Admiralty 1 (Kelston Park) Patrol

Douglas Owen remembered sometimes training at Coleshill. He recalled the whole Patrol being taken straight there in an Admiralty transport van and returning to Bath the same way.

They took part in night exercises locally and had shooting competitions between them and other Patrols. Target practice with revolvers and rifles on moving targets took place, sometimes at night. They often trained with the other Admiralty Patrols and the City of Bath Patrols. Frank Mawer recalled training in two woods above Sham Castle. Frank's group were told they would have opposing them a Company of the Admiralty Home Guard that would be armed but without ammunition. Frank's group would be unarmed apart from a Ross rifle used for signalling. He recalled "We were told: 'Your task is to get rid of those people in the wood, and we'll se how long it takes you'. We cleared the wood in 10 minutes, which showed us it could be done. I remember our officer just managed to catch a butt from one of the Tommy guns. But they were so frightened."

Records of a revolver shooting competition on 20th February 1944 at Monkton Combe shows Admiralty 1 came second, behind Admiralty 4 in both 10 and 20 yard shots.

Exercise “Lamb” was due to take place on 25th March 1944. Patrol Leaders were advised ; “Ample opportunity should be taken of reconnoitring the district of Box.” Meeting at the the Fernley Hotel at 21.30 hours, the exercise would finish at 02.00 hours the following morning.

All the Admiralty Patrols took part in a night raid on RAF Colerne. Number 1 Patrol broke through the perimeter barbed wire nearest the offices. Despite crawling on all fours Douglas Owen managed to get captured. Taken to the office of the RAF commander he was interrogated by officers before producing a pistol hidden in his trousers. He proceeded to hold the officers hostage at gun point. 

Auxilier Bennett of 4 Patrol remembers this raid as being “a complete fiasco. The sentries were posted at all the most obvious approaches and it was easy to elude them. All of us detailed to do so got in and plastered aircraft with “destroyed”  notices and two adventurous youngsters actually held the station commander at gun point in his own office which was certainly not in their remit. There was a big row about it and as a result all the poor airmen had their leave jammed for a fortnight".