Every old pub carries memories within its walls, but few can tell a story as moving as that of Captain John Myles Henry and his young wife, Pamela.
In December 1943, during the depths of the Second World War, the 10th Battalion of the Parachute Regiment arrived in the villages surrounding Burrough on the Hill. Many of its men had already spent around 18 months serving in North Africa, the Middle East and Italy. Among them was 23-year-old Captain John Myles Henry, the battalion’s Intelligence Officer.
Myles married Pamela Morris in London on 27 December 1943. Following a short honeymoon, the newlyweds arrived in a snowy Burrough on the Hill in early January 1944. Their first home together was not a house or military quarters — it was a room here at The Stag & Hounds.
Their First Married Home
At that time, the little village pub contained only two bedrooms: one for the landlord and landlady and the other for Myles and Pam.
Pam later remembered arriving to find the pub standing high on the hill, surrounded by snow-covered fields. Although winter winds battered its old walls outside, she recalled the warmth and traditional hospitality waiting within.
Their bedroom was small and almost entirely occupied by a large bed with a deep goose-feather mattress. Each morning, after Myles had left to perform his military duties, the landlady brought Pam a generous breakfast of bacon, eggs and sausages in bed — a remarkable luxury during wartime rationing.
In the evenings, Pam would listen for the sound of a jeep coming up the road, announcing Myles’s return. After dinner, fellow parachute officers gathered around the blazing fire in the pub’s little saloon bar. In the adjoining public bar, soldiers sat closely together on old oak settles, drinking beer, exchanging stories and filling the smoky rooms with laughter.
Among those remembered by Pam was Lionel Queripel, who would later be awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously for his extraordinary bravery at the Battle of Arnhem.
For a brief and precious period, The Stag & Hounds gave Myles and Pam warmth, friendship and something resembling an ordinary married life amid the uncertainty of war.
The Journey to Arnhem
On 18 September 1944, the 10th Battalion left for Spanhoe Airfield and flew to the Netherlands as part of Operation Market Garden — the campaign remembered as the Battle of Arnhem.
The fighting that followed was devastating. Of the 582 men who departed, only 36 returned two weeks later for the welcome-home gathering arranged in Somerby.
Myles was not among them. On 19 September 1944, while assisting a wounded soldier during the battalion’s withdrawal near Johannahoeve Farm at Oosterbeek, he was struck by machine-gun fire and killed. He was only 23 years old. His best man, Lieutenant Leslie Kiaer, was killed the following day. Both men now rest at the Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery in the Netherlands.
Pam’s Telegram
On 29 September, Pam received the telegram no military wife ever wished to see. It informed her that Myles was missing, believed killed.
The shock brought on her labour shortly afterwards, and their daughter, Anna, was born prematurely. Although initially very poorly, Anna survived.
Pam later remarried and made her home in Auckland, New Zealand. In her eighties, she recorded her memories in an autobiography entitled I’ve Had My Dance, preserving the story of her love for Myles and their brief but treasured married life together. Pam lived to celebrate her 100th birthday before passing away in September 2021.
Their Memory Lives Here
The Stag & Hounds was much more than temporary accommodation for Myles and Pam. For a few short months, it was their home — a place of newly married happiness, roaring fires, generous breakfasts, companionship and hope.
We are deeply honoured that our pub played even a small part in their lives. As we begin another chapter at The Stag & Hounds, we will continue to preserve and share their story. The framed memorial displayed within the pub reminds us that these historic walls have witnessed not only village life, but also love, courage, sacrifice and loss.
When you visit us and sit beside the fire with a drink in your hand, please take a moment to remember Myles, Pam and the brave members of the 10th Battalion who once gathered together in these very rooms.
Their laughter may have faded, but their story will always remain part of The Stag & Hounds.
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