Briggens House

Robert Chester, a director of the South Sea Company bought it in 1706 who made many substantial changes to the house and grounds, commissioning Charles Bridgeman to work on the gardens.

[4] The house was requisitioned to train elite fighting troops known as the Cichociemni, (Silent and Unseen) selected from the Polish Home Army that had escaped to Britain.

[4] This section was begun by three Polish forgers in the cellar of Briggens House, and quickly expanded when SOE obtained Britain’s most experienced printers, engravers and artists.

This unique group was recruited and led by Commanding Officer Captain Morton Grainger Bisset, a highly specialised printer, to provide a multitude of forged documents to enable agents with false identities to operate in occupied countries without being captured.

[3] The passports, identity cards, work permits, ration books and driving licences needed to be perfect to fool the Nazi SS and police at border and random check-points.