CART Auxiliary Unit Research

County Group

Locality

The Patrol was based to the west of Bedlington and to the north of Cramlington near the River Blyth.

Patrol members

Name	Occupation	Posted from	Until
Sergeant Alfred William Smith	School board man	Unknown	03 Dec 1944
Private James Thomas Barrass	Miner	Unknown	03 Dec 1944
Private Wilfred Henderson	Electric & acetylene welder	Unknown	03 Dec 1944
Private Richard Albert Needham	Mining electrical engineer	Unknown	03 Dec 1944
Private Norman Matthew Thompson	Market gardener	Unknown	03 Dec 1944
Private Wilfred Wood	Colliery surveyor	Unknown	03 Dec 1944
Private George Willis Dawson Wylie	Butcher for the Co-op	Unknown	03 Dec 1944

Operational Base (OB)

The Patrol OB was a standard "Elephant" type shelter built by the 184th (S) Tunnelling Company Royal Engineers in Hartford Woods.

The OB follows most Northumberland OBs in being oriented east to west with an escape tunnel heading toward the River Blyth. However the OB is on high ground which gives a long drop to the river below. They probably had some sort of hidden rope for the drop as jumping would end in serious injury. The OB escape tunnel looks to have had two storage areas built into it.

The OB was accessed via a trap door that was attached to a metal ring which when pulled operated the counter balance to raise the door. Major Hall recalled; "There was a hide in Hartford Woods and the entrance consisted of a flat tray on balanced rollers. Over the tray we grew a pile of brambles. It would have been near impossible to sport, even inside the clump of brambles as the entrance opened by pulling a small ring attached to a wire".

Approximately 100 yards east of the OB site is a hollow in the ground that is close to a farm house. This was the Patrol Observation Post giving good views across the fields to the south of the OB.

Patrol & OB pictures

Looking from escape end to entrance end

OB escape tunnel and storage area 2

Looking down into the shelter

OB escape tunnel with storage area 1

OB escape tunnel

OB entrance end

OB escape tunnel end

OB sketch

OB site 2020 (from Scott Bramwell)

OB Status

Collapsed with some visible remains

OB accessibility

The OB site is publicly accessible

Location

East Hartford Patrol

Patrol Targets

Targets would have included railway bridges on the Blyth & Tyne line and the East Coast main line. The Patrol removed some of the stonework of the Plessey railways viaduct and filled it with explosives just in case they had to demolish it.

Road bridges over the River Blyth would have been another target as would have been Blagdon Hall, Arcot Hall and Seaton Delaval Hall all probable German HQs in the event of invasion.

The nearby invasion beach from Blyth to Seaton Sluice would have been on the Patrol's list as would have been Cramlington Airship Station, used during WW2 for military supplies and manufacturing of shell casings.

Training

The Patrol trained locally and at Norman Thompson's market garden using Noble explosives to clear trees.

They went to Cupar in Fife, for the commando training course and the Sergeant went to Coleshill House for specialist training.

Weapons and Equipment

Tot Barrass said they had a .22 sniper rifle with silencer and telescopic sights and at least one Sten gun.

Unusually for the Auxiliary Units they were issued with American .45 M1911 semi automatic pistols.

All had a Fairbairn Sykes fighting knives and the Patrol was issued with the Auxiliary Unit Mark 2 kit.

Other information

Tot Barrass' wife worked at the Cramlington Airship Station inspecting shell cases and camouflage netting all of which was made on the site.

Alf Smith was the Scouts District Commissioner and a Church Warden and also a keen local historian. He fell foul of the authorities due to the Auxiliary Units work he was doing. He was letting his Church Warden duties slip and had to appear before the higher church authorities to explain himself. They questioned his commitment to the role which he took badly as he was a very religious man. As a result, he lost his role as Church Warden, something he was bitter about for the rest of his days.

The Patrol went to Balmoral to guard the Royal Family and were give new uniforms and Glengarry hats when they attended Crathy church. This was part of a six week tour.

The Patrol also went to the Isle of Wight just before D-Day where they looked after the power station, this was a four week tour.

All the members were connected to the Boys Scouts groups in the area.

References

Tot Barrass interview

Norman Thompson (Jnr)

Dave Neville

The National Archives at Kew ref WO199/3389

Hancock data held at B.R.A

Captain Anthony Quayle interview

Morpeth & Ashington Extra Feb 2011