History of Swindon Town F.C. War Department requisitioned the County Ground for use as a Prisoner-of-war camp, Swindon Town as a football club effectively ceased to be for the duration. The club's assets and players were sold or transferred until the season restarted. Three Swindon Town F.C players—Alan Fowler, Willie Imrie and Dennis Olney—were killed in action during the war and are commemorated with a memorial inside the ground above the players tunnel. The post-war era saw Swindon competing in the lower divisions of the English League, though in 1963 the club was promoted to the Second Division after finishing 2nd in Division 3 in
Bert Lock same year, an association which lasted until 1932 when he joined Devon, becoming their head groundsman at the County Ground, Exeter. The war brought a break in his career as a groundsman, with Lock serving in the Royal Air Force. This was to prove a lucky twist of fate, when in May 1942 a Luftwaffe bomb hit his home, killing a guest staying there and several neighbours. Demobilised in 1945, he returned to the Oval. During the course of the war the Oval was used by the military. Originally prepared as a prisoner of war camp, the ground never saw