TWO brothers have flown into Britain to see an exhibition which features their father’s wartime exploits.
Alphonse Stibale was one of the US servicemen who worked at Hall Place, in Bourne Road, Bexley, during the Second World War.
He was one of a number of US soldiers billeted at the historic house, who were working with Bletchley Park trying to break the German Enigma codes.
Tom and Jim Stibale are two of Alphonse’s sons and they stumbled upon news of the exhibition through the internet when they found Geoff Heasom’s website about Bexley.
After their parents died, the children were left with all the family photos, including some of their father’s wartime pictures. And they remembered that he had spoken about working in “a castle” in England during the war.
Tom is a Fransciscan priest who lives in Florida, and Jim, from San Diego, works in computers.
They were about to set off on holiday to Europe, so when they heard about the Ultra exhibition, they decided to visit London to see it.
They made contact with Geoff, who with friend Dave Peacock, who used to work at Hall Place, arranged to meet the brothers at Bexley station and take them to Hall Place.
They had offered five of their father’s wartime photos to Hall Place and were thrilled to see three of them featured in the exhibition guide, said Mr Heasom.
“They were very impressed with Hall Place,” he added. “And with the exhibition.” They also saw a second wartime exhibition about evacuees.
After the Hall Place visit they went to lunch at Mr Heasom’s home before setting off back to London.
You can visit Mr Heasom’s Bexley Village website at btinternet.com/~argee.h
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