Bernard Henry Wilson

Grandson Nic Wilson-Smith; "At the outbreak of war the family, my Grandparents, Bernard and Gladys Wilson and their two daughters Yvonne and Zelda (1937), were living in Gosport, Hampshire. The family owned a shop in the centre of town which was run by Gladys, whilst Bernard worked at the Air Ministry in Southampton.

Sometime during 1940, my mother Zelda and her sister Yvonne were both evacuated because of the raids on the south coast. At around the same time, the Air Ministry office that my Grandfather Bernard worked at, was relocated to Moorlands House, Merriott, Somerset, also to escape the Southampton blitz. The family had to sell the shop in Gosport and Gladys and Bernard moved the family home to Crewkerne. Gladys found work at the local hospital.

My mother had been evacuated to Gamlingay in south Cambridgeshire from Gosport and did not re-join the family again in Crewkerne until sometime, probably in 1943, when she would have been about 5 or 6 years old. She does not recall seeing my Grandfather in uniform at all during this time, however I understand that by this time the likelihood of a German invasion had largely diminished and that the Home Guard and Auxiliary Units were slightly less active than previously.

My mother did recall taking some long walks (for a 5-6 year old) at the weekends with her father around this time, during which he mentioned their proximity to a concealed dugout/patrol base, but never revealed any more information about the location. Sadly my mother was too young at the time to have been able to remember the location, save that it was within walking distance of Crewkerne town centre itself. Unfortunately, due to her tender age at the time, she was never really made privy to any further information at the time.

My Grandfather Bernard, had few close friends and was always fairly close mouthed about his activities during World War 2, perhaps like many of his generation taking the Official Secrets Act very seriously. However I do know that many years later (1970’s-80’s) he and my father would sometimes discuss his military service in the RFC during WW1 and the Auxiliary Units during WW2.

I do recall a small enamel badge of the type given to the Auxiliers amongst my father’s effects at some stage, probably in the 1980’s. It’s very lack of identifying marks and/or glamour is probably what saved it from the inquisitive clutches of my brother and I as teenagers. Additionally, I also remember seeing some papers in a box on the bottom shelf of my father’s bookcase in the hallway that were of a nature that piqued my interest as a teenager (probably again in the 1980’s). I vaguely recall that they seemed to deal with matters such as the killing of sentries silently, boobytraps, improvised munitions and similar subjects. When my father noticed my interest in these, he took them away and put them somewhere safe from my prying eyes."