Dorchester (Came Down) Patrol

Locality

Came Down lies just south of Dorchester. The A35 by-pass was not present during WW2.

The membership of the Came Down Patrol appears to be quite complex, despite the opportunity to question surviving Patrol member Maurice Brake about this, prior to his death in 2012. He did not remember Charles George Brake, even though he appears in the nominal roll, with a Dorchester address, nor Douglas Henry Farmer. Both appear on the May 1943 nominal roll. He did recall the Baker brothers, who lived at Bradford Peverell, and his younger brother Cyril who appears to have served unofficially, as his name does not appear on the surviving personnel lists. He did not remember Roderick Braybrooke who was mentioned in a local newspaper article but is also missing from the nominal roll. Some of this may be because Maurice Brake did not join the unit until August 1943, shortly after the Baker brothers, but this would suggest that Farmer and Carnell had by then moved to another Patrol, as they are not recorded as having left Auxiliary Units. Where there were several Patrols close together, sometimes they did swap personnel around.

Patrol members
Name Occupation Posted from Until
Sergeant William George Christopher

Butchers employee

Unknown 03 Dec 1944
Sergeant Angus George Herridge

Building contractor joiner

27 Jun 1940 31 May 1943
Corporal Alfred Charles Treavis

Gas company accountant

19 Jun 1942 03 Dec 1944
Private Frederick Albert William Baker

Dairy farmer

06 Aug 1942 03 Dec 1944
Private Kenneth George Baker

Dairy farmer

25 Jan 1943 03 Dec 1944
Private Arthur Edwin Bellinger

Butcher

27 Jun 1940 03 Dec 1944
Private Charles George Brake

Gardener

15 Oct 1942 03 Dec 1944
Private Maurice Herbert Brake 20 Aug 1943 05 Aug 1944
Private Cyril William Walter George Brake

Store & shop duties

Unknown 03 Dec 1944
Private Roderick George Braybrooke Unknown Unknown
Private Eric William Carnell

Agricultural smith

31 May 1940 03 Dec 1944
Private Douglas Henry Farmer Unknown 03 Dec 1944
Private Douglas Leonard Keegan

Southern Railway worker

01 Aug 1943 03 Dec 1944
Private Ernest Charles Webber

Farm carter

23 Jan 1943 03 Dec 1944
Operational Base (OB)

The OB has largely collapsed with short sections of the Elephant Shelter remaining extant. Two sections remain in line suggesting that it was a larger structure divided with concrete block cross walls. A long shallow ditch may indicate the presence of a collapsed escape tunnel that ran to the edge of the copse opening into a large ditch. No evidence of the shafts was found when visited. The site has now changed ownership and is fenced off as Private Land and can no longer be visited.

A Fordington lad visited the OB in the 1950s and recalled a trap with a shaft down. Inside there were the remains of iron beds that had been pulled off the walls, with metal springs. He noted that there were no mattresses, but a lot of women's underwear!

There was an ammunition store in Culliford Clump, hidden within the centre of an ancient bowl barrow (which had a hollow in the middle of the mound). The OB was apparently built by soldiers of the Dorsetshire Regiment stationed in the town, which was the home of the Regimental Depot. This was most unusual but the men were apparently extremely secretive about what they had done, despite the interest of their colleagues. Despite this the construction of the ammunition store was apparently spotted by Bert Jewell, who was working for the Rural District Council and wrote to the War Office to ask for rent! They were apparently rather more concerned about how he knew what was happening.

In 1970, the Royal Commission on Historic Monuments noted the presence of a trench atop the barrow assuming it dated from the 1858 excavation of the site, though it may have been rather more recent! The location is quite visible from the modern Dorchester bypass but is overgrown with dense bramble and no remains are visible.

Patrol & OB pictures
OB Image
Caption & credit
OB collapsed depression
OB Image
Caption & credit
OB inside chamber with shaft at end
OB Image
Caption & credit
Collaped end wall and elephant shelter
OB Image
Caption & credit
Culliford Clump Ammo Store
OB Status
Collapsed with few visible remains
OB accessibility
This OB is on private land. Please do not be tempted to trespass to see it
Location

Dorchester (Came Down) Patrol

References

Dorchester vs Hitler, Colin Churchill, Dovecote Press, 2006 ISBN 1 904349 44 7

Further pictures can be seen here http://www.atlantikwall.co.uk/oldsite/atlantikwall/Dorset/cameauh401/ht…

Frank Voss memories (also in Mill Street, Dorchester by DJ Forrester  ISBN 1 906651 305)

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