Fingringhoe Patrol

There is thought to have been an initial OB formed in the old WW1 rifle butts at Jaggers Farm, Fingringhoe. The butts are long gone but the area remains an important firing rage for the military today. As the range was heavily used as the war progressed, it is possible that this site was abandoned for that reason. Auxilier Peter Potter suggested that an early OB tended to flood, which could be this one, so the OB was relocated to the quarry.

It is thought that the Patrol may have had as many as three Operational Bases. They certainly had one at Ballast Quay. Sergeant 'Buller' Green showed this to his nephew in 1980, who recalls a shaft with a typical corrugated iron chamber, though he did not go inside. The OB is thought to have been colonised by badgers before being destroyed by an extension to the gravel extraction works in the area. The land at Fingringhoe Wick had originally been part of the family farm, but had been sold in 1930s due to financial problems. Gravel from this site was used to construct the 2012 Olympic Park at Stratford, as it could be shipped directly by boat.

Peter Potter also visited the OB. It was said to have been about 4-500 yards from any habitation, in an old quarry and hidden by undergrowth. Three rooms were built, comprised of a kitchen/living room/workshop, a sleeping quarters with 4 bunks and a storeroom for weapons, explosives, ammunition, fuses, food, water etc. The kitchen and dormitory had connections to one another and each had a 100ft.emergency exit which was never used. The armoury had only a connection to the kitchen/workshop.

There is also reported to have been an OB in the west side of the copse opposite The Whalebone Inn, on Plane Tree Farm.