Geoffrey Abbott Green

Known as 'Buller', Geoffrey Abbott Green was born in Fingringhoe Hall, where his father, Daniel Abbott Green, was the tenant farmer. The family farmed a large area in and around Fingringhoe including the Wick and Jaggers. As a young child Geoffrey had a picture of General Sir Redvers Buller in his bedroom and he insisted that he should be called Buller and he was known by that name for the rest of his life. As Buller grew up he became an excellent horseman, a fine shot and a keen wild fowler and would have spent many hours on the land around the Wick.

Buller was still at school in 1914 but was in the Officer Training Corps and as soon as he was old enough he was also commissioned into the Lancashire Fusiliers on 26th April 1917. His older brother Daniel Abbott had been killed near Beaumont Hamel on 13th November 1916 having been commissioned as an officer in the same regiment. After the First World War he returned home, got married, and started farming in Fingringhoe with his father.

When asked to set up the Auxiliary Unit in Fingringhoe, he called on his cousin Croyden who had served in the First World War as a Bombardier in the Royal Horse Artillery to be his second in command. In 1939 he is an ARP Warden

Buller’s wife did not like him talking about the war, so he said very little about what he did until she had died.