Bishops Waltham Patrol

County Group
Hampshire Group 5 - Soberton to Bishops Waltham Area
Locality

Bishop's Waltham is a medieval market town situated at the source of the River Hamble, twelve miles south east of Winchester.

Patrol members
Name Occupation Posted from Until
Sergeant Harry Swinton Lee

Garage proprietor motor engineer & ARP motorcycle messenger

 05 Mar 1942 03 Dec 1944
Private George Dann

Gardener

 15 Apr 1943 03 Dec 1944
Private Reginald Ensell Gamblin

Poultry farmer

 31 Oct 1942 03 Dec 1944
Private Paul Kingston

Market gardener

 17 Apr 1943 03 Dec 1944
Private Sidney Herbert Swinton Lee

Plumber & ARP demolition squad

 17 Apr 1943 03 Dec 1944
Private Sydney Alfred Shorney

Coal roundsman & ARP linesman

 28 Aug 1942 03 Dec 1944
Private Bernard Christopher White

Foreman of commercial feed stuffs concern

 30 Sep 1942 03 Dec 1944
Patrol & OB pictures
The men of Group 5 in the garden of Hillcrest with the house in the background (Mark Horn)
The men of Group 5 in the garden of Hillcrest with the house in the background (Mark Horn)
The men of Group 5 with a Royal Marine Officer in the centre and Lts Dallow and Welch either side. It seems that some Patrol photos were taken at the same time. Lieutenant Peterson was taking the photos which is why he doesn't appear. (Mark Horn)
The men of Group 5 with a Royal Marine Officer in the centre and Lts Dallow and Welch either side. It seems that some Patrol photos were taken at the same time. Lieutenant Peterson was taking the photos which is why he doesn't appear. (Mark Horn)
This photograph of a one of the Group 5 Patrols was taken at the same time as the Group photo with the Royal Marine officer (CART archive)
This photograph is one of the Group 5 Patrols and was taken at the same time as the Group photo with the Royal Marine officer (CART archive)
OB Status
Location not known
Location

Bishops Waltham Patrol

Training

They received training from the Worcester Regiment Scout Section including its commander Lieutenant Allan. This included a demonstration at Hambledon.

The Southwick Patrol Diary records the men going to Hillcrest, the house of Lieutenant Welch, for training in drill and other activities.

On 4th July 1943 the Southwick Patrol diary records the Southwick Patrol attending Soberton Chalk pits for Sten gun firing at “some good targets made by Sgt Lee”.

In October 1943 the Patrol took part, along with the rest of the Group, in the Patrol Competition. The Patrol came fourth out of five.

Other information

CART has three photographs which may include members of the Bishops Waltham Patrol. Please let us know if you recognise any of the men. 

Other than Sergeant Lee, the membership of the Patrol has been deduced from the Identity card numbers of the personnel and their addresses. This is known to be an unreliable method, as sometimes men were not in their closest Patrol.

Harry Lee, Syd Shorney and Sid Lee had all been part of the ARP organisation and so knew each other from before the war.

Allegedly members of the Patrol fell out with a local publican. They left a small explosive charge in his fireplace, which proved rather more effective than intended, blowing out all the windows when it went off!

References

Southwick Patrol Diary, held at the Hampshire Records Office, Winchester.

TNA ref WO199/3391 Auxiliary Hampshire Nominal Roll

1939 Register

Hancock data held at B.R.A

Ancestry.co.uk