Drellingore Patrol

The Operational Base was built in woods above Drellingore. The location was originally provided by Sam Osborne to local author Roy Humphreys and subsequently recorded for the defence of Britain Project. Sam had first become aware of the site when a lady who lived in a cottage on his farm talked to him about someone sinking a "bloody Nissen Hut" in the woods behind her house. It was not actually on his land, but that of a neighbour, George Marsh. Later George approached Sam to join the patrol.

Reportly the OB was built by Canadians, most likely the Canadian Royal Engineers Tunnelling Company.

The OB consisted of block built entrance shaft, with a solid metal manhole cover lid with a tree stump fixed on top for camouflage. The lid was counter-weighted and could be easily moved by one man, pivoting to the side to allow entry. The shaft was at least 12 feet deep and 30 inches by 32 inches, with a 5 inch lip to support the lid.

The main chamber was a Nissen Hut like Elephant Shelter with block built end walls approximately 12 yards long. The chamber apparently contained bunks, a stove, a 50 gallon galvanised water tank, an Elsan toilet and a lamp during the war, besides their sabotage equipment and rations for two weeks. There were problems with condensation, so the chamber was lined with painted with a mixture of white paint, ground cork and white varnish.

At the opposite end from the shaft was a "bolt hole", and escape tunnel made up of concrete sewer pipes. The tunnel was L-shaped and opened on the hillside below. The exit was a rectangluar concrete opening with a wooden frame with a wooden door, covered in earth, opening outwards.

The main shelter collapsed after the war, leaving only the remains of the end wall and the corrugated iron remnants of the main chamber structure. The block built entrance shaft with rotting and now partially absent metal rungs and the concrete escape tunnel remain intact. (Site visits 1995, 2021)