CART Auxiliary Unit Research

County Group

Locality

The Creech area lies at the foot of the Purbeck Hills, 3 miles south of Wareham.

Patrol members

Name	Occupation	Posted from	Until
Sergeant Frederick James Simpson	Farm worker	15 Jun 1940	03 Dec 1944
Sergeant Wilfred John Wise	Locomotive engine driver	10 Jun 1940	1942
Private Douglas Frank Green	Farm worker	10 Jun 1940	03 Dec 1944
Private Leslie Cyril Green	Clay miner	10 Jun 1940	03 Dec 1944
Private Harold John Hatchard		11 Mar 1943	02 Feb 1944
Private Harold Arthur Hatchard	Clay miner underground	10 Jun 1940	03 Dec 1944
Private Eli Frank Kitcatt	Clay worker	30 Sep 1942	03 Dec 1944
Private Wilfred Robert Stockley	Clay miner	02 Feb 1942	03 Dec 1944

Operational Base (OB)

The Patrol built their own base to begin with but it collapsed and they built another. The location of this is not known.

Eventually the Royal Engineers were sent to build a more substantial OB. The remains survive just off a footpath and can be easily visited. Map ref SY939828. The main entrance shaft had a hatch operated by a remote cable. The first chamber contained the equipment and tables. There was a second chamber, unusually set at an angle with a short connecting tunnel, apparently to deflect blast, though it isn’t clear if this would have worked. The second chamber held naval type hammocks in a star pattern suspended from the centre. At the end of this chamber was the escape exit. What survives is the entrance shaft and the walls of the two chambers, though the corrugated iron roofs have collapsed.

Patrol & OB pictures

Entrance shaft

Entrance shaft and doorway

Composite of inside first chamber

Looking out towards escape tunnel

Inside OB concrete hallway

One of the ventilation pipes

Entrance shaft

The map on the sign shows the general location of the OB

Memorial Stone

Information board

Church Knowle / Creech Home Guard Auxiliary Unit Group

Creech Patrol

Creech O.B. sketch plan (W.Ward)

Click the hotspots inside the image to start the interactive virtual tour. For a more accessible version, open the accessible virtual tour. View licence.

OB Status

Collapsed with some visible remains

OB accessibility

The OB site is publicly accessible

Location

Creech Patrol

Patrol Targets

These included the railway from Swanage to Wareham and the main line from Weymouth which passed through Wareham. They also practiced infiltrating the Holton Heath munitions factory.

Training

Apart from training to attack the above targets, they also regularly travelled to the Dorset HQ at Duntish Court, Buckland Newton for training. Fred Simpson reckoned to make a small profit on the journey as a mileage allowance was payable. He also recalled going to Coleshill at least once.

In 1944 the Patrol was mobilised to provide a weeks guard for the underground bunkers of the radar station near Worth Matravers. This was part of the defences against possible German counter raids around the time of D Day. Another Patrol took over from them.

Other information

In 2009 a memorial stone was erected near to the OB. It lists the men involved and an information board alongside has pictures of the men and a rough plan of the layout of the OB. It was erected by the Royal British Legion.

This video was kindly supplied by Tony White (Son of Fred White, Patrol Leader from Langton Matravers Aux Unit):

For much more information about this Patrol, we can recommend Ken Williams' book published by CART member John Wareham, and John's accompanying website: The Creech Barrow Seven.

References

http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/8124391.Purbeck_s__secret_seven__were_…

http://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/2009/11/staying-behind/

Audio tape made by Fred Simson (CART archives)

Tony White

Martyn Allen for some of the images

Ken Williams & John Wareham & John Pidgeon