coleshill auxiliary research team – Page 3 – British Resistance Archive

2 weeks to go – Coleshill ‘Underground’ – not to be missed !

Coleshill House, Events, General, OB's, Research, Weapons & Explosives No Responses »

Sep 062019

Sunday September 22nd, 10am to 4pm. SN6 7PT

The grounds of Coleshill House are littered with Aux history. There’s the Guard House, replica SD hide, the remains of the huts where some of the men lived and worked. Grenade and rifle ranges, where they practiced on old tanks and lorries – even a piece of one of those tanks has been found.

We will be celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Auxiliers being stood down from service. These brave men and women volunteered to act as an underground resistance to the threatened German invasion in 1940.

What else ? Military vehicles, re-enactors, music & dancing, food and drink. For the kids there will be a special activity challenge trail, and code-breaking.

Plus there are some special guests lined up too:

Malcolm Atkin: former archaeologist, military historian & professional author including these WW2 books –

Tony ‘Scallywag’ Salter: Living Historian and highly knowledgeable Aux Units enthusiast, Tony (and his lovely wife Julie) take their display all around the country educating as they go –

Auxiliary Unit talks from Chris Pratt (British Resistance Museum at Parham, Suffolk), and local historian Bill King who contributed to the book ‘With Britain in Mortal Danger’, as well as appearing in various television programmes.

Of course C.A.R.T. will be there too, packing The Granary to the gunwales with displays of weapons, explosives and other equipment issued to the Auxiliers, a fully equipped bunker and re-creations of the wartime offices. There will be lots of items on display for first time in 75 years in this location, including numerous original documents and photographs.

This is a huge event and not to be missed.

3 weeks to go…

Books, Coleshill House, Events, General, OB's No Responses »

Aug 302019

75th Anniversary Stand-Down event at Coleshill House, Sunday 22nd September.

Some of the exiting things to see at the big event on 22nd Sept, apart from the largest collection of Aux Units equipment ever assembled…

Researcher Bill Ashby has been busy producing a booklet about ‘Coleshill Estate in WW2 – General HQ Auxiliary Units 1940 – 1945’ that will be available at the event:

Roger Green (CART and The National Trust) has been active with a recent find in the grounds of Coleshill House which appears to be an early OB. Investigation and restoration project ongoing:

.. and we’ll have the Camp Commandant’s door to display !

tps://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/the-buscot-and-coleshill-estates/features/coleshill-underground-second-world-war-event-is-back

Who is this ? Did you know he was an Aux Intelligence Officer during the War ?

Cornish Auxiliary Units talk by John Jolliffe Saturday 24th August in Pelynt, Cornwall

Events, General No Responses »

Aug 212019

Saturday the 24th August at 7pm at Pelynt Village Hall, near Looe, (Cornwall).

John Jolliffe will be giving a talk about the local Auxiliary Units. John is hugely passionate and knowledgable about the local units and is well worth listening to if you are in the area.

This may be your last opportunity to hear John as he is threatening that this maybe his last talk!

CART will be present with a small display and some pictures. The village is also preparing a memorial garden with a commemorative stone remembering the local Aux Units.

Saturday 24th August at 7pm at Pelynt Village Hall, nr Looe, Cornwall. PL13 2LP

Super weekend at the Chickerell Steam & Vintage Show, Weymouth

Bob Millard, Events, General 1 Response »

Jul 082019

C.A.R.T. enjoyed another warm welcome and warm weather at the Steam & Vintage Show near Weymouth last weekend.

In between cups of tea and home made cake, we met plenty of great people with stories to share and some good leads for us to follow.

We met the land owner of a known Operational Patrol bunker in East Devon, and have been given permission to investigate the site further.

We chatted with one lady who, as a school girl was involved with a local history project. She was expecting a Home Guard interview from a Chickerell resident. He promptly told her that he wasn’t in the Home Guard and was an Auxilier in the local patrol, and what he was up to during the war ! He wife (who was apparently making tea in the kitchen) listened agog as it turned out she did not know, and in fact it was the first time the Auxilier had told anyone !

Local community radio station (https://keep106.com/) based in Dorchester invited us for a ‘Don’t tell them your name Pike’ interview about Auxiliary Units. The interview is scheduled to go out on the 17th of July.

We were delighted to be able to exhibit an item from Auxilier, the late ‘Bob Millard’ who did so much for C.A.R.T.

A couple of good leads also came up for possible bunkers, especially for an SD bunker that as far as we know, has not been previously recorded – watch this space…

All in all, a thoroughly good weekend.

CART Auxiliary Unit display at the Chickerell Steam & Vintage Show, Weymouth, Dorset. 6th / 7th July

Events, General No Responses »

Jun 302019

CART will be returning to this fantastic event with our ‘multi-award-winning’ display, relaxed chat and plenty of info about Churchill’s Auxiliary Units and what they would have done if Hitler had invaded in 1940. Some members of the Auxiliary Units went on to join the SAS and were dropped into France for D-Day…

https://chickerellsteamshow.uk/attractions/

A reminder that CART will be in Essex at Colchester Garrison, Saturday 29th June 2019

Events, General No Responses »

Jun 162019

CART will be at Colchester Garrison, Essex as part of Armed Forces Day, hosted by the 16th Air Assault Brigade on Saturday 29th June. If you’re around. Drop by for a chat..

Researchers will be on hand complete with a display of equipment & information about local Auxiliary Units. Find out what they would have done if Hitler had invaded in 1940. Some members of the Auxiliary Units went on to join the SAS and were dropped into France for D-Day in 1944.

https://www.armedforcesday.org.uk/event/16-air-assault-brigade-and-colchester-garrison-show-on-armed-forces-day/

CART at Southwick, Hampshire (75th Anniversary of D-Day)

Events, General No Responses »

Jun 052019

This weekend 8th / 9th June CART is at Southwick Revival 75

Just a reminder that we will be at the Southwick Revival event this weekend (8th/9th June). CART founder Tom Sykes has been there this morning and sent us some great D-Day related images. Thanks Tom.

If you’re in the area then pop along and say hello!

See more about Tom’s work here https://www.facebook.com/cameraopuk

If you haven’t already liked us on Facebook, search for British Resistance Archive – Churchill’s Auxiliary Units. We’re sending out daily Aux reports over these momentous days.

Great fun at the D-Day Centre, Castletown, Portland

Events, General No Responses »

Apr 152019

CART was at the D-Day Centre, Portland at the weekend. Although a bit chilly, the team were kept in high spirits with mugs of hot tea and cake, while the public and re-enactors were fascinated with everything AUX Units.

Don’t worry if you couldn’t make it, CART will be displaying at Nothe Fort, Weymouth on Sat 25th and Sun 26th May, at their 1940’s Home Front Family Weekend https://nothefort.org.uk/news-events/1940s-home-front-family-weekend?occurrenceID=311

CART excavate secret Operational Base

General, OB's No Responses »

Apr 092019

Last weekend CART did a ‘Time Team’ on an Operational Base (O.B.) in an undisclosed site in Dorset…

Shallow trenches revealed the ‘elephant shelter’ corrugated steel, and glazed ceramic ventilation pipes

Looking down, the start of the escape tunnel can just been seen at the base of the concrete blocks

This is a possible handle from an entrance / escape hatch

The main chamber where the patrol would have ‘gone to ground’ in the event of a German invasion

Buried water tank with protected filler tap

Cloth material covered the water tank, that on closer inspection showed to be camouflaged.

Turns out it wasn’t so secret. Every second visitor from nearby houses had played in it as a child!

The main point is that it is now recorded and will be added to the CART website.

Stand Down badge information comes to light..

General No Responses »

Mar 132019

This July 1944 document comes from a recent, very generous donation to CART of documents from an East Anglian Group Commander. These are still being catalogued and photographed, as almost 200 pages!

We hope in due course to bring some of these things to public view, as part of our website redevelopment. In the meantime here is the document requesting numbers required from each Group Commander. Note that the men were required to pay 6d each for their badges! They were to be made available to men who had left Auxiliary Units, though in practice, few if any seem to have received one.

As can be seen, there were strict instructions that they could not be worn in wartime. The design was conceived specifically for these enamel badges and was intended for wear in “mufti” (in civies) not as part of uniform.

Our favourite example comes from a Pathe Newsreel (see picture) of the Prince of Wales presenting colours to the Royal Regiment of Wales in 1969. Legendary Welsh WW1 VC “Stokey” Lewis was an Auxilier in WW2. His medals are now in the Lord Ashcroft collection having been privately purchased. They are on display at the IWM, though we believe without the Aux Units badge

Thus the badges were produced in wartime, but with strict instructions not to be worn until the end of hostilities. Perhaps they didn’t see the ‘end’ of the war taking quite such a long time..

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