Apr 092021
 

What if the Battle of Britain had not been a success? What was the plan had the Nazis successfully crossed the channel?

Museum Curator Chris Pratt talks to the HistoryHit folk. Chris packs a lot into 30 mins. Well worth a listen: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/britains-secret-army-the-resistance/id1526490428?i=1000516365466

The Museum at Parham is planning to re-open on Sunday 23rd May: www.parhamairfieldmuseum.co.uk/british-resistance-organisation/

Nov 122020
 

Lance Corporal George Henry Bloomfield (www.staybehinds.com/george-henry-bloomfield) has been posthumously awarded the Defence Medal (October this year).

The Family is rightly very proud. George was part of the St. Keverne Operational Patrol (www.staybehinds.com/patrol/st-keverne-patrol) based on the Lizard Peninsular. CART pointed the family in the right direction for how to claim.

St. Keverne, Lizard Peninsular, Cornwall

www.staybehinds.com

Nov 072020
 

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the end of WW2. As Remembrance Day events are cancelled due to Covid, we take time to remember those that were involved with Auxiliary Units.

Whilst each person’s entry on our website is a personal memorial in itself, we have created a new page highlighting the increasing number of Memorials, Plaques and Information Boards dotted around the country.

Please take a few moments to explore the page and see what Auxiliary Memorials might be near you. We are aware that most of them are in southern England and Wales. We would love to see more recognition throughout the whole of Britain: www.staybehinds.com/memorials-connected-auxiliary-units

Of course, YOU might know of more memorials, plaques, information boards, or local features that have Aux links that we are unaware of. We’d love to hear of more and add them to our site !

We may have our social interactions curtailed this year, but we can take a virtual tour instead – Remembering Auxiliary Units: www.staybehinds.com/memorials-connected-auxiliary-units

Pictured below are Auxiliers Trevor Miners (Perranporth Patrol) and Peter Potter (Fingringhoe Patrol) at the Cenotaph March 2015, stood in front of the Tank Regiment statue at Whitehall.

Whitehall was the first HQ for Auxiliary Units.

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM

www.staybehinds.com

Nov 032020
 

Pelynt village (near Looe) in Cornwall is the latest place to erect a memorial to Auxiliary Units. The memorial was unveiled in spring, but due to the virus there was not the turn-out hoped for. The memorial has been placed outside Pelynt village hall at a specially prepared seating area.

what3words: https://what3words.com/pelting.handfuls.finishers

CART was also planning to attend with our large multi-award winning display of Auxiliary Units equipment and information. We will do this when we are allowed our freedom back and it is safe to do so.

Thanks goes to John Jolliff for being such a force in bringing the history of these brave men and women to his community by way of his many informative talks. Thanks also to Mary Talbot for her organizational skills and this photograph of the memorial.

Find out more about the Pelynt Patrol: https://www.staybehinds.com/patrol/pelynt-patrol

Aug 222020
 

More information up on our new site on the Special Duties section.

This time about a Father and Daughter team, George and Mollie Phillips https://www.staybehinds.com/mollie-doreen-phillips

https://www.staybehinds.com/george-phillips

Mollie was a pre-war Olympic skater and by all accounts quite a character! From this new information we have also discovered for the first time that they operated from separate ‘hides’.

If anyone in the Carmarthenshire area has any information we would love to hear from you! www.staybehinds.com

Aug 132020
 

One of our main aims for the new website was to get as much information on individuals was possible, including images. A good example is that of Airlie Abinda Campbell a member of the Special Duties ATS.

Here is the information we have on her – https://www.staybehinds.com/airlie-abinda-campbell

One of the most remarkable stories associated with Airlie, is how she met her husband, George Gascoyne (https://www.staybehinds.com/george-archibald-clive-gascoyne) an Auxilier who accidentally stumbled across Airlie’s wireless bunker, descended down the ladder and was confronted by her pointing a revolver at his head (photo attached of their wedding day)!

If anyone has any images of any other ‘Secret Sweeties’ (what the members of the Special Duties ATS unit were, rather politically incorrectly called), we would love to see them.

Indeed, if anyone has any information on the Special Duties Branch we would love to hear from you!

Arlie Campbell – Auxiliary Units Special Duties ATS
Jul 262020
 

We are sad to announce that Alan Chester has passed away (https://www.staybehinds.com/alan-j-chester). Alan was just 17 when he joined up to the Hastingleigh Patrol in Kent (the Patrol’s nickname was Haricot).

His brother Joseph was in a neighbouring Patrol (https://www.staybehinds.com/patrol/crundale-patrol) but remarkably Alan did not learn about his involvement until 2000!

We must be now very near to losing all members of the Auxiliary Units and Special Duties, but we are more determined than ever to remember them and the sacrifice they were willing to make for the country.

Jul 182020
 

Operational Bases in 3D

When looking at an Operational Base, a plan can helpful to understand what can be seen in specific photos. It is often difficult to understand a structure from a single image or series of images. But a plan, or series of plans, can only show two dimensions at once.

Beaminster 2D plans of OB
A 2D plan series helps explain the layout of an Operational Base

The simplest way to address this is with a sketch, that adds the third dimension. Our Admiralty 4 (Prior Park) Patrol report contains an example of this. The sketch makes clearer how an underground structure is arranged, when that cannot be easily seen from the images alone.

Software has made it possible to build virtual 3D models from measurements of an Operational Base. Once the realm of specialists, there are now entry level software options to build a virtual 3D model and colour it to create an accurate reconstruction of an OB that may be collapsed or overgrown. An example of this can be seen with these images of a very overgrown OB at Portesham in Dorset, with a simple 3D model showing much more clearly than any of the image the layout of the operational base.

We have been fortunate enough to have a professional showing us how it should be done. Matt Brazier kindly produced a couple of models of Operational Bases for CART and has animated these into a walk through which further improves the understanding of design. We have seen his model of the Salisbury In-station already. He produced another of Operational Base of the Drellingore Patrol. The OB in this instance was collapsed, though the shaft and escape tunnel remain intact. The reconstruction video allowed the original structure to be visualised as it would have been. There is always a risk of introducing interpretation into a model and making assumptions. The initial model of the Binnegar OB seen in the report, assumed the shaft was a rectangle shape. However, once excavated it became clear it was narrower at one end than the other, as can be seen in the images. Experience has shown that you can’t take too many measurements and it is is also worth planning a follow up visit to repeat the measurements that were overlooked the first time!

More recently archaeological recording has advanced to incorporate 3D scanning technology. Issues of missed measurements are overcome as the laser scanner takes thousands of measurements to create a point map. This plots each measurement in three dimensions to create a virtual model of the structure. This model can be rendered with either illustrations or photographs mapped onto the images. Recently, AOC Archaeology were contracted by Forestry and Land Scotland to record an Operational Base that came to light during felling works. This was an OB in a relatively good state of preservation, belonging to the Beattock Patrol  in the Scottish Borders and ideal for this technique. Of particular interest was the linking of scans above and below ground to generate an illustration of the location of the structure in the landscape. As these structures are vulnerable to rust and other natural damage over time, this has to be the modality of choice to record these structures where possible.  We are grateful to AOC for sharing the final report and the images. These images are very effective and certainly captured the imagination of the press, resulting in numerous articles including one in French!

Beattock article 1

Beattock article 2

Beattock article 3

Beattock article 4

Beattock article 5

Tomorrow, for the final day of the Festival of Archaeology, we bring you some of our latest projects.

Jul 152020
 

Small but sweet

After having presented some large scale projects, its time to recognise that not every archaeological excavation needs to be on this scale. The two projects described here are on a smaller scale, but produced very useful findings.

Bromyard Downs

In Herefordshire, the Bromyard Downs Project undertook an investigation of two possible Auxiliary Units hides identified from oral accounts. One consisted of nothing more than a depression in the ground. The other was only approximately located. Metal detecting revealed  a possible locaiton for the latter and the presence of some concrete blocks.

The project online portal hosts the report.

The findings confirmed the oral history of the area. In this project we saw that even the history of the site from the 1970s and 1980s had been lost. One OB had been intentionally destroyed. However, with only the entrance shaft excavated, it is not impossible that some significant part of the main structure remains. A number of sites have been found where the entrance shaft was lowered and filled in, while leaving the main chamber of the structure intact.

It also featured in the local newspaper

Puddletown

CART undertook a small excavation on private land near Puddletown Forest, near Dorchester in Dorset. The location of the Operational Base had been identified by the landowner, who invited CART to investigate, though there were few visible remnants to see at the start. This excavation identified a section of brick wall, at the entrance to the OB. In other areas there was little apparent, but careful excavation revealed the remains of corrugated iron sheeting placed vertically. Groups of nails were found in clusters with occasional fragments of wood preserved where the iron had leached into the wood from the nails, slowing its decay. The original wooden framework had rotted away, as had the majority of the corrugated iron. Changes in colour and texture were all that identified the edges of the structure and where the corrugated iron walls had been.

Nearby in a large hollow, a number of .45 calibre cartridge cases and bullets were found. Possibly from a Thompson Sub-Machine gun, these might have been the result of practice by the Auxiliary Units men. However, the US Army also trained in the area and used the same weapon, so could also have fired this weapon here. The presence of 1942 dated .300 rifle rounds supported the latter interpretation.

Excavations are not complete at this site, but current findings suggest that the structure was a box like underground hide built with a wooden frame. When the area was planted as forest, after the war, the weight of the trees above the OB appear to have caused it to collapse.

We have a small gallery of this excavation for you to view.

Tomorrow we look at Sussex and the work of Chichester and District Archaeology Society there.

Jul 062020
 

The website will now go ‘LIVE” on 11th July. Sneak preview late on 9th or 10th July. Thanks for your support.

The new Website launch will coincide with the online Archaeology Festival hosted by the Council For British Archaeology.

To whet your appetite, here’s our new video highlighting some our more recent archaeological projects: https://youtu.be/WCJjan8CWLo