Bideford (East The Water) Patrol

In an oral account, taken in 1995, and stored on the Defence of Britain Database it is recorded that there were three Operational Bases and a bomb store used by Bideford Patrol. It is not known if all OBs were in use at the same time or if each was discarded after being compromised and a new location sought.

Louise Howell, a researcher contributing to part of Bideford 500 conducted interviews with an Auxilier's son who wishes to remain anonymous. He is known here as "D".

Operational Base One at Eastwood

This OB was destroyed some time after the war ended. It was located on the edge of a small copse at Eastwood, to the west of what was formally Parsons Farm owned by Auxilier Reginald Chave Parsons. It is thought he put up a poster in the area warning of prosecution of entering due to mushroom cultivation but it is known he never grew mushrooms.

Operational Base Two at Pillhead Copse

Pillhead Copse is to the north east of East the Water. Parts of the area have been used for landfill over the years so it is assumed that any remains of OB materials are long buried. This OB was also destroyed after the war. The OB was known to have been accessed via a shaft through the remains of a hollow tree trunk stump.

Operational Base Three at Stone Farm

Was sited in a old quarry on the edge of a copse to the south west of Stone Farm. The OB was destroyed after the war. The size of the OB is unknown but it is known that the entrance was concealed by tipped rubbish.

Bomb Store at Cleave Wood Mine (or Paint Mine Woods)

Within the old mine and quarry workings at Cleave Wood Mine there was a bunker used as a phosphorus bomb store. It is known to have been blown up and filled in after the war.

One substance mined there was a stiff black clay known locally as Bideford Black and as this was chiefly used to make black pigments – hence the name ‘Paint Mines’. Bideford Black is probably most famous now for being the source of the black paint used for coating the hulls of sailing ships in the 18th and 19th Centuries. However, all sorts of other products were later made from it, including tank paint, colourings for rubber boots and even mascara !

Arms Store at Eastwood Farm

Reginald Parson's family recall there were arms and ammunition stored at Eastwood Dairy Farm. A wood and iron store and one time church, called Port Mission, was owned by the Parson's family. Young family members were told to make their way there in times of trouble as they would be safe in the little old church. Arms and ammunition was thought to have been stored in the crawl space under the wooden floor. The 1980's sales details can be seen here.

D was a young boy of 10 when his father told him about him being in the Bideford Auxiliary Unit. His father took him to where two of the three OBs were located, however D was unable to pin point their exact locations. He was able to recall them as having been located at Cleave Wood and Eastwood and he believes that one of the three locations is still in the same family ownership.

After the war, each unit had been instructed to remove all evidence and completely destroy the OBs, which D says did take place in Bideford. He is certain that they had all been totally demolished some years after the war had finished.