Headquarters and other sites

An initial Headquarters for Norfolk was recorded as Annesley Hotel, Norwich in July 1940

From 8th November 1943 until 3rd December 1944 the final Devon Headquarters was at 21-23 East Street, Ashburton. The Intelligence Officer through this time was Major W.W. Harston and he was lodging with his family at 17 East Street. Some documents show this as the HQ address.

From 27th September 1944, as the Auxiliary Units were being closed down, East Street became the Headquarters for Region 4 which controlled Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Monmouthshire and all of South Wales.

The phone number was Ashburton 371.

Bachelor’s Hall is now a family home and strictly private.

The following details are based primarily on information supplied by Captain Ken Ward, Royal  Signals, the leader of the original TRD wireless design team (interview ).

The Chambers above the Bank were the Auxiliary Units Headquarters for Cornwall for almost a year.

The East Norfolk Scout Section was based Beech House in Wroxham on the Norfolk Broads. The site comprised a large house and adjoining garden, requisitioned for use as a base for the Norfolk Auxiliary Units Scouts Patrol. In the 1940s, the property formed part of the Trafford estate. The house has long since been returned to use as a private dwelling, now known as Beech House. It was rented out after the war and eventually sold. 

Beeston Hall was the Headquarters for Norfolk Auxiliary Units between may 1941 and 13th August 1943.

Benningholme Hall near Skirlaugh was the first Headquarters for the East Riding - Yorkshire Patrols.

Benningholme is a hamlet in the East Riding of Yorkshire, in an area known as Holderness. It is situated approximately 6 miles north of Hull city centre and 1 mile south-west of the village of Skirlaugh. It forms part of the civil parish of Swine.

An early Headquarters for the Highlands was at Berriedale, Caithness. No actual address is recorded.

Ref The Last Ditch - David Lampe

Bingham's Melcombe House near Dorchester was the second Headquarters for Dorset. The first record confirming its use is dated 3rd September 1941 and the last 12th December 1942. The wartime phone number was Milton Abbas 239.

Hampshire's Headquarters from at least May 1943 until stand down was 1 Brook Street, Bishop's Waltham, near Southampton.

From 27th September 1944 Auxiliary Units were being wound down and the Country was split into 4 Regions. Region 3 was covered by 1 Brook Street but was recorded as not quite ready to be active on that date. It is first used 2nd October 1944 and closed down 3rd December 1944.

Brook Street controlled Region 3 which consisted of Dorset, Hampshire,, Sussex, Essex and Kent.

The phone number was Bishop's Waltham 51 

Refences

Used between 9th March 1943 and 1st April 1944 the Somerset Headquarters was at The Lodge, Bishops Lydeard near Taunton under Captain J.W Hoberton then Captain J.M Martin.

The phone number was Bishops Lydeard 200.

Ref TNA WO199/3265

Blairmore House is at Glass, Huntly in Aberdeenshire and was used as the Aberdeenshire Headquarters between 17th January 1943 and 8th November 1943. The house was designed by Alexander Marshall Mackenzie and was built in 1884 as a residence for Alexander Geddes,  businessman and great-great grandfather of former Prime Minister David Cameron. His father, Ian Donald Cameron, was born in the house in 1932, though the family sold it shortly after. 

It was also used by a Scout Section as training location resulting in them becoming known as the "Blairmore Demolition Company".

The second Headquarters used by Intelligence Officer Captain Hamilton-Hill was Blankney Hall, Blankney, North Kesteven, Lincolnshire. The village is situated approximately 9 miles south from the city and county town of Lincoln and 9 miles north from Sleaford.

This is the Headquarters that is mentioned in David Lamp's book "The Last Ditch"

Built around 1790 for the Chaplin family it was a grand Palladian Hall and was one of the grandest houses in Lincolnshire during the nineteenth century.

Used between late 1941 and 22nd August 1942 the Somerset Headquarters was 68, Monmouth Street, Bridgewater.

Chathill is a hamlet in Northumberland about 9 miles north of Alnwick. In the nominal roll of Northumberland it is recorded as a Headquarters address.

It was used by the Auxiliary Units in Northumberland for secret mail between them and the higher command. It is not far from Seahouses which was the Northumberland Headquarters for a while and the original training ground near Belford (Shielow Castle) where Anthony Quayle had his Headquarters.

Coleshill House was the HQ for the Auxiliary Units. Please see our dedicated Coleshill Section.

The third Lincolnshire Headquarters was Dalby Hall, used between 1st June 1943 and 1st November 1944.

Dalby Hall is located approximately 12 miles in land from Skegness and to the north of Spilsby. It is fairly secluded and without any main roads passing it.

Danby Hall or Lodge, Danby was the Headquarters for the Durham and North Riding of Yorkshire Area. between 1st December 1941 and 29th January 1942.

Doxford Hall was home of the Runce family. Lord Runciman, the First Viscount Runciman of Doxford, had moved to his other home on the Isle of Eigg, leavng the house to be used by the State. It was used as a Regular Army Headquarters in World War Two.

184 Tunnelling Company used it as a base for part of one section while they were building Operational Bases in Northumberland.

There has been a suggestion that the Village Hall was used by the Intelligence Officer rather than the hall itself.

Used between 16th March 1943 and 18th May 1944.

Duntish Court, Buckland Newton, was the final training headquarters for the Auxiliary Units in Dorset. Units from all over Dorset would go there to be trained by Lieutenant Weaver and the Scout Section or Major Darwell-Smith (later Captain Hubbard), the Dorset Intelligence Officer.

Most of the training happened in the stable block (right of the picture) or in the grounds. The phone number was Buckland Newton 49

Eye Manor was the Headquarters for Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Monmouthshire. Used from late 1941 until 29th January 1942 for Monmouthshire and Worcestershire it continued to cover Herefordshire until 11th September 1942

South West Area (Devon and Cornwall) Intelligence Office J. S. W. Edmundson initially made use of Fort Austin in Plymouth as a store and Headquarters.

Fort Austin is a former 19th-century Fort, built as a result of the Royal Commission on National Defence of 1859. It was built to defend the landward approaches to the North East of Plymouth. This was part of an overall scheme for the defence of the Royal Naval Dockyard at Devonport. They were known as Palmerston Forts after the Prime Minister who championed the scheme.

It is now used as a Depot for Plymouth City Council.

Aberdeen Headquarters was recorded as The Hall, Gordon Arms Hotel, Fochabers between 22^nd April 1944 and 20^th June 1944.

An early Headquarters was recorded at Ulbster Hotel, Halkirk, Caithness. It is assumed this was the Intelligence Officers lodging.

Hannington Hall was the Headquarters for the Special Duties Auxiliary Units.

Hannington Hall is a Grade II* listed country house in the village of Hannington, Wiltshire. The house has twenty rooms and stands in 340 acres of pasture and woodland.

Associated buildings such as the stable block, a well house, an ice house, and the street wall and gate piers are all Grade II listed structures.

A Headquarters was recorded at Highwood, Worcestershire from 21st July 1942. No other information is available and it is assumed this is Highwood, Eastham near Tenbury Wells. 

A Headquarters for Herefordshire, Worcestershire and possibly Glamorganshire is recorded at Holmer until 10th August 1943. No actual address is recorded.

The parish of Holmer is 2 miles from Hereford.

The Headquarters of 51^st Highland Division was at Inveurie in 1940 after the loss of most of the division at St Valery in France. Captain Hamish Torrance used it as his base when recruiting the early Patrols in Scotland. Its exact location has still to be identified.

Ipswich Group Headquarters

The reinforced, purpose-built, underground structure serving as group headquarters (secure meeting place for members of all patrols in this group) is still in situ - currently underneath a paved patio on the north side of Jermyn’s Farmhouse. It was accessed by kind permission of the owner.

It is recorded as an Auxiliary Units operational base by both the B.R.O Museum in Parham and Defence of Britain. The building materials used are given on Defence of Britain as having been clay brick and corrugated iron (Will Ward 1996). 

"The Cawdor" on Lammas Street, Carmarthen was the Carmarthenshire Headquarters at least between 20th November 1943 and 23rd June 1944

Ref TNA ref WO199/3389

Langstone Manor, Brentor, near Lydford Devon became the second South West Area Headquarters on 15th September 1942 covering Devon and Cornwall.

The phone number was Lydford 218.

It was vacated at 12.00 hours on 8th November 1943 when Captain J.W.S Edmundson was replaced by Major W.W Harston. Devon and Cornwall split at this time, Devon's Headquarters moving to Ashburton and Cornwall's recorded as C/o Barclays Bank, Liskeard, Cornwall.

Langton House (now Chestnut House) in Blandford Forum was the Dorset Headquarters until 3rd February 1941.

The initial Headquarters for County Durham and North Ridings area was C/o Messrs Oldfield, 1 Lendal, York. This was the Oldfield was the Post Master and the address was the Post Office so was likely only a correspondence address.

The Highland and Islands Headquarters was Little Ferry House at Golspie, Sutherland. The son of the last ferryman at Littleferry was a patrol member in the Golspie Patrol.

The Masonic Hall in Framlingham, Suffolk was used as the East Anglia Headquarters for Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk between 16th June 1944 and 25th August 1944.

Melville House in Fife was the Main Headquarters for Patrols north of the Border, a sub training establishment of Coleshill in the South. Used between late 1941 and 6th September 1943.

The final Headquarters for East Riding - Yorkshire Patrols was Middleton Hall, Middleton-on-the-Wolds. Used from 13th January 1942.

The village is pleasantly situated in a valley, about nine miles north-west of Beverley, and eight south-west of Driffield.

The first County Headquarters was located at Benningholme Hall near Skirlaugh. The HQ was later moved to Rise Hall.

In late 1941 the HQ then moved to Middleton Hall. Like Rise, an Operational Base was built for the then Intelligence Officer Captain Hollis and his HQ staff.

The Suffolk Headquarters was Mill House, Cransford near Woodbridge from late 1941 to 4th September 1943.

The Scout Section was also based at Mill House. They used the large garage opposite as a workshop and had a large concrete area covered by a camouflage net to work on.

Eventually they had to leave Cransford when a German bomber dropped three bombs within 50 yards of the building, none of which exploded.

Initially they went to Brome, near Eye and later into Eye itself based in a doctors house.

The stables at Monksford House, Newton St Boswells, Melrose was used as a Headquarters between late 1941 to 19th August 1943.

Newcastle House in Bridgend, Glamorganshire was the Headquarters for Glamorganshire from late 1941 to 29th January 1942.

Ref The Last Ditch - David Lampe

By 27th September, while Auxiliary Units were being wound down, the Country was split into 4 Regions.

The Headquarters for Region 2 was at 33 North Bar Within, Beverley, East Yorkshire. The phone number was Beverley 606. This was stood down 6th December 1944.

Major H.L.F Bucknall and Captain A.D Hubbard were in Command of Suffolk, Norfolk, Lincolnshire, East and North Riding.

Penllwyn Park was the Headquarters for Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire from late 1941. No number is recorded.

Ref: The Last Ditch - David Lamp

Currently we do not have any more information about the use by Auxiliary Units, other than that the Royal Scots Scout Section were based here.

Polihilsa House near Callington, Cornwall was the family home of Captain John Dingley.  Recorded as the initial South West Area Auxiliary Units HQ which encompassed both Devon and Cornwall.

The Headquarters moved on 15th September 1942 to Langstone Manor, near Lydford, Devon though Captain Dingley continued to live at the house.

After Langstone Manor was vacated Devon and Cornwall split and Cornwall's Headquarters, under Captain J. Dingley was recorded after 8th November 1943 as C/o Barclays Bank Chambers, Liskeard, Cornwall until 22nd April 1944.

Ref TNA WO199/3265

Porthpean House, belonged to the Petherick family. Major Petherick was commander of the Auxiliary Units Special Duties branch. Porthpean House had accommodation for the whole Cornwall Scout Section and sits high on the cliff overlooking the beach and bay.

It is now holiday accommodation.

It is now rather more famous as the house where "About Time" starring  Bill Nighy was filmed.

By 27th September 1944, as Auxiliary Units were being wound down, the Country was split into 4 Regions. The Headquarters of Region 1 was at 6 Queen Street, Perth under the Command of Major G.R. McNicoll and Captain Fiddes-Watt. This was stood down 3rd December 1944.

The Region covered the Highlands (Caithness to Inverness), Aberdeen (Nairn to Aberdeen), Fife (Kincardine to Fife), Borders and Northumberland.

Ref TNA WO199/3389

Rise Hall was the second Headquarters for East Riding - Yorkshire Patrols. Used between 5th December 1941 and 29th January 1942

Rise is a village and civil parish in Holderness, the East Riding of Yorkshire. It is situated approximately 7 miles  east of the town of Beverley and 5 miles south-west of Hornsea.

It is believed that the Scout Section was based at River House on the outskirts of Earls Colne. The grade II listed Georgian property had been updated in the 1930s and was subsequently used as the HQ for the Essex Intelligence Officers from 1st March 1943 to 28th October 1943. The large grounds provided scope for training.

Initially a house was requisitioned for the Devon Scout Section near Ivybridge overlooking the moor, as recorded by Capt Edmundson. Possibly this was "Slade", the house owned by Capt Falcon which was the location for a number of photos of the Devon patrols.

It is known that subsequently the men were billeted in the outbuildings at Robins Court, Upton Pyne and the camp in Thorverton. Cyril Wellington of Plympton Patrol recorded a trip there in May 1942 in his diary.

At some time the Headquarters for Northumberland is recorded at Scremerston. No actual address is recorded.

The village lies on the North Sea coast about 3 miles south of Berwick-upon-Tweed.

A Headquarters for Northumberland Auxiliary Units existed at Seahouses. The exact address is unknown.

Seahouses is a large village on the North Northumberland coast and is about 12 miles north of Alnwick.

Used between 22nd August 1942 and 9th March 1943.

Sherwood in the village of Goathurst was the Headquarters of Somerset Intelligence Officer Captain Stangman in October 1942.

Ref TNA ref WO199/3265

A Headquarters for Northumberland was at Keepers Cottage near Shielow Castle north of Belford. The Intelligence Officer using it was Captain Anthony Quayle.

Newcastle Evening Chronicle - 24th April 1968

His headquarters were in a gamekeepers cottage, where an adjacent building was ideal for storage of explosives. He could not recall its exact location but inquiries have proved that it was a cottage which still stands near Shielow Castle.

"I know it was just perfect, it was off the main road in the middle of a thick forest" Quayle recalled.

St Giles House was used as the initial Headquarters for Dorset from July 1940.

Aston House near Stevenage, Hertfordshire was the home of Station XII. This was the Research and Development Centre for both SOE and Auxiliary Units. Originally located at Bletchley Park, it moved as the explosions and firing from weapons being tested wasn't conducive to the work of the code breakers they shared the house with. It had started out as part of Section D, supplying dumps of incendiaries and explosives for the Section D gfgvHome Defence Scheme.

The Beaulieu estate on the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire was the location of a number of SOE stations that provided "Finishing Schools" for agents. These gave trained agents the detailed skills they would need to work behind the lines for SOE.

Anderson Manor, in the small village of Anderson, near Blandford in Dorset was home to the Small Scale Raiding Force (SSRF), also know as No. 62 Commando. The SSRF was formed in Feb 1942, following the success of SOE's Operation Postmaster, when a few men crept into the neutral harbour of Fernado Po, in West Africa, and seized two Italian ships, because of concerns they were signalling the passage of British shipping to U Boats.

A Headquarters in Syderstone was in use between 13th August 1943 to 22nd April 1944. No further address is recorded.

Used between July 1940 and 10th March 1944.

The Garth is a private property and not open to the public.

The West Hampshire Scout Section were bad at the Scout Hut that used to stand on Garden Road, behind the Pound Lane Garage in Burley.

Over the years, a number of of people (including some filming for the BBC) have mixed up the Boy Scouts, the youth organisation, with the Scout Sections of Auxiliary Units, part of the Regular Army. This might be one time where that is understandable - the hut belonging to the New Forest Boy Scouts.

The hut was demolished after the war and no trace remains.

The Vicarage at Kelevdon in Essex was the first Headquarters of Essex and Suffolk between July 1940 and 12 December 1940.

Tottington Manor, at Small Dole in West Sussex, is described as a typical Sussex country manor house, and is currently used as a small hotel and restaurant. However during the war it was the regional headquarters for the Auxiliary Units in Sussex from 15th July 1940 until 26th September 1944.

Used as the first Lincolnshire Headquarters from 31st July 1940. 

Built around 1760 for the Nevile family the Grade II* listed Wellingore Hall was the initial Headquarters of Lincolnshire Intelligence Officer Captain Hamilton-Hill. It is in Wellingore village which is on the A607 19 miles south from Lincoln.

It was quickly requisitioned by the RAF to act as a mess for the nearby RAF Wellingore and the Headquarters was moved to Blankney Hall.

The West Kent Scout Section headquarters was at Wenman's Cottage in Angley Woods, north of Cranbrook. This had been the gamekeeper’s cottage, though Jack Mason, the gamekeeper prior to the First World War had been killed in 1915, possibly accounting for why the building was empty.

This was also where the three patrols of Group 2 that operated in Kent had their Stand Down photo taken in late 1944. This suggests that it continued to be used by the patrols, even after the Scout Section departed in late 1943.

Between 17th may 1944 to 16th June 1944 the Essex Headquarters was recorded as 14 Albert Road, Witham.

A Headquarters in Wroxham was recorded 13th October 1942. No address or further details were recorded.

The village is situated within the Norfolk Broads.

Wynyard Hall with Captain J R Woods was also used as a Auxiliary Unit command centre when Durham became separated from the North Riding Auxiliary Unit.