PHOTOGRAPHS from private family albums have revealed Blenheim Palace was used as a secret testing ground in the lead-up to D-Day.

Images show two separate amphibious vehicles being tested on the Palace lake.

It is believed the Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill, was chosen due to its proximity to Oxford where Morris-Commercial Cars, which built the vehicles, was based.

The Estate’s relative privacy and the fact it was so familiar to the Prime Minister are also likely to have played a part in the decision to use it for testing.

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The Palace’s researcher Antonia Keaney said: “The images offer an absolutely fascinating glimpse into Blenheim Palace’s clandestine role during the Second World War.

“The secrecy surrounding the trials was such that, even today, it is extremely difficult to find out many details of exactly what took place and when.”

The images show two different prototype craft - the Argosy and the Neptune - and are part of Blenheim’s online VE Day celebrations.

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One photo even features the 11th Duke of Marlborough, then Lord Blandford, and his sister Lady Rosemary on board one of the vehicles.

Neither vehicle eventually took part in the landings, although the Neptune did serve in the Middle East.

The vehicles are remembered for the role they played as rescue vessels during the East Anglia floods in 1953, which left 307 people dead and 40,000 homeless.