Peter's obituary read;
FARMER and former Mayor of Ashford, Peter Boulden, has died at his home in the village of Aldington, near Ashford. He was 86.
Mr Boulden born in Aldington and attended the local primary school and the South Central in Ashford. But he always had a thirst for global knowledge. When war broke out in 1939 he was in Rhodesia studying farming methods in Africa. In 1955 he was awarded a coveted six-month Nuffield scholarship for a study tour of America. He was a former chairman of Ashford National Farmers Union, was President of Ashford Cattle Show in 1982 and spent spells on the board of directors of Kent Wool Growers and Romney Marsh Viners. His greatest passion were his Romney sheep, on which he was an acknowledged world expert.
Less highly publicised were his wartime roles. Many knew he was a member of the Home Guard but less were aware that he had been trained by commandos as a local leader in the Secret Army trained to disrupt the enemy if the Germans had invaded Kent.
As Lord of the Level of Aldington - a title he inherited from his grandfather - he was both fascinated and fiercely defensive of the protection on Romney Marsh. For many years he was also a Churchwarden at St Martin’s Parish Church, chairman of the parish council and represented the village on East Ashford rural district council on which he also served as chairman.
After local government re-organisation in 1973 he was elected as a founder of the expanded Ashford council and served with distinction until 1991 including having the honour of being elected the first-ever Mayor when borough council status was achieved in 1974. After that term in office he was council leader from 1982-85 before a second term as Mayor in 1986-87. He was proud of many projects he helped bring to the district but none more so than the Julie Rose Stadium. He was also for many years chairman of the Board of Visitors to Aldington Prison and a staunch supporter of charity work as a member of both Hythe and Ashford Masonic Lodges.
It was almost a year ago that his wife Laure (nee Brun) died and since then he has been bravely fighting illness. He leaves a son Martin and daughters Virginia, Christine and Yvonne.
| Unit or location | Role | Posted from | until |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aldington Patrol | Patrol member | 27 Jun 1940 | 03 Dec 1944 |
Farmer
Peter Boulden was only 21 in 1940, when he returned to England from Rhodesia. Owing to his reserved occupation as a farmer he joined the Home Guard where he soon became a Sergeant Major. Other members of his official Home Guard unit were Colonel Swann, Major Durling and Captain Reynolds. His introduction to the Auxiliary Units was through Captain Allnatt, a farmer from nearby Lympne.
Peter Boulden: “We all went down to Coleshill for intensive training in all aspects of clandestine warfare, including unarmed combat, survival techniques, booby traps, and how to use our machine guns, pistols, knives and explosives. We also learnt survival technique, how to pick a suitable target and how to move at night. I remember learning how to blow up tanks using limpet mines and improvised explosive charges strapped to huge magnets. We were given a hundredweight of Plastic Explosive to take back to Kent and experiment with. Can you imagine the scene? We blew up stones, rocks, trees, absolutely everything we could think of. And none of our families knew.
We also spent many nights and weekends training at The Garth in Bilting. Again, unarmed combat, sabotage and demolition techniques and how to kill a sentry quietly were at the top of the training agenda. I remember on one occasion we were all standing in a circle timing the various types of fuses used, when someone dropped a hand grenade, minus its pin. We just froze. Captain Allnatt, as cool as a cucumber, simply bent down, picked it up and threw it away.
We had better training than the majority of army units. When we did come into contact with the army-proper they complained about the high quality of our equipment.
Following the D - Day landings there was a rumour that we might be called upon to parachute behind enemy lines, but nothing ever came of it. I don’t think it was a very sensible idea as we were chosen for the Auxiliary Units because we knew our home territory and wouldn’t have been much use in France.
After we were stood down in November 1944 regular Army personnel came around and collected our arms and ammunition. Many people have asked me, ‘Would you really have gone into action if the Germans had invaded?’ The answer is, of course, we would have done whatever was necessary. The horrors of the First World War were still fresh in people’s memories and we hated the Germans. I don’t know how effective we would have been, given that our expected life span was less than two weeks, but we would have caused as much mayhem as possible to gain time. The object wasn’t to go out and kill as many Germans as you could because, obviously, a small Patrol couldn’t have done any good that way. You can do far more good by destroying a few thousand gallons of petrol, a few hundred tons of explosives, or a few aeroplanes. Patrols that went to ground and stayed undercover until after the initial German assault before attacking convoys and depots might have stood a better chance of survival.
We expected at that time and expected is the right word, we expected that the Germans would come, not that they might but that they would come. The higher-ups expected not to be able to hold the coastline, the line of defence was going to be further inland, but they wanted to leave a certain number of people behind who were trained in sabotage to create as much havoc as possible.”
In 1990 Peter spoke to the BBC and Stephen Sutton. Recordings are held at Imperial War Museum.
TNA ref WO199/3390 & 1
1939 Register
Cousin David Boulding
Adrian Westwood