CART Auxiliary Unit Research

County Group

Locality

The Duddo Patrol was based just north of Ford & Etal in north Northumberland roughly half way between Wooler and Berwick on Tweed

Patrol members

Name	Occupation	Posted from	Until
Lieutenant George Hedley	Farmer	1941	Unknown
Sergeant Robert Carmichael Reed	Agricultural labourer	Unknown	Unknown
Private Michael Brown	Farmer	Unknown	Unknown
Private James William Douglas	Shepherd	Unknown	Unknown
Private Frederick Norman Guthrie	Tractor driver	Unknown	Unknown
Private George Hutson	Farm worker	Unknown	Unknown
Private James Tait Lockie	Farmer	Unknown	Unknown
Private Edwin Rowland	Agricultural labourer	Unknown	Unknown

Operational Base (OB)

The Patrol's OB was in a wood known locally as "Maggy's Wood" on the north bank of the river Till.

The OB is a standard "Elephant" type built by the 184th (S) Tunnelling Company Royal Engineers. There were some problems with materials for the building of the OB which were eventually sorted out by Major M.B. Hare of the Royal Engineers. Due to damp conditions the escape tunnel and entrance shaft were made from corrugated iron instead of concrete pipes (the West Fallodon Patrol OB was the same). The delay meant the OB was not completed until the end of the Summer 1942.

As with most Northumberland OBs, it is oriented East to West. The escape tunnel heads towards a stream in the wood in a fairly deep valley, this in turn heads straight for the River Till.

Patrol & OB pictures

Duddo OB site

Duddo OB entrance

Duddo OB part of trapdoor

Duddo OB metal sheeting

Duddo OB general view of what remains

Duddo OB CART Northumberland shoulder title Aux 201 copy.jpg

Patrol member Pte. Michael Brown's battle dress blouse - Northumberland HG patch & 201 Bn

Location of Patrol members relative to OB

Duddo OB (from James Towill 2016)

Duddo OB 2 (from James Towill 2016)

OB Status

Collapsed with some visible remains

OB accessibility

The OB site is publicly accessible

Location

Duddo Patrol

Patrol Targets

The road bridge at Ford and Ford Castle (possibly German HQ) were both obvious targets. The Cornhill branch railway line as well as several other important road bridges in a remote area of Northumberland, will have been crucial targets as were the RAF Milfield airfield and the Army HQ based in Wooler.

Training

Training took place at Cupar in Fife as well as at Belford with the Army and at Middleton Hall. They also used the close quarters training site set up at Lieutenant J.W.L Carmichael's farm with it's rope ways and pop up targets.

Weapons and Equipment

The Patrol were equipped with American semi automatic pistols and a .22 sniper rifle with telescopic sights.

Other information

The Patrol looks to have been stood down before the Auxiliary Units were on a national basis 3 Dec 1944. Lieutenant G. Hedley and 2nd Lieutenant R.T. Dryden remained as Group 2 officers but Sergeant Bob Reed is missing from Major Hancock's list so they could have gone early or just forgotten when the list was drawn up.

References

The National Archives in Kew ref WO199/3388

1939 Register

Colin Hunter

The Newcastle Evening Chronicle article (1968)

James Towill