Field Marshal Montgomery and Amesbury
In 1944 Amesbury had become Montgomery’s Rear HQ. A plaque was put on the door of his room in the headmaster’s house with the 21st Army Group sign and it was here and in the summerhouse in the remembrance garden that he was visited by his staff and generals. Here he also made his final plans for D-Day.
Realising how important it was that he should not, like Churchill, disappoint his generals, Monty decided to go down to Amesbury for a few days [the first week of April 1944]. There in the seclusion of the Reynolds’ school, he cast his mind over the events and personalities with which and with whom he had been associated over the past three months. ‘I have a lot of thinking to do and notes to make, and I would like to sit quietly alone on Saturday and most of Sunday too’, he warned Reynolds.
On 5 June 1944 Montgomery dined at Amesbury before leaving for Normandy. That evening, Monty drove up to Hindhead to see the Reynolds and to make “final arrangements” regarding his son David. Reynolds retired four years later, being replaced as headmaster by A. G. Peel.
Melvin ‘Dinghy’ Young
Melvin attended Amesbury in the late 1920s. Whilst at school, he wasn’t particularly brilliant at football/rugby/cricket – but he did go on to be in the Oxford boat in the 1938 Boat Race, and win.
He voluntarily entered a new interschool spelling competition, getting 64 out of 100 words correct. People who knew him said he worked hard and had a good sense of humour.
In May 1943, he was one of the top three bomber pilots involved in the Dambuster Raid -only these three men knew of the mission even just the day before the squadron flew. This is how important he was considered. He only flew a Lancaster bomber for the first time two months before the mission.
His nickname was ‘Dinghy’ because he had ditched into the sea twice before, including 22 hours spent drifting with his crew in the Atlantic, before being picked up by a ship.
His crew AJ-A (Apple) was shot down over the Dutch coast after their successful raid, just 20 minutes flight from home.
16th /17th May is the anniversary of the Dambuster Raid, and on this day 2025 a new blue plaque to honour his life and contribution to the war is unveiled at Amesbury School.
Earlier in May 2025 the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight honoured Dinghy by flying a Lancaster Bomber three times over Amesbury School on their return flight to Lincolnshire following the VE80th Anniversary celebrations. A moment in history the children will never forget.
Here is a detailed booklet on Melvin ‘Dinghy’ Young’s life written by Amesbury Teacher, Tory Wiklund