Bath Area Auxiliary Units - Bob Millard

In August 1940 I left the Civil Defence where I was a messenger with the Fire Service to join the Bathampton Platoon of the L.D.V., later the Home Guard, and here I met Anthony Bentley-Hunt. In October he suggested that if I was interested in joining something more exciting than the Home Guard I should go with him to meet a Jack Wyld who lived in Bathwick Street. On meeting Jack Wyld I was questioned in detail about my family and knowledge of the local area and told to come back in a week. When I returned I was sworn to secrecy and told about the Auxiliary Units. Due to the clandestine nature of these units information was limited and very much on the "need to know" basis. It was not until a reunion at Coleshill on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of their stand-down in November 1994 did the true nature of the organisation become apparent.

Recorded information on the Auxiliary Units is scarce so the information about their activities in the Bath area in these notes is mostly based on my recollections and those of other local members met at reunions. Unless doubt is expressed these facts are as accurate as memories can be. For any one desiring a wider picture I have attached a bibliography of current publications and the address of the British Resistance Organisation Museum.

Fortunately the Auxiliary Units were never tested but were, in the words of their motto, "Ready to serve if called".

R.W.Millard. January 2001

Introduction

Regional Organisation

Local Auxiliary Units

City Patrols

Admiralty Patrols

Bibliography

Introduction

In 1940 a German invasion of Great Britain seemed more than a remote possibility. As the experts on subversion, Section D and MI(R) were called upon to set up a resistance organisation under the control of GHQ Home Forces.  Colonel Colin Gubbins was placed in charge (1).

 The units in this organisation were called Auxiliary Units, a term used within the armed forces but having no specific connotation. The country was divided into three administrative battalions, 201 covering the North of England and Scotland, 202 East Anglia and the South East and 203 covering the West Country and Wales. Within these areas patrols of between three and six men were recruited from people with a good knowledge of the area. Before being approached individuals were carefully vetted and, on acceptance, had to sign the Official Secrets Act. Each member received training in guerrilla tactics and the use of explosives at Coleshill Manor, Highworth, near Swindon (2). 

Each patrol had designated targets and was to operate from a specially prepared hideout. Owing to the secret nature of this organisation few factual records appear to exist but current estimates give the numbers of guerrillas trained as being between three and five thousand.

As well as the operational units a clandestine signals network was also set up with the aid of the Royal Signals (3). Many operators were women. Hearsay evidence from an A.U. reunion suggests that it is possible one centre was in Queen’s Square, Bath.

Regional Organisation

Intelligence officers were sent around the country to establish A.U.s. One was Alan Crick who was sent to Somerset and Dorset to organise Auxiliary Units (Obituary, Times, 9 November 1995).

Captain Ian Fenwick commanded Somerset Auxiliary Units from 28, Monmouth Street, Bridgewater. This H.Q. later moved to The Lodge, Bishop’s Lydeard, near Taunton. Stores were held at Bishop’s Lydeard. Further organisational details can be found in Donald Brown’s book, “Somerset versus Hitler” (4).

Brigadier Major compiled the following figures from his personal diaries and they give an indication of the extent of the operational side of the Somersetshire Auxiliary Units in 1942 (2).

Local Auxiliary Units

No definitive nominal roll for Auxiliary Units appears to exist, however there is a Public Records Office file, WO199/3390, which lists some names.

Although the Auxiliary Units had no operational connection with the Home Guard this document lists names under the local Home Guard battalion numbers, possibly for security reasons so that Auxiliary Units would not be separately identified. Bath had two groups; a City group listed under 5th. Bath City Bn. and an Admirably group listed under 6th. Bath Admiralty Bn.

City Patrols

There were at least five City Patrols, Swainswick, Bathampton, Weston, Englishcombe and Southstoke. These patrols were commanded by Capt. Malcolm T. Shackell (Swainswick Patrol) and Lt. W.R.Hornett. Some members of these patrols are listed under 5th Bath City Bn. in the PRO file WO199/3390.

Swainswick Patrol

This patrol had its hideout in the south comer of Bare Wood just below the Gloucester Road (GR753695). John Shackell, patrol member and nephew of W.T.Shackell, confirms this location. The major objective for the patrol was Colerne airfield. The following are known members of the patrol:-

Bathampton Patrol

This patrol had its hideout in one of the stone mines on Hampton Rocks (GR778651). Although the adjacent area has changed through collapse the original entrance can still be distinguished. This was just large enough for a person to squeeze through before it opened up into a cavern and was camouflaged by a stone slab. The objectives for this patrol were the railway junction at Bathampton and Claverton Manor, if occupied by the Germans. Secondary areas for possible sabotage were the engine sheds at Green Park station and Colerne airfield. The following are known members of the patrol :-

Besides its hideout the patrol had an arms/explosives dump in what had been the explosives store of a disused quarry on the edge of Claverton Down, near the top of Widcombe Hill (GR769639). This store was damaged in the raid of 26 April 1942 and its contents were then transferred to Manor Farm, Swainswick.

Weston Patrol

No information on this patrol is available. John Shackell, who in 1999 unsuccessfully attempted to locate former members, knew of its existence. A name he associates with this patrol is Maurice Chubb.

Englishcombe Patrol

This patrol had its hideout in Kilkenny Wood (Middle Wood), Englishcombe. It was an Elephant Shelter buried in the bottom right hand corner of Middle Wood (GR 727617) close to Kilkenny Cottages. Today (2003) the O.B. is partially collapsed, overgrown with thorn bushes and contains a badger set. The following are known members of the patrol: -

Tim Wray, Researcher into Somerset A.U.s, who obtained it from Mr. L.Wyatt, Manor Farm, Englishcombe, supplied this information.

Southstoke Patrol

Although Donald Brown (4) attributes the Southstoke hideout to an Admiralty patrol it would appear to have been used by a patrol under the command of Captain M.Shackell. In an article by Jacqueline Williams in the Star July 12 2000 she refers to a Len Marsh as a patrol member. A Leonard Richard Marsh appears in the PRO File WO 199/3390 under the 5^th Bath City Bn.

Donald Brown (4) mentions a possible base in Milsom Street, Bath. Conversations with Mevyn Powney, Midsomer Norton Patrol, who visited premises in Milsom Street, suggest that this was not an OB but a meeting place for patrols under Captain Shackell’s command. This venue has been identified as a shop known at the time as Mary’s Gown Shop. This is supported by the fact that the owner of the shop was an acquaintance of Sgt. J Giles of the Bathampton patrol and who lived in Tadwick, the village next to Swainswick where Captain Shackell lived.

The secret nature of the Auxiliary Units meant few records were kept and those that were are often incomplete. The list WO199/3390 omits names of persons known to have been in the Bathampton Patrol and includes others not identified with this patrol or the Swainswick Patrol. Some of these might have been members of the Weston Patrol or even of a fourth, so far unidentified, City Patrol.

Other names known to be associated with the City Patrols are John Goddard and Bert Dolman

Personal notes on the Bathampton Patrol

One weekend in September 1940 the Bathampton H.G. Platoon was put on standby at its post near the Dry Arch on the Warminster Road because of the fear of an imminent invasion. It was during the stand to that I had my first experience of Auxiliary Units. Late in the Saturday evening a small explosion occurred in the wood behind the post and a person in H.G. uniform, who was talking to the officer in charge, remarked that the sentries were not much good as he had just blown up the post. This was my first encounter with the timer pencil, a delayed action fuse with which I later became very familiar. A week or so later I was approached by Anthony Bentley Hunt, another member of the platoon, who asked me whether I would like to join something more lively than the H.G. I agreed and he took me to meet a John Garnet Wyld who lived at 42, Bathwick Street. I was questioned thoroughly about myself, my relatives and my geographical knowledge of the area and then told to come back in a week. When I returned I was sworn to secrecy and told about the Auxiliary Units. J.G.Wyld was the initial patrol sergeant with J.W.Denning, J.M.Jones, A.Bentley Hunt and myself being the other members. A.C.Hannah and G.James joined later. I never knew how A.Bentley Hunt was contacted by the A.U.s. JG.Wyld was replaced as sergeant by J.Giles from Tadwick in mid-1941.

The patrol would meet two evenings a week and at weekends for training and construction work on the operational base (O.B.). Initially meetings were more frequent to get the O.B. into a habitable condition. Training took two forms, familiarisation with the area and practice with explosives and sabotage devices.

Familiarisation involved walking the area time and time again until each gap in the hedge, barn, and possibly hiding places became familiar. It also involved the urban area to find where each alley lead or where a short cut might be taken. During these excursions we were delighted to discover the O.B.s of two Admiralty patrol s, one in the wood above the Warminster Road and the other in Prior Park. We also familiarised ourselves with the old stone mines under Combe Down.  Other exercises were to lie up in the grounds of Claverton Manor to observe the movements of the military and to thoroughly explore the local railway to determine where demolition charges might be placed. Explosives training took place in the remoter areas of the woods lining the Limpleystoke Valley. This was limited because of the noise and to conserve stocks. J.G.Wyld was, I believe, a quarryman; in any case he was very knowledgeable in the use of explosive and the construction of basic charges. We were supplied with plastic explosive and gelignite together with delay fuses (time pencils) and pull and pressure switches to construct booby traps (5). We also received training from the army at Coleshill Manor near Swindon, the A.U.s’ H.Q., where we were instructed in field craft, explosives and booby traps. I went there twice. Instructions would be received to report to the postmistress at Highworth and on arrival she would examine your orders and then telephone Coleshill who sent transport for you, thus keeping the exact location of the base secret.

The site of our operational based had been chosen by J.G.Wyld and was in one of the old stone mines on Hampton Rocks and, as we discovered later, close to the site of an Admiralty patrol’s O.B. Although the terrain has changed considerably since 1940 through collapse and weathering the site can still be identified (GR778651). The entrance to the O.B. was a narrow opening just large enough to wriggle through and about six or eight feet long. Thee entrance opened onto a scree slope and a large cavern with side tunnels. A stone slab cut so that it could be positioned either from the inside or outside and which blended in with the rock fall camouflaged the entrance. A living area was partitioned off using the copious fallen stone in a way that simulated the sloping scree of previous collapses. Once the entrance and interior had been organised the O.B. was only visited occasionally to ensure it had not been discovered and to avoid making tracks. Tell tale markers were left to indicate if anything had been disturbed. In those days rabbits were plentiful and we would collect fresh droppings to scatter abut to disguise any route taken. We had a few weekends living in the O.B. to check our ability to obtain water from a nearby spring and to see if cooking smells were detectable. A few heavy items such as Mills bombs were wrapped in tarpaulin and buried in the O.B., detonators were not left with them.

We operated on the assumption that we would get a few hours notice of the need to assemble at the O.B.; a code phrase, “the sun is rising” would be the signal. We all had personal knapsacks packed ready, access to a small van that was rarely used and a gallon of petrol. The plan was that when the alert was received two of the patrol would collect the van and travel via Widcombe Hill to the top of Bathwick Hill. From Bathwick Hill a bridle track ran to a small copse near the reservoir on Hampton Down, a few minutes from the O.B. Here the patrol would rendezvous, the others having made their way on foot to the O.B., checked it out and dumped their personal kit. A couple of dry runs showed that this worked all right.

As far as weapons were concerned we started with two .300 Ross rifles and in early 1941 a Thompson sub-machine gun was issued together with a personal pistol and Fairburn fighting knife. I had a 5” barrel .38 calibre Smith and Wesson pistol. We also made “punch knives” which we carried in the slot intended for a cleaning rod on the webbing holster. (See illustration). I recall going a couple of times to a military firing range, possibly near Warminster, for range practice.

An Exercise against Colerne airfield

In the autumn of 1941 (as far as I can remember) we were instructed to undertake a sabotage exercise against aircraft parked near the perimeter of R.A.F. Colerne. We were given no further briefing except that it was to take place in the early hours of Sunday morning. Four of the patrol took part and as we had previously reconnoitred this area in the vicinity of the Vineyards we thought we had a good idea of the lie of the land. Our plan was to approach the target area as a patrol and then work in pairs. A signal was prearranged for identification, the Morse letter X (dah dit dit dah), as it could be whispered, tapped or flashed on the pencil torches we carried. We made our rendezvous at the Three Shire Stones on the Bannerdown Road and with John Giles in the lead we skirted Westwood Farm into a small valley and then followed a brook up the rising ground towards the road. On reaching the high hedgerow John signalled us to stop and crawled ahead. However, unknown to us a Lewis gun emplacement had been built below the road and John was spotted There was a loud shout, “We’ve got one of them” and the sound of a noisy struggle from John. We lay doggo until the noise moved up to the road then crept cautiously forward and discovered a sand-bagged gun pit which, to our surprise, was empty except for a Lewis gun and a couple of magazines As John was creating confusion on the road we were able to remove the gun and leave in its place a ten minute delay fuse and detonator. We then crawled along under the hedge to a cart track leading to the road from where we could see several people standing in the road and also a small truck. We set up the gun to cover the road and contemplated how best to cross to gain access to the airfield perimeter. In the event it was made easy for us, as there was a shout, ”The bloody gun’s gone.” which distracted the group on the road and, briefly afterwards, the detonator went off. The ensuing confusion allowed us to roll across the road into the garden of the Vineyards but unfortunately we had to leave our trophy behind. In the garden cover was provided by a runner bean fence and as we lay there we observed a person approach the door of the Vineyards, knock, pause, and then enter. Later two figures emerged, one of which was John, still protesting, and the other who appeared to be an unarmed escort. They entered an outbuilding and as when the door was opened no light showed we assumed they were the only occupants. As there was no one in the garden area it was simple to move up to the door and knock the Morse letter X on it to alert John. The escort opened the door and was bowled over by used onto a bunk bed. Under the bed we discovered two boxes of Mills grenades so we took a couple each. Leaving one to watch the escort three of us moved towards the door of the Vineyards, again quite easy, as there was no one in the vicinity. Having previously observed someone knock, pause and enter we tried the same tactic and were greeted with a loud “Come” which we did in a mad rush. Inside were a captain, a flight sergeant and an officer with a white umpire’s armband on. We claimed to have overwhelmed the office an as we had coshes, fighting knives and the stolen Mills bombs the umpire agreed. Almost at once there was a knock on the door. John signalled to us to stand either side of the door and then shouted, “Come” and flung the door open. In stepped a corporal who said,” Escort for the prisoners, sir” and then we jumped him. The umpire asked what we would do now. We showed him the Mills bombs and said we would lob these at the escort and onto the road, leave onto the airfield by the rear door after damaging the telephone and leaving a bomb to explode in the office. He agreed we had a chance of getting onto the airfield so we told them where the Lewis gun was and, leaving the bombs on the desk, began our five-mile walk home.

Admiralty Patrols

In “Somerset versus Hitler” (4) Donald Brown gives the number of Admiralty patrols as five with hideouts at Bathampton, Langridge, Kelston House, Lansdown, Prior Park, Milsom Street* and Southstoke*. However W.R.Bennet, who was the sergeant for No. 4 Admiralty Patrol, in a letter to David Carroll, the author of “Home Guard” (6), gives the number of Admiralty patrols as six. As W.R.Bennet was directly involved his figure is more likely to be correct. Brown lists seven hideouts but it is extremely unlikely that a patrol would have had more than one base.

*See under Bath City Patrols.

The following hideouts have been confirmed.

Lansdown.       It is not known which patrol used this base which is believed to have been located in the wood on the hillside to the north of the triangulation point and below the Observer Corps’ station. It is uncertain whether this base was completed.

Langridge.    This was the base for No2 Patrol, confirmed by patrol member R.C.Hatchard. Royal Engineers completed the base in 1943.(G.R.738688.)

Patrol Members: - Sgt. C.A.Trowell followed by Sgt. D.L.Owen, P.J.Barrett, P.Bracegirdle, K.P.Cleary, and R.C.Hatchard.

Warminster Road.   This was the base for No.3 Patrol, and was located near the point where a stream descending from Hampton Rocks meets the bridle track from the Warminster Road to Claverton Manor (G.R. 780652).  Water was supplied from the stream by a beer pump purchased from Bowlers in Bath

Patrol Members:- Sgt. I.MacG Phillips (B.E.M. in 1942 air raid), L/Cpl. E.Roscorla, W.J.G.Dennis and R.N.Rees (B.E.M. in 1942 air raid).

Prior Park.    The icehouse in the grounds of Prior Park was the base for No, 4 Patrol (G.R.760635). W.R.Bennet who was the sergeant of this patrol confirms this location.

Kelston Park.     According to W.H. (Bill) Leigh, a member of this patrol, the hideout was situated in the Ice House belonging to the Manor just off the top of some steps leading down into the wood. (GR701662)

Patrol members. Sergeant Cutler followed by Sergeant Frank Bradbury, who was later promoted to Lieutenants. W.H.Leigh, Bill Hailstone, Norman Williams, Edward Bamsey, Douglas Owen (later promoted Sgt. of another patrol.)

Arms Dumps.

In addition to the operational bases listed above the Admiralty patrols had at least one central explosives/arms dump. This was situated in an out building of the Royal School, Lansdown Road (GR745665).

Patrol Members

A photograph identifying members of the Admiralty patrols was taken at the stand down of Auxiliary Units in November 1944 and was contributed to “Home Guard” (9) by W.R.Bennet. 

Pennyquick Bridge, Newton St Loe. An old mineshaft (GR 714645), which was abandoned by its incumbent patrol 1941. It is not known at present (2003) which patrol was associated with this hideout. (My guess is that it was initially used by Englishcombe who would have left it when their official Elephant Shelter base was constructed. Bill Leigh of the Kelston Admiralty Patrol does not know about it. RWM)

 Bibliography

1. Peter Wilkinson and Joan Bright Astley: Gubbins and SOE (Leo Cooper 1993).

2.David Lampe: The Last Ditch (Cassell & Co 1968).

3. Arthur Gabbitas: The British Resistance Organisation. Article in Defence Lines, newsletter no. 6 of the Defence of Britain Project (Council for British Archaeology, November 1996).

4. Donald Brown: Somerset versus Hitler (Countryside Books 1999).

5. Stuart Macrae: Winston Churchill's Toyshop (The Roundwood Press (Publishers) Ltd. 1971).

6. Stewart Angell: The Secret Sussex Resistance (Middleton Press 1996).

7. A.E. Cocks: Churchill's Secret Army 1939 - 1945 (The Books Guild Ltd. 1992).

8. Major N.V. Oxenden MC: Auxiliary Units History and Achievement 1940 - 1944, reproduction of an original document (Published by the 390th Bombardment Group Memorial Air Museum 1998).

9. David Carroll: Home Guard (Sutton Publishing Ltd. 1999).

10. John Warwicker: With Britain in Mortal Danger (Cerberus Publishing Ltd 2002).

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