Gareth Owen – Page 3 – New Forest Knowledge

Brockenhurst a First World War Hospital village 1916

In 1916, the temporary military hospital established in Brockenhurst in 1914 to treat Indian service personnel who had been injured while serving in France, was taken over by the New Zealand authorities and became No.1 New Zealand General Hospital. It was one of three general hospitals in the UK which were staffed and operated by the New Zealand Medical Corps to care for wounded members of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.

Writing a few years after the First World War in 1923, Lt-Col Myers of the New Zealand Medical Corps described “the delight [patients] exhibited when they found that they were in a hospital which bore the name of their own country, was officered and run by New Zealanders, and above all else, had a New Zealed “atmosphere” permeating its wards and surroundings… The delight of our lads in meeting their old friends in New Zealand hospitals was always evident”.

The hospital consisted of a main tented and hutted section, known as “Tin Town”, together minor medical sections at Balmer Lawn and Forest Park and several auxiliary hospitals in and around Brockenhurst.

Over 21,000 (predominantly) New Zealand casualties were treated at No.1 New Zealand General Hospital between 1916 and its closure at the end of January 1919. Ninety-three New Zealand servicemen died while being treated at Brockenhurst and are buried in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery at St Nicholas’ Church, Brockenhurst.

Brockenhurst Hospital. A Memorial of the New Zealanders. 28 June 1919

BROCKENHURST HOSPITAL.
Published in the Press, Volume LV, Issue 16561, 28 June 1919

BROCKENHURST HOSPITAL. A MEMORIAL OF THE NEW ZEALANDERS.

A correspondent, M.D, writes:-
Last February the demobilisation of the New Zealand No. 1 General Hospital at Brockenhurst, Hampshire, took place. An English lady, formerly resident in Christchurch, has just sent me a detailed account from the local parish magazine of the official and interesting ceremony in connection with the presentation of a New Zealand flag, in gratitude for the continuous kindness of the residents and as a memorial of the long New Zealand occupation of Brockenhurst.

I visited this charming locality in August, 1917. It lies within the New Forest, and is of great antiquity, being a genuine old forest village. These famous woodlands are at least a thousand years old, the term New as applied to them being a misnomer. It has been proved by modern research that William the Conqueror did not in all probability plant a single tree, as it was known in Saxon times as “a mickle deer frith.”

The Church of St. Nicholas stands on a hill approached by a winding, leafy road banked by luxuriant wayside bracken, and shaded by noble trees; green pastures lie gleaming beyond. The churchyard is a truly sylvan Garden of God, placed on the sloping hill-side, and now known far and wide as the last resting-place of the New Zealanders who died at Brockenhurst Hospital. At the time of my visit, less than two years ago, there were, thirty-five of these graves. Alas, there are now over ninety! The church authorities reserved a largo space in one portion of the grounds, and there on the sunny slopes amid a veritable garden of flowers, intermingled with stately trees, one a very ancient and magnificent yew, our brave, departed lie in sylvan holy peace.

Heavy rain fell during my visit, but did not deter me from paying a silent tribute of respect to the heroic dead nor from taking a then full list of their names. Over each grave a Wooden cross was erected bearing the name, rank, company, and date of death. Few from these shores who visit England in future but will make this pious pilgrimage. Many of us have since heard and read of the touching letter from a Brockenhurst lady to Colonel Fenwick the New Zealand general commanding officer of the hospital, assuring that those graves should always he cared for and tended by loving hands. Their graves and their memories will always be green.

There are many sad-hearted parents who may be comforted by knowing something more of this sweet country churchyard where their dear ones lie amid trees and flowers, green pastures, and rural peace, as well as of the warm-hearted sympathy and attention which enfolds them for all time. The extract referred to is as follows: New Zealand No. 1 General Hospital.—The demobilisation of this great hospital is- now practically complete.” The two large hotels and the numerous houses occupied by nurses and staff are gradually being restored, to their owners, and the vast collection of iron buildings, known as “Tin Town,” is now emptied of all its “blue boys,” and will have to be disposed of by sale.

Before the last batch of men departed, on Wednesday, February 19th, at noon, a picturesque ceremony took place. The New Zealanders presented a-beautiful silken flag of their Dominion to be hung in the parish church as a memorial of their protracted sojourn in Brockenhurst. The vicar and churchwardens, to whose custody it was entrusted, stood at the church yard gates, where they received the flag from the officers, nurses and a large company of New Zealand soldiers, who were drawn up on the green outside. A large number of parishioners were present. A band was in attendance, and also a cinematograph, which managed to produce some most successful films in spite of a continuous rain. The films were subsequently exhibited at the hospital, and have now gone to New Zealand. Where they will be shown everywhere as an evidence of the lasting goodwill and friendship between Brockenhurst and New Zealand. The flag now hangs over the chancel arch as a similar evidence here. The following letter, suitably typed and framed, which now hangs in the tower porch, will be read with interest:

Letter from Col. Clennell Fenwick, C.M.G., Officer Commanding No. 1 N.Z. General Hospital, Brockenhurst. To the Rev. C. Hope Gill, Vicar of Brockenhurst.

Sir, Before leaving Brockenhurst, the New Zealanders are anxious to make some memorial of their stay in the neighbourhood. We have been stationed here since 1916 and during this period 21,000 New Zealand soldiers have been nursed in our hospital. Our sick and wounded have received great kindness and hospitality from the residents of Brockenhurst, and we wish to expirees our grateful thanks to our friends here. Furthermore, we cannot forget that nearly 100 of our comrades have been laid to rest in the shadow of your beautiful church. We therefore ask that you will permit the flag of our Dominion to hang in your church, to remind the people of Brockenhurst of the gratitude of their New Zealand cousins, and to be an honourable memorial to those who came from the other side of the world to die for all that in nearest and dearest to the British Empire.
I am yours faithfully.
P. CLENNELL FENWICK, Colonel.
You can find out more about the activities, sites and stories associated with the hospital by clicking here: No.1 New Zealand General Hospital

Buckler’s Hard, Beaulieu. FOBA Excavation 2012

For the Festival of British Archaeology in 2012 the project commissioned an excavation at Buckler’s Hard. Here you can see photos of the excavation, the volunteers that took part and download the archaeological evaluation report.

Report Summery
Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by the New Forest National Park Authority (NFNPA) to undertake an archaeological excavation adjacent to the riverfront at Buckler’s Hard, Beaulieu, Hampshire (NGR 441000 100100). This evaluation formed part of the Festival of British Archaeology 2012 as well as being part of the New Forest National Park New Forest Remembers – Untold Stories of World War II project. It was also hoped that the project could act as an evaluation for a proposed replica shipwright’s workshop.

In addition to the initial three trenches outlined in the Written Scheme of Investigation, two further test pits and five other excavation areas were opened up in order to target better the proposed building footprint and to assess and investigate the concrete slipway. In the area to the west of the slipway the evaluation was able to demonstrate that substantial levelling and landscaping had taken place post-war, and the majority of the structures have been comprehensively demolished. While the depth of archaeology in Trench 1 and Test Pit 5 was shown to be relatively shallow, a much greater depth of stratigraphy was seen in Trench 2 which lay between them. This could suggest a large cut feature or channel was previously situated in this area.

The earliest confirmed activity was a possible jetty 114 in Trench 1, though this stratigraphically pre-dated the concrete hard-standing it could not be securely dated. The slipway itself was seen to be in generally good condition though some of the concrete has been damaged, particularity by root action.

The WWII slipway still exits to a length of over 65m with a 1950’s extension giving it an overall length of over 73m. There is a contrast in working height of the slipway between the upper end and the lower end where a traditional greaseway was set between the rails. Contemporary photographs taken of the Site in the post-war period would seem to indicate that the area to the east of the slipway was also used with a number of timbers visible, the timber seen in Trench 3 may relate to this activity.

Search Term: Bucklers Hard

Download the Archaeological Evaluation Report.

Building 194 the “Institute” of Communal Site No.2 at RAF Ibsley

The current Ibsley village hall was built covering part of building 194 the “Institute” of Communal Site No.2 at RAF Ibsley. The rest of the WWII building forms the surface of part of the car park. In 2015 this area of the car park was resurfaced. Prior to this resurfacing work the visible remains of building 194 were surveyed by a collaborative team made up of members of the RAF Ibsley Airfield Heritage Trust, three archaeology students from Bournemouth University along with Lawrence Shaw (Heritage Mapping and Data Officer) and Gareth Owen (Project Officer – New Forest Remembers project) of the New Forest National Park Authority.

A full photographic survey was also undertaken and the results have been uploaded to the Heritage Portal.

We would like to thank Josie Hagan, Phil Trim and Hayden Scott-Pratt the Archaeology students from Bournemouth University, Bournemouth University for the loan of the equipment, Emma Blake, Roly Errington from the RAF Ibsley Airfield Heritage Trust and the Ibsley Village Hall Committee for granting permission to conduct the survey and opening up the hall for tea making facilities.

You can find out more about Ibsley Airfield in this overview article, which has links to other articles relating to Ibsley Airfield.

Building Mulberry Harbours

Many of the component parts for the Mulberry Harbours had to be constructed and this was done in a number of secret locations across the UK. Some of this top secret work was done at Lepe (now Lepe Country Park).

You can find the full story of Lepe’s role in Mulberry and D Day here: D-Day at Lepe

The component parts used to form the artificial harbour had code names. Find out more by using these names to search the portal.

Outer breakwaters
‘Bombardon’ (floating breakwaters)

Main breakwaters
‘Gooseberry’ (block ships)
‘Phoenix’ (reinforced concrete caissons)

‘Spud Piers’ (pier heads or landing wharves)
‘Whales’ (floating roadway)
‘Beetles’ (pontoons that supported the Whales)

WO 240/1/655 and WO 240/1/656

We first thought these photos were taken at Lepe. But the caption on the back of one photo lists the site as ‘Holloway’ and taken in December 1943. Most likely this is a reference to the contractors Holloway Bros Ltd. Holloway built Phoenix Caissons at Stokes Bay. It seems most likely therefore, that the pictures are of Stokes Bay. However, the similarity to the waterfront at Lepe and Stansore Point is striking.

WO 240/2/1285 and WO 240/2/1286

Some other photos uncovered show a US NAVY Seabees NL Pontoon Barge possibly at Stokes Bay as well. The barge could be used to transport ammunition, fuel, equipment and even airplanes, from cargo ships to shore. Was also used as a floating fuel station for LVT.

You can find out more about the New Forest’s vital role in D-Day from Mulberry Harbour, to holding camps, road widening, advanced landing grounds, PLUTO and Embarkation by visiting our main page on D-Day in the New Forest.

Carters Lane Trail

Historic Routes and Past Pathway aims to create five new self-guided walking trails in and around the New Forest National Park. This is one of the five suggested trails.

To help select which suggested trails to progress volunteer researchers took a quick look into the history of the areas and produced a Summary of Historical Potential for each trail. This one was researched and drafted by Volunteer Researcher Mike Osborne.

Walking west down Main Road from the centre of Marchwood you pass the Church of St John The Apostle (built for £8,300 in 1843 – £500,000 now). Going round the bend on to Hythe Road you can turn right on to Twiggs Lane; on the left is the distinctive pyramid of the Church of England Infants School replacing the two original school rooms – one for boys and the other for girls – built in 1854. Crossing the By Pass at the pedestrian lights (where there is some limited car parking on an abandoned section of Twiggs Lane) the main trail goes down the lane for about 250 metres. Turn left (east) on the drive way towards “Dunclagh” which is on the site of the Parsonage, the residence built for the first vicar of Marchwood, Thomas Martelli, for £1840 in 1843 (£110,000 now). A new vicarage was built nearer the church in the early 1960s.

All three projects were funded by Horatio Francis Kingsford Holloway who bought the 500 acre Marchwood Lodge estate in 1834. It is marked on Greenwood’s 1826 map as Marchwood Lodge though the Eling Tythe Map in 1843 shows it as Kitt’s House. Originally a yeoman’s farm house it was rebuilt in about 1816 and Horatio acquired the Georgian mansion, complete with stables, coach housing, pleasure gardens, walled kitchen garden, carriage drive and lodge. The Home Farm and lake were established, the ice house built and another 200 acres bought later.

The story of the Martelli / Holloway family’s contribution to Marchwood is worth further research. So too is the decline of the elegant mansion after 1938 to a WW2 factory for components for Motor Torpedo Boats, then a preparatory school and pony trekking centre and finally the purchase of the neglected building by the Priory Hospital Group in 1987. The last remaining 7 acres of estate are not open to the public but the northern loop of our path is through the adjoining woodland.

The Parsonage mentioned above is noted on OS maps from 1860s as being on Beacon Hill. HER 18864 states that J Norden’s map of 1595 shows a beacon in this area, though this is not verifiable. Milne’s map of 1791 names Beacon Hill clearly. The Marchwood Wikipedia entry reports that signals from here could reach both eastern and western ends of the Isle of Wight, but the link to the source of that statement is no longer valid. Visibility is now obscured by woodland.

Based on theories detailed by Ivan D Margary HER 29695 notes that the Roman road from Dibden to Lepe might run through the Marchwood Lodge grounds. An online diagram shows that road being close to Beacon Hill. Other authorities have alternative views.

Our Trail on path 8 goes south from the end of the drive past Dunclagh, on a hedged track and then through a copse, to the land farmed by the Dovey family at Birchlands.

Documents at the Hampshire Record Office indicate that the freeholders of Birchlands Farm until at least the early 1900s were the Bishops of Winchester. Richard Parke is noted as an occupier of the farm in 1789. Census returns from 1851 record farmers with small holdings of 10 to 20 acres and just one of 95 acres. There were changes in the tenancies at each census until the Ghey family took over the major holding from 1881 to at least 1911. Birchlands Farm with 205 acres and 6 cottages was put up for sale in 1945. More research at the HRO and the New Forest Centre on the land holding could complete the historical picture.

The Dovey family run a “Red Tractor” certified, mixed farm and are very conscious of the need for sustainable, accountable agriculture. They do have concerns about irresponsible walkers with uncontrolled dogs and anyone straying from the designated rights of way. Though their slurry pit is well fenced they do worry that they could be liable if mindless trespassers fell in.

The greater part of path 7 is marked on the Milne map of 1791, Greenwood in 1826, and the Tithe Map of 1842. The southern loop of the trail on that path runs through the farmyard and then north on path 9 to rejoin 7 for the leg back across the big field under the pylons to the southern tip of Fir Copse. Path 7 then continues north east through the copse, past the Home Farm and bends to the west in woodland on path 16. Just before that junction you may be able to see the lake through the trees to your right. At the end of 16 there is a track linking back to the driveway past Dunclagh to Twiggs Lane.

Childhood in Testwood

I was 5 years old in 1939, the eldest of three, my brother having been born in the same year. Consequently my mother had no wartime occupation other than caring for her young family. My father was in a reserved occupation which involved building aircraft hangars and the Mulberry Harbour.

We lived on the A36 Southampton to Salisbury road at Testwood which is about 10 miles west of Southampton. It was semi rural in those days and far enough from the city for us not to be evacuated.

My early school years were very scrappy being interrupted by air raid warnings and interludes in the school air raid shelters. Gas masks were carried as a matter of course and I can’t remember any of us thinking there was anything odd in our situation of living in wartime Britain. I hated gas mask practise as mine always made a noise when I breathed out, which resulted in a ticking off by the teacher. No doubt I hadn’t fitted it on properly. Our favourite pastime was going outside after a raid and picking up bits of shrapnel, or “shrappie” as we called it, and taking it to school for comparison with the other collectors.

We had a few stray bombs dropping around the area, one of which blew our front windows out onto the lawn. No glass was broken and my father just picked them up and fixed them back in place. My aunt, who was staying with us at one stage, was standing in the open front doorway watching an air raid when the blast from a bomb blew her to the top of the stairs. Dad made an air raid shelter for us in the back garden and I clearly remember mum and we children being there during a daylight raid on Southampton and mum making us pray for dad who was working in the docks at the time. He cycled to work as no one had cars in those days, and used to wear the empty enamel pie dish mum had cooked his lunch in as a helmet if there was a raid.

We had a gang of Italian POW’s near our home working on the canal and maintaining the river Test. They wore special POW uniforms which had square or round patches of a different colour on them so they could be seen from a distance. They were always laughing and singing and loved having we children around. One POW fashioned a little signet ring for my young sister from a silver 3 pence piece with the monarch’s head as the signet. They shared their bread and cake with us, and although they must have had an overseer, we were allowed to “fraternise” with them. There was just one German POW who kept himself apart from the Italians. We used to see him exercising the local farmer’s hunter around the fields at the back of our garden. He stayed on after the war marrying a local girl.

We had a long back garden where dad grew fruit and vegetables and mum had hens, but sweets and other luxuries were non existent. Food such as sugar, cheese and butter were very strictly rationed, and I am thankful for that today as I still have my own teeth and lead a very healthy and active life. I remember mum hearing on the grapevine one day that a local grocery store had a supply of tinned baked beans in stock, and I was sent hot foot with the ration book to join a long queue for one tin of beans! Apart from the lack of meat in our diet as dad was given the lion’s share, we had good home cooked sustainable meals supplemented by dried egg, dried apple rings and of course, tinned Spam! We had an unexpected consignment of bananas in Southampton at one time and when my little brother saw his first banana he tried to eat it with the skin on and mum had to show him how to peel it. My sister and I remembered bananas so had no trouble in that direction.
Somehow or other, no doubt through the great courage of the merchant navy men, we always had a ration of dried fruit for Christmas cakes and puddings. I remember mum icing the cake and using a tiny drop of red and green ink to colour the trimming on the icing.

As to toys, there was no shortage at all for us. Necessity being the mother of invention there was always a relative, or one of dad’s workmates who could sew, use a saw or had grown up children who passed their toys on. We girls had a doll’s wooden cot each one Christmas, then later a doll’s wooden cradle. We always had rag dolls, and one Christmas my father managed to acquire a second hand Hornby train set for my brother which a workmate’s son had outgrown. We had a disused mangle at the back of the house and one of the rollers ended up as the engine for a wooden train. My sister and I had a huge second hand doll’s house which our aunt acquired for us.

So despite home made and second hand toys we never felt deprived during those grim years, and had a very happy childhood. Our pastimes were spent walking in the countryside picking wild flowers and swimming in the river Test. It was a TV, mobile ‘phone free period in our lives, so much of our entertainment was in making use of our surroundings.

When the Americans eventually entered the war I saw for the first time in my life people of a different colour from myself. The black GI’s were such a novelty they were snapped up like hot cakes and taken home to meet mum and dad. I met one such gentleman who had been taken home by the older sister of a school friend and we were invited to meet him. I can see him now, a quiet black gentleman named Austin looking very smart in his GI uniform sitting at a table playing cards with we grubby little white kids who gazed at him in awe. With hindsight it must have been such a culture shock for him, and I often wonder if he survived Omaha beach. A few more luxuries came our way with the arrival of the Americans in the shape of slabs of chocolate and packets of Lifesaver sweets thrown from the backs of trucks. They were the “got any gum chum” days.

I mentioned earlier we lived on the A36 Salisbury road and prior to the push for D-Day there were endless convoys of troops passing our gate. When the lorries stopped for a rest the soldiers would sit along the ditches outside the houses. We would take them jugs of tea, but we never knew at that stage what was in store for us or what danger those men were to face or if any of them ever saw England again.

Anne Biffin

Chronicles of the Belgians by Eleanor Ruth Dent

Dionis M Macnair is the daughter of Eleanor Ruth Dent and John MacNair

Eleanor Ruth Dent was born in 1899 in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. She came to Burley in the New Forest, Hampshire in 1907 as Burley had the reputation of being the best climate in the UK with the cleanest air.

At the start of the First World War, Eleanor Ruth Dent was still a school girl at 15 years old. Along with her mother and neighbour Mrs Clough, she helped at Blackmoor convalescent House, looking after Belgian soldiers and refugees evacuated to the village. While her mother looked after the housekeeping Eleanor Ruth assisted with occupational therapy. She ran the small industries making toys and pictures with the men which they could sell.

She wrote an extraordinary account of the Belgians’ experience in the New Forest entitled the ‘“The Chronicles of the Belgians” dedicated ‘To mother and Mrs Clough as a souvenir of the Belgians who were the cause of much laughter during the sad years 1914-1915’. In the Chronicles she describes the various Belgians who arrived at Blackmoor, their daily routine and activities and events. She also included some illustrations. Looking after the Belgians for a bright young person (who later become a prominent illustrator of children’s books) proved to be a mixed and sometimes frustrating if important life experience. Whilst writing The Chronicles of The Belgians, she also edited and illustrated a children’s magazine called “The Pierrot” which was circulated all over the UK.

At the end of the First World War, at just 18 years old, Eleanor Ruth married a young submariner, John MacNair. She went on to have a long and adventure-filled life until her death on 24th July 1984. She is buried with her husband at the same church in Burley in which they were married.

This diary account has been digitized by the New Forest National Park Authority and transcribed by volunteer Sue Jackson. You can download the full transcription.

Credit:
These files were photographed as part of the Our Past Our Future Project.
Courtesy of Dionis M Macnair. © 2021 New Forest National Park Authority

Further articles on New Forest Knowledge relating to Dionis McNair and her mother Eleanor Ruth Dent

External Link: You can read more about the Belgian refugees in this Google book, Refugees in an Age of Genocide: Global, National and Local Perspectives. By Katharine Knox, Tony Kushner

Churchill’s Secret Army: GHQ Auxiliary Units

We received this recollection of a conversation between Juliet and her Uncle Mr Boyce about his role in Churchill’s Secret Army. The Secret Army had one role, to sabotage any enemy invasion. The members of this army have maintained their secret for many years and one normally only finds out about it ‘out of the blue’. We received this recollection of a conversation between Juliet and her Uncle Mr Boyce about his role in Churchill’s Secret Army. The Secret Army or GHQ Auxiliary Units had one role, to sabotage an enemy invasion. The members of this army have maintained their secret for many years and one normally only finds out about it ‘out of the blue’.
The project team have also been told about several of their secret bunkers, hidden in the Forest, where the stores of food, weapons and explosive would have been hidden but as yet none of these have been located. It is reported that if there had been an invasion the life expectancy for these secret volunteers was only two weeks.

Juliet’s recollection

About 10 years ago, I went to visit an uncle, Mr Jack Boyce from New Milton who at that time would have been approaching 80.

In conversation, I remarked how much I enjoyed the Dads Army programmes. With that, my uncle who I had only ever known as jovial and easy going, suddenly erupted in anger and said ‘No, it was not like that at all’. When I asked why, he told me that he had been in Churchill’s Secret Army and as a young man living at home had told only his mother.

He had to learn how to creep up and kill someone silently; they went off at night in aeroplanes and were dropped in the countryside etc. He said he had signed the Official Secrets Act and I was the first person he had told about it, and he showed me a certificate thanking him for his help during the war. I should think this was about 50 years after the war ended.

Later, I read an article in a newspaper about the exploits of this Secret Army and sent it off to my uncle. Apparently, following my visit he had mentioned it to his family who thought he was making it all up. But the article made them realise he might have been telling the truth!

He died later and I never had another opportunity to discuss it with him.

Do you know any more about the activities of Churchill’s Secret Army in the New Forest? If you do please get in touch or add your comments.

Churchill’s Secret Army: Ronald Bunday

When Ronald Bunday knew he was dying of cancer aged 58 he felt he had to tell someone of his wartime activities. He knew his brother-in-law had signed the Official Secrets Act and felt that the information would be safe, but now Dave has also come to a time in his life when he felt that others ought to know just what went on during those desperate days of the Second World War. This is Ron’s story.

Ron Bunday took on a very important role as part of the Home Front during the Second World War. Ron a farm worker at Exbury, was a member of ‘Churchill’s’ Secret Army (CSA). The role of the CSA was envisaged months before the war was declared, in case of a German invasion, and was to be staffed by reliable local men who had special skills to offer, such as gamekeepers and farm workers who knew the area where they lived like the backs of their hands.

Should the worst happen and the Germans invade, the members of the patrols were to go to ground and wreak havoc with the occupying forces, destroying railway lines and tunnels to hinder the enemy’s advance.

Just after the start of the war, Ron was approached by a man dressed in a long gabardine raincoat and trilby (Secret Service) hat and was asked if he would join CSA, which he did. He signed the Secrets Act and was told never to tell anyone of his role.

Ron’s main role was to go underground if the Germans invaded, and to blow up the fuel tanks stored across the road from Fawley School. He was trained to do this by the Instructors at Lepe and Inchmery House, and also given arms and explosives to carry out these tasks. One of his instructions was to shoot German Officers; not the men, just the Officers. He hid the explosives etc, and built hide-outs where he could live, one of the main ones being in the Exbury area. These he stocked up with food etc. He was set lots of training tasks such as breaching the security at nearby Lepe House and Inchmery House and ‘blowing up’ the fuel tanks located there. This was very dangerous as both establishments were patrolled by armed guards; after he gained access he would write ‘BANG’ with chalk, to let them know he had succeeded in his task.

During the war, he was still working a 12 hour day doing his day job of ploughing and harvesting, and yet keeping his CSA activities secret from his family and friends. Ron was told by his Secret Service boss, that he was not to get captured or to talk to anyone about what he was doing, so he was never going to be recognised for his brave good works for the war effort. In fact, unlike members of the Home Guard, Civil Defence, Auxiliary Fire Service and Woman’s Land Army, the men recruited into Churchill’s Secret Army did not receive the Defence Medal. Ron never told anyone the whole story, except late in life when he gave bits of information to his son and daughter and Dave his brother-in-law.