Leslie Charles Probert

'Elsie' Probert was a butcher with a shop on Southampton Road, Ringwood. His nickname came from the sound of the initials of his name.

Some of the Patrol supplies were reportedly kept at the butchers shop where the family lived for the early part of the war. These included the rum jar, which was dropped and smashed by Probert’s 14 year old son Peter, who particularly remembers the trouble he got into for this ! Other “iron rations” were stored there as well.

The Proberts are known to have had revolvers and a knuckleduster as these were brought home. Detonators, hand grenades and ammunition were stored in a garage near the house.

John Probert, was Elsie’s eldest son who helped out in the shop and joined the Unit when he was 18. He tended to be in charge of the shop most of the time as Elsie was also a meat agent for the Ministry of Food, which involved travelling all over Hampshire, including the Isle of Wight.

Both seem to have been quite secretive about what they were up to and rarely mentioned it, even after the war and even then usually only in vague terms. It was said that a requirement of membership was the ability to swim the river in full kit.