The historic market town of Beverley lies 7 miles north-west of Hull.
Name | Occupation | Posted from | Until |
---|---|---|---|
Sergeant Charles Wright | Tannery foreman |
Unknown | 03 Dec 1944 |
Corporal William Smith | Baker |
Unknown | 03 Dec 1944 |
Corporal Roy Musgrave Wilson | Machine & glue worker |
Unknown | Unknown |
Private Kenneth Barton | Manager of food provider |
Unknown | Unknown |
Private George Arthur Higgens | Valuer |
Unknown | 03 Dec 1944 |
Private Horace Lenton | Baker |
Unknown | 03 Dec 1944 |
Private Percy Padget | Plater in ship yard |
Unknown | 03 Dec 1944 |
Private William Edward Shaw | Electric welder in shipyard |
Unknown | Unknown |
Private Charles Percival Sykes | Transport manager |
Unknown | 03 Dec 1944 |
The OB was built into the side of a chalk quarry to the west of Victoria Road. It was a Nissen type structure with a concrete culvert pipe tunnel as an escape route. The site is now a large retail development.
Beverley North Patrol
It could be that these Patrols both Beverley North and South would have been deployed to cause havoc around the Town of Beverley. The Beverley North and South Patrols were only three quarters of a mile apart and 2 miles from the Walkington OB.
Another local target would include RAF Leconfield, a Bomber Command Airfield.
Training was carried out at the Bluestone Quarry with both the Beverley South and the Walkington Patrols and transport for the Patrols was provided by a Mr Tattershall, a William Hodgesons employee using the firms transport.
Weapons would have included;.303 Rifles, Tommy Guns, .22 Sniper Rifles with telescopic sights and silencer. .38 Revolvers, and a special dagger with a curved blade. Hand Grenades, Fuses of different burning rates, Pull Switches, Pressure Switches, Time Pencils of different time spells ranging from 10 minutes by 30 minute intervals to 12 hour delays. Sticky Bombs, Phosphorus Bombs.
Although the 1944 list shows two Patrols of Beverley North and Beverley South, an earlier Home Guard transfer list shows there was possibly one Patrol to start with.
Mr G.W. Hardy explained as a 15 year old he acted as a messenger boy between Captain Carrington and Sergeant Sykes, who was replaced at some stage by Sergeant Wright who appears in the 1944 list as a Private. Also Private Micklewaite, listed in the Walkington Patrol, is often referred to as a member of the Beverley Patrol.
In a written story by Auxillier Eddie Shaw, (his name appears on the Nominal Roll for the Beverley South Patrol) he states that his OB was the Beverley North Patrol. We can only conclude that there was indeed one Patrol for this area in the early set up days. He says that the OB was very damp and not fit for the storage of explosives and it was Eddie's job was to store the explosives but he doesn’t say where.
The whole Patrol was sent to the Isle of Wight and Eddie states that they arrived by ferry at Freshwater and stayed in Lord Tennysons House. They were detailed to march around the Island, a ten mile route march twice a day, in shifts and were on the Island for ten days. They took the place of Canadian Troops who had somewhat wrecked the house.
TNA ref WO199/3389
Hancock data held at B.R.A
1939 Register
Andy Gwynne
East Ridings Secret Resistance by Alan Williamson,
Stephen Lewins,
A Saboteur in Wartime – Eddie Shaws own story. Held at East Riding of Yorkshire Archives and Local Studies Service ref zDDX599/2/1