Bewholme Patrol

Both the OB and OP lie south west of the village of Bewholme on private farm land. The owner kindly took us to the exact location of the OB.

The OB and Observation Post lie on arable field boundary ditches. The banks and ditches are well maintained. Although trees and brambles are growing up through the OB it is easy to see the whole layout.

The Observation Post lies 200m to the east of the OB. The entrance was through a concrete culvert under a bridge. The bridge crossing had been extended to form a one man chamber with the water cleverly diverted to keep the OP dry. It was linked to the OB by a field telephone. The concrete culvert still exists but the chamber has gone.

Auxilier Dennis Blanchard was in charge of selecting the site for the OB. He recalled;

It was also my job to select a suitable site where an underground bunker was to be built in case of an invasion.
 
The site I chose for the underground bunker was situated to the west of Bewholme village, approximately halfway between Bewholme and Catfoss Airfield.  The bunker was to be a Nissen type hut dug into a steep bank with a ditch at the bottom so it would not flood.  It was a ten minute shuffle to the airfield fence which could no doubt have been occupied by the enemy.  The army came and placed the underground bunker in position.  It was top secret, no member of the patrol was to visit or be seen by the site during construction.  When it was completed it was a ‘work of art’, the camouflage and door construction came up to all expectations however it was not five star nor even three star accommodation.

One man was always to be on lookout.  We had five wooden framed, wire covered single beds plus a straw mattress. Lighting was a tilly lamp and what little cooking we did was on a primus stove.  We had a supply of fourteen days worth of dry rations plus a one gallon, sealed, stone jar of rum not to be opened until the third day of operations.  We also had a forty gallon water tank and water purifying tablets were also supplied.  Ventilation problems were solved by adding more land drains and a bundle of wire mesh was inserted into them to keep out vermin and any odd grenades.

A thirty-five yard emergency exit tunnel ran from the underground bunker to a side ditch.  The last two feet of the tunnel was not to be dug until it was needed.  Now the underground bunker was more or less assembled, the sixth recruit, C Hara was invited to join us.  We were now given our uniform, the standard khaki battle dress with Home Guard shoulder flashes but with 202 Battalion numbers.   We were also give a denim, dark shaded battle dress, a pair of leather boots and a pair of rubber ankle boots, a gas mask, a tin hat, a blanket and a soft, straw palias (mattress).

The original box of tricks was moved to a recess at the end of the bunker together with all the extra ammunition and explosive gear etc. It was difficult to sleep with that lot in the bunker.  That storehouse, (the ammunition was removed long ago) like the observation part with its connecting phone has disappeared.  The only part I believe still to exist is the escape tunnel that, thankfully, was not needed.