Acquisition by the National Trust
In the 1950s, the Bradenham Estate was acquired by philanthropist Ernest Edward Cook, the grandson of Thomas Cook, the travel entrepreneur. The Earnest Cook Trust donated the entire estate to the National Trust in 1956. The donation included the village, the manor house, the Red Lion, and 80 acres of woodland and 450 acres of farmland.
Second World War
In the late 1930s, with war increasingly likely, plans were drawn up for the RAF High Command Headquarters at Walter’s Ash (now RAF High Wycombe). Building started in 1938 and the base was occupied from 1940. The site was selected for its remoteness and for the opportunity to hide and disguise buildings in the dense beech woodland. The buildings were designed to variously look like a town hall, church, haystacks, village houses and a manor house, when viewed from the air, with hidden tunnels between the blocks. The Operations Block was a large concrete block, 17 metres below ground. Sir Arthur 'Bomber' Harris was commanding officer from 1942. From here, his plans included bombing of Cologne, Dresden and other German cities, as well as the “Dambuster” raid in the Ruhr Valley. King George VI visited the base twice, once with the princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, some 400 years since the first Queen Elizabeth visited Bradenham.