is still welcoming visitors today.
It was within its in peace and quiet that Brigadier General Paul Williams (promoted Major General in August 1944) resided as commander of the US IX Troop Carrier Command, whose men and aircraft occupied the giant US airfields ringing Grantham. By the end of May 1944, IX Troop Carrier Command had 1,116 crews and 1,207 operational transport aircraft available, and 1,118 Waco CG-4A gliders and 301 British-made Horsa gliders.1
IX Troop Carrier Command's Headquarters was at St Vincent’s Hall in Grantham from 1 December 1943 until 20 September 1944, when it moved to Sunninghill Park in Ascot and remained there until 5 September 1945.
Marston Hall’s front door is unchanged from 1944, giving way to luxurious and atmospheric accommodation with roaring fires and history at every turn.
For information on how to book accommodation at Marston Hall, please click here:
- 1
John Warren, Airborne Operations in World War II, European Theater, Defense Technical Information Center (1956) <https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA438105.pdf> [accessed 8 December 2024],19.