One and a half thousand wheelchair athletes and officials from 43 nations were never going to fit into the existing 'Olympic village'. Some slept in hospital beds on the wards; others were distributed out to Mandeville School (Japanese team), the local agricultural college (Israeli team) and RAF Halton camp (American team); games officials ended up further afield in Thame and High Wycombe. Smaller national teams might stay in the spare rooms of local people's homes with their coaches and trainers camped in the garden. The Icelandic team, seen opposite, stayed with Rob and Mavis King at their house in Stoke Mandeville.
"The GB team stayed at William Harding School in Aylesbury and I remember we couldn’t use the school toilets (we being disabled and the loos being very small ) and we had to wait a couple of days for the portaloos to be delivered!" Martin, athlete