Eston Patrol

Locality

Eston is a town in the old North Riding of Yorkshire to the east of Redcar. It grew into a mining town with the discovery of Ironstone. The town is at the foot of the Cleveland Hills and close to the North Yorkshire Moors.

Patrol members
Name Occupation Posted from Until
Sergeant Dennis Martin Gutteridge

Market gardener

Unknown 03 Dec 1944
Corporal William Leslie Snowdon

Farrier and agricultural smith

Unknown 03 Dec 1944
Private George Campbell

Blast furnace labourer

Unknown 03 Dec 1944
Private Horace William Cocker

Hot bank stamper

Unknown 03 Dec 1944
Private Kenneth J. Phillips Unknown Unknown
Private Frederick Frank Smith

Silica setter brickworks

Unknown 03 Dec 1944
Private Herbert Olva Stirling

Silica brick maker

Unknown 03 Dec 1944
Private Albert Raymond Stirling

Draughtsman

Unknown 03 Dec 1944
Operational Base (OB)

The Patrol had an OB built in Lazenby Bank, to the South of Eston. It was a wooden structure made from logs with a corrugated iron roof covered with soil and plants.

The OB's main chamber was 25 foot by 12 foot and had a 25 foot tunnel from the entrance shaft to the main body of the shelter. There was an escape tunnel approximately the same length. A further tunnel, though shorter, lead to the Patrol's storage area.

OB Status
Destroyed
OB accessibility
The OB site is publicly accessible
Location

Eston Patrol

Patrol Targets

Transport targets would have included; the main roads from the coast to the east from Redcar and Saltburn to Middlesbrough and various railway lines close by that ran to Middlesbrough. The aim of the military was to control the roads in land and over the moors to prevent a fast break out from the coast if the Germans landed at Whitby Harbour.

Military targets included war effort factories on the south side of the Tees and nearby RAF Thornaby.

Training

Some Patrol members went to Coleshill House for specialist training courses.

The Patrol would have trained locally in Wilton Woods and regionally at Danby Lodge, the Area Intelligence Officer's HQ. Also with the Scout Section at Castleton (Green Howards).

Weapons and Equipment

It is thought the Patrol had access to the standard Auxiliary Units kit and equipment.

Other information

The Patrol met in Redcar with Captain Dixon.

References

The National Archives in Kew ref WO199/3389

1939 Register

Hancock data held at B.R.A

Dennis Walker

David Waller