Bertram Mills, born in 1873, was brought up on a small farm in Chalfont St Giles. His father was an undertaker and used the farm as a place to rest his horses. As a teenager Bertram developed an equestrian affinity and was soon driving a four-in-hand between Oxford and London.
He was in the RAMC in WW I, retiring as a Captain, and it was only then that he bet a friend that he could start a circus. As you may remember it was a jolly good one. I was taken to a circus in Dublin one summer around 1960 and it may have been Bertram Mills. He is buried in the graveyard at Chalfont St Giles.
I am a little disappointed by his simple memorial cross, having expected something more flamboyant reflecting his profession. His son, Cyril, served in MI5 in WW II which leads us to a bench outside the church porch.
Golombek for most of his life was a chess grandmaster and a chess correspondent but in WW II worked in Hut 8 at Bletchley Park. He used to play chess with Alan Turing there and after giving him a Queen start, he always beat him. After the war he lived in Albion Crescent at Chalfont St Giles.