Soberton is a village in the Meon Valley, bordered by villages such as Newtown and Droxford.
| Name | Occupation | Posted from | Until |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sergeant Robert John Bettesworth | Coal merchants manager |
20 Aug 1940 | 03 Dec 1944 |
| Private George Hedley Bollen | Road work carter |
22 Jun 1942 | 15 Apr 1943 |
| Private Alick Stephen Deadman | Farm cater |
30 Sep 1942 | 03 Dec 1944 |
| Private James Colson Knight | Gardener |
20 Aug 1940 | 15 Apr 1943 |
| Private William Harry Matthews | Lorry driver |
30 Jun 1940 | 15 Apr 1943 |
| Private Ronald Norman Nobes | Farm worker |
20 Aug 1940 | 04 Dec 1942 |
| Private John William Underwood | Market gardener assisting Father |
20 Aug 1940 | Unknown |
| Private William Underwood | Tractor driver on farm |
31 Oct 1941 | 15 Apr 1943 |
Soberton A Patrol
From the Southwick Patrol diary, we know the Group met at Hillcrest, the home of Lieutenant Welch. It also records joint training exercises between different Patrols, often with one of the Sergeants acting as umpire for the exercise.
Sergeant Bettesworth kept copies of both the 1938 Diary and The Countryman,s Diary, the standard training manuals for Auxiliers. It is very likely that the Patrol Sergeant would have attended a course at Coleshill and other Patrol members may also have gone.
The 1938 diary has notes added by Lieutenant Peterson, perhaps suggesting he was the original Patrol Leader prior to his promotion. The Scout Section of regular troops covering Hampshire would have provided training in the early part of the war.
There were three Patrols lead by Soberton men (possibly Soberton, Newton and Droxford) and they seem to have worked closely with the Southwick and Bishops Waltham Patrols too. We only have definite information on the Southwick Patrol.
The Bishops Waltham Patrol likely contains all the men from that area, but the other three Patrols membership is at present a best guess, other than the names of the Sergeants in charge. This has been done based on ID card numbers held in the nominal roll, which locate the men geographically, though the method is known to be unreliable as next door neighbours might be in different Patrols. The Patrols had codenames that were the names of Caribbean islands, such as St Vincent, Martinique and Barbados. The codename for Soberton Patrol is uncertain.
Correspondence with the daughter of Sgt Bettesworth via Mark Horn
Southwick Patrol diary (Hampshire Record Office)
Hancock file held by CART
National Archives WO 199/3391
Biographical details from Ancestry.co.uk and FreeBMD