A Manor at War (1914-1918)
During World War One the Harlaxton Manor and grounds were used to instruct soldiers on tactics of trench warfare and artillery. Harlaxton Manor also became the home of two of the United Kingdom’s newest armed forces: The Machine Gun Corps and the Royal Flying Corps (who merged with the Royal Naval Air Service to become the Royal Air Force in 1918). The Machine Gun Corps practiced in Harlaxton Park (the land at the front of Harlaxton Manor), while the Royal Flying Corps opened a training aerodrome nearby in December 1916. Thomas Sherwin Pearson Gregory, who owned the manor during this time, felt it was his civic responsibility to aid in World War One by lending them the manor, as he himself was too old to fight. His son, Philip Pearson Gregory, became a major during WWI and earned the Military Cross.
Harlaxton Manor Archives 