David and his younger brother Len both worked on the nearby farm. David started as a house boy in the Farmhouse aged 12, progressing to horse boy at 14. He continued working with the horses until the tractors arrived and later on in the Dutch barn drying the wheat etc.
In all he worked on the same farm for 59 years (plus the two years as house boy) retiring at 73.
David only ever said that he was in the Home Guard and that he was only issued with one bullet. He never mentioned the Auxiliary Units.
| Unit or location | Role | Posted from | until |
|---|---|---|---|
| Danbury Patrol | Patrol member | Unknown | 03 Dec 1944 |
Horseman
David's brother Leonard was also an Auxilier. They both lived at Willow Hall Cottages, Woodham Walter when they joined the Auxilliary Units but by the time the Units were disbanded they were actually living next door to each other at Brook Cottages, The Dip, Tom Tit Lane, Woodham Mortimer, Essex.
With the differences in their ages, when Leonard joined the Patrol, David had already married and moved to Brook Cottages, Woodham Mortimer. This explains why two brothers joined the Patrol but neither knew that the other one had. Also having signed the Secrets Act neither of them spoke about what they did.
TNA ref WO199/3389
1939 Register
Daughter - Maureen Patient-Saunders (nee Clark)