Pimperne is a village a civil parish, and lies on Cranborne Chase 2 miles north-east of the town of Blandford Forum.
Peter Shiner recounted how his father Bill and uncles John Shiner and Eric Lucas were all in the Patrol together.
Name | Occupation | Posted from | Until |
---|---|---|---|
Sergeant Harold George Legg | Iron Moulder (Barber) |
Unknown | 03 Dec 1944 |
Private Leonard Archibald Scott Bastin | Farrier (Blacksmith) |
01 Jun 1940 | 03 Dec 1944 |
Private Frederick Harry Berry | Farm Labourer |
11 Jan 1943 | 03 Dec 1944 |
Private Harry James Duffett | Cowman |
09 Aug 1942 | 03 Dec 1944 |
Private John Hall | Motor driver and mechanic |
19 Oct 1940 | 1944 |
Private Harold Levi Joyce | Farm Carter |
01 Jun 1940 | 03 Dec 1944 |
Private Walter Eric Lucas | Builders Labourer |
01 Jun 1940 | 03 Dec 1944 |
Private William Edwin Arthur Shiner | Tractor driver |
16 Jun 1941 | 03 Dec 1944 |
Private Stephen John Shiner | Farm Carter |
01 Jun 1940 | 03 Dec 1944 |
Leonard Bastin described the OB as an "elephant shelter" suggesting it was of standard construction. Bill Shiner pointed out to his son a location in a wood at Stourpaine. This was confirmed by a record of an underground structure identified by the Defence of Britain Project from a list of claims made post war for wartime constructions on private land. This described the site as in a small copse, 100 yards off the main Shaftesbury Road. The location was alongside the original showground for the Great Dorset Steam Fair, though in recent years the copse has been developed for a caravan site. The report said that there was a shaft down, a Nissen hut like underground structure and a concrete pipe tunnel, presumably the escape tunnel. In the 1949 report it was described as being in a dangerous condition.
In the past, attempts to gain access to search for the OB have been unsuccessful.
Pimperne Patrol
The Patrol trained with other Patrols in the same group and on occasion they visited other OBs in the area. Bill Shiner knew the location of the OBs of the Child Okeford and Stourpaine Patrols.
Leonard Bastin's son reported that he had a rifle with telescopic sights, most likely to have been a .22 rifle as known to be issued to other Patrols. He also had a Commando knife, the Fairbairn Sykes dagger.