Herbert Stephen Masters

Bert Masters joked the Auxiliers in his Patrol were  “Middle-class types... not swede bashers !” Masters was the explosives expert in the group.

Born in Kent, Bert married his wife Lillian Roberts, the day before war was declared and his daughter was born just before the Blitz. Aware that any knowledge of his activities would put their lives in danger he never breathed a word to them. They only learnt the real truth when Bert was interviewed by the Mail on Sunday in 1996.

He recalled “We were more or less told if anything happened, we'd be on our own. We did the spit and polish stuff because it kept up the fiction we were Home Guard but our REAL job was to keep our heads down – until invasion. Any man who tells you he was not afraid is a liar.”

Bert Masters stayed with the Admiralty and at retirement was a chief draughtsman. Though aware, in later years, he was eligible for the Defence Medal, the lack of recognition never bothered him. At the time of a reunion in January 1950 he is living at 80 Eastfield Avenue, Bath and is on the committee of 203rd GHQ Reserve (Bath Admiralty) Association