The 36 Cornwall Auxiliary Units Patrols can be divided into 6 Groups by lists recorded by Major Malcolm Hancock based at Coleshill House around September 1944.
There were some changes in Patrols and personnel over time and the Group structure did not exist earlier in the war, but it provides a useful way to look at the Patrols.
The Cornwall nominal roll is a simple A-Z address book. The only way to identify which Auxiliers were in what Patrol is by their home address.
Where Patrols are close together there maybe some question over what Patrol they were part of.
Captain Edmundson had already been active in Devon and Cornwall before joining Auxiliary Units and used Fort Austin in Plymouth as his base having operated from there already. While this might seem unusual as a base for Cornwall, at that point Devon and Cornwall were considered a single command by Auxiliary Units. By mid 1941, probably earlier, the Headquarters had moved to Polhilsa House in Cornwall.
Devon and Cornwall Officers with Intelligence Officers at Langstone Manor. Most likely Nov 1943. Click on links to go to Officer's page. See below for an image without links.
On 15 September 1942 it moved to Langstone Manor in Devon when Devon and Cornwall Auxiliary Units were divided between two Intelligence Officers, remaining there until 8 November 1943. After this the Headquarters was in Barclays Bank Chambers, Liskeard, Cornwall. From 27 September 1944 it moved to East Street, Ashburton, Devon, which also was the Headquarters of Number 4 Area, which incuded Devon, from September 1944.
Role | Name | Posted from | Until |
---|---|---|---|
Intelligence Officer | Captain Joshua William Stuart Edmundson | 16 Jul 1940 | 31 Dec 1943 |
Intelligence Officer | Captain John Dingley | 15 Jun 1941 | 11 Oct 1944 |
Intelligence Officer | Major Wilfred Welchman Harston | 27 Sep 1944 | 03 Dec 1944 |
As Cornwall and Devon were a single area initially, there was only one Cornwall Scout Section. In April 1943 as part of manpower reductions in the Regular Army component of Auxiliary Units, it was halved in size and merged with the Devon Scout Section to create a Combined Devon and Cornwall Scout Section.