Brotton is a village near Skelton in the Borough of Redcar now in Cleveland though it used to be the North Riding of Yorkshire. It is fairly close to Skinningrove, Marske and Redcar and the North Yorkshire coast.
| Name | Occupation | Posted from | Until |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sergeant Thomas Maxwell Partridge | Ironstone miner at Lumpsey Pit |
Unknown | 03 Dec 1944 |
| Sergeant Isaac Wilks | Set attendant at Skinningrove Iron Works |
Unknown | Unknown |
| Private Harry Beadnall | Explosives storekeeper at Skinningrove Iron Works |
Unknown | Unknown |
| Private William Henry Brown | Ironstone miner |
Unknown | 03 Dec 1944 |
| Private Albert Crossman | Ironstone miner heavy worker |
Unknown | 03 Dec 1944 |
| Private Clifford Kaye | Apprentice fitter at Skinningrove Iron Works |
Unknown | 03 Dec 1944 |
| Private George Ernest Oversby | Chief cashier |
Unknown | Unknown |
| Private John R. Robinson | Timber worker ironstone mine at Bolckow Pit |
Unknown | 03 Dec 1944 |
| Private Raymond Waller | Apprentice fitter at Skinningrove Iron Works |
Unknown | 03 Dec 1944 |
| Private Isaac Wilks Jnr. | Draughtsman at Skinningrove Iron Works |
Unknown | 03 Dec 1944 |
The Patrol had their OB to the West of Kilton Thorpe. It was along the rail line and down the embankment, just within Kilton Thorpe Wood. Between the rail line at Merry Lockwood Gill just north of the public footpath. It was accessed by following the rail line out of Brotton, moving through fields most of the way and along the line itself into the wood.
The OB was an "Elephant" type shelter and is now destroyed. It is now just a large hole in the ground with an 18 inch gully leading away from it, that was the escape tunnel. The hole that was the main chamber has been used by mountain bikers as a bit of a jump spot but this has kept the vegetation away. It was a 12 feet by 10 feet rectangle room made of corrugated iron sheet with wooden posts for support.
The Patrol often met at Brotton Park, above Dick Appleby's disused stables. Appleby owned the General Stores on the High Street.
Brotton Patrol
Local targets would have included the Port of Tees, a big Navy base during WW2 and the possible invasion beaches towards Saltburn. Other targets were; local munitions and war effort factories, various steel plants around the area along with Lumpsey Ironstone Mine, RAF Thonaby and the main roads from the coast to Middlesbrough and Guisborough.
Some members of the Patrol went to Coleshill House for specialist training. Regionally they trained at Danby Lodge, the site of the Auxiliary Units Intelligence Officer's HQ and at Castleton with the Scout Section from The Green Howards. Two large scale summer exercises took place with the Auxiliary Units, Home Guard and Army at Guisborough.
They also trained locally at the OB area.
The Patrol were issued with a Lease-Lend Colt .38 revolvers in leather New York Police holsters which were later replaced with standard webbing. Each man had a Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife and a Sten Gun. There were two Lee-Enfield .303 rifles. They were issued Nobel 808 explosives and later plastic explosives and there was plenty of Molotovs and sticky bombs.
The Patrol were code named the "Abermill" Patrol, named after the water mark in the paper used to send them messages. Initially they were known as Ike Wilks' Scouts.
Dennis Walker
The National Archives in Kew ref WO199/3389
1939 Register
Hancock data held at B.R.A