Scout Auxiliary Units

This post is about the Scout Auxilliary Units, and does not contain many photographs. As we progress through the details, you will understand why….. (and if you have any more information or artifacts about this or any other story we'd love to hear from you).

Origins

The Scout Sections formed an early part of the Auxiliary Units structure.
These were secret units of regular soldiers, each commanded by a Lieutenant, whose role was to train the Home Guard patrols of Auxiliary Units.
They arose out of the experience of XII Corps Observation Unit, under Captain Peter Fleming. He had arranged for a section of Lovat Scouts to help him, thanks it seems to his brother Robert, who was an officer in that unit.
Recruited from the Highlands of Scotland, they included experienced ghillies, skilled in stalking, who had also trained snipers during the First World War.

Unit Organisation

The first War Establishment for the Scout Sections, dated 26th July 1940, provides details of the makeup of these units, with a sergeant, corporal, 8 other ranks, cook, a batman/driver (for the officer) and driver IC (internal combustion - as opposed to wagon driver), making a total of 14 including their officer.
The men were typically drawn from regiments that recruited locally to the area concerned, though the men were not necessarily local. The men were drawn from Regimental Depots, to avoid accusations that the best men were being poached from front line units. Major Oxenden wrote that initially officers and men "were chosen for their youth and toughness". However he also suggests this was a mistake as it meant the officers were too young to take over from the Intelligence Officer (IO) if he left and the men did not make good teachers for what were largely older Auxiliaries. This was rectified with later recruits.

Unit Locations

Originally there were 20 Scout Sections planned across 10 areas.
By November 1940 there were 14 areas, as some of the original areas were divided. The same 14 man section structure seems to have existed until January 1943, by which time there were 26 sections across a peak of 22 areas.
Some areas, such as the Scottish Borders, apparently never had a Scout Section.
There are no reports of any operating in South Wales, Herefordshire or Worcestershire.

Training

Writing in late 1944, Major Oxenden records that it was intended that Patrols would be trained up over a three month period, after which they would train the Home Guard Patrols by means of lectures, demonstrations and night exercises. The Scout Section soldiers were sent to Coleshill House to take part in their own dedicated training courses.
Fifteen courses were run for complete Scout Sections and these are believed to have been longer courses (two weeks) than those provided for the Home Guard Patrols, which of course had other jobs to hold down. After the first sections were trained, there were then occasional courses for new Scout Section recruits, with eleven run over their existence, which seems more frequent than the twice yearly referred to by Oxenden. There were also five courses run specifically for the Scout Section officers. The latter are thought to have been a week long, with Kent officer Lieutenant Sydney Hudson describing one such course in December 1941. He travelled to Coleshill House and at the end of the training each man had an interview with the Commanding Officer.

Armament

The War Establishment lists the armament of each Section as 12 pistols .38, 4 rifles .303 (Sniper), 1 Light Machine Gun (Bren) and 2 Machine Carbines .45 (Thompson). Presumably 2 of the men didn't get pistols, perhaps the cook and batman/driver? The soldiers were also issued with fighting knives.

Stores and Equipment

As well as the standard uniform and web equipment, there were additional issues of compasses, binoculars and rubber boots. They also received special smoked glass goggles for night training during the daylight hours. To help with Operational Base (OB) construction, the section was issued with a carpenter's tool chest, shovels, a pick and a felling axe. For transport there was a 15 cwt lorry and a 2-seater car for the officer, with 10 folding bicycles for the men. More unusual was the issue of a recce boat and assault boat to each section.

This is thought to be a photo of Scout Section officers attending a course at Coleshill House in 1941.

Lieutenant George McNicoll is far left in the front row, Lieutenant William Ashby is second from left and Lieutenant Hugh Palliser on the far right. Behind him is Lieutenant Victor Gough. The others are currently unidentified.

Major John Gwynne's SOE file includes a letter that records a competition between the then 24 Scout Sections, where his two Sussex sections came first and second. It was described as testing general operational efficiency by night and day.

The Scout Pool

By January 1943, Auxiliary Units, like the rest of the Army, was under pressure to make savings in manpower, to help bolster front line fighting forces. With invasion increasingly unlikely, the Scout Sections were a clear target, with the Home Guard Patrols now fully trained. Initially a reduction of 18 Scout Sections was discussed, leaving 8 remaining, though it is not clear that this happened. For example in Sussex and Norfolk, it seems that the two sections markedly reduced in size with those remaining forming a combined section.
The revised War Establishment of 30th April 1943 refers instead to a Scout Pool of 133 men (9 officers, 20 Sergeants, 20 Corporals, 8 Lance Corporals, 46 privates and 30 RASC drivers). Possibly this meant in practice that around 6 men remained in each area as there is little evidence of a nationwide pool approach, photos from this period showing men in their original localities.
Certain areas appear to have operated single combined sections, whereas others, depending on geography, remained separate in their sub-areas. This number was further reduced by the end of November 1943 with the revised War Establishment listing 59 men (20 sergeants, 20 corporals, 8 lance corporals, 5 RASC Drivers IC with the rest privates).
This seems to have involved around four men staying in each area, judging by the Norfolk experience. In April 1943, the Scout Section Officers had been reduced to nine, with the role being finally removed entirely in November 1943.

Communications

A surviving document about the issue of No 17 Wireless sets to IOs mentions that these will be used to keep in contact with the Scout sections. This suggests that Scout Sections were issued with these sets already. Only one Scout section is known for certain to have used a wireless, namely East Norfolk Scout Section.

Operational Bases

Oxenden also refers to the post-invasion plans for the Scout Sections. They were to split into two and each Patrol would go to ground in its own OB. The sections were to build their OBs during the first three months after formation. In practice a number of Sections carried on digging OBs for Home Guard Patrols in the absence of other labour. This of course means that each Scout Section normally had two Obs.

Other Regular staff

The Scout Sections were separate from the IO's HQ, which usually had a sergeant clerk and RASC driver for the IO's staff car. Some areas had a Royal Engineers corporal attached though they seem to have worked more closely with the Scout Sections.

Stand Down

Oxenden records that almost all the regular personnel were withdrawn in July 1944, once the D Day invasion was clearly a success. This seems to have included any remaining Scout Section personnel, leaving just a handful of IOs who were older and in lower categories of fitness to supervise the Stand Down of the Home Guard patrols later in the year.

On Active Service

The Isle of Wight Auxiliary Units were part of Hampshire as Area number 14 (Hampshire and the Isle of Wight). The Hampshire Auxiliary Units Patrols can be divided into 10 Groups from lists recorded by Major Malcolm Hancock based at Coleshill House around September 1944. Groups 9 and 10 cover the Isle of Wight.

There were some changes in Patrols and personnel over time and the Group structure did not exist earlier in the war, but it provides a useful way to look at the Patrols.

The Hampshire and Isle of Wight nominal roll is a simple A-Z address book. The only way to identify which Auxiliers were in what Patrol is by their home address, unless we have accounts from those involved.

Where Patrols are close together there maybe some question over which Patrol they were part of.

In May 1944 many men were recruited from Auxiliary Units to travel to the Isle of Wight to protect the Island from a counter attack during D-Day.

Many of the officers and men of the Scout Patrols went on to active service with various Special Forces. These included the Commandos, Chindits, SOE and Phantom (GHQ Liaison Regiment). It is known that the SAS specifically recruited those who had served in the Scout Sections because of the training they already had in operating behind enemy lines.

You may have heard some of the preceding details, but did you know there was an Auxiliary Unit based in Sandown?
The members of the unit were sworn to secrecy and didn’t even tell their family.
The story only emerged during the twilight years of the last member of the unit.
There are rumours of their base and store being in a tunnel in Borth Wood, between Apse Heath and Alverstone.

Sandown Detachment

There were some changes in Patrols and personnel over time and the Group structure did not exist earlier in the war, but it provides a useful way to look at the Patrols.

Where Patrols are close together there maybe some question over which Patrol they were part of.

In May 1944 many men were recruited from Auxiliary Units to travel to the Isle of Wight to protect the Island from a counter attack during D-Day.

It seems likely that the Patrol was formed in July 1941. Patrol Leader Ewart Rapkins, Hooper and Moorman had all been Auxiliary Fireman at the Crescent Road substation then. Only one member had an earlier start date than 14 Aug 1941 and he may have joined from the Home Guard which would account for this.
The Fire Service records kept by Chief WH Brown note that the men were joining the Home Guard Patrol Section in what was a breach of security.
Above a note mentions that more than half of the men in the section are on work of National Importance, making it difficult to get them together for training.
They attend the July 1941 training but are absent for Aug 1941.
One resigns on 8 Jul, suggesting he already knew he would be joining the Patrol then. Three other men had the same joining date as well.

     Rank           Name                                         Occupation    Posted from Until
•Sergeant Ewart Gibbons Rapkins             Mechanical engineer     14 Aug 1941 03 Dec 1944
•Corporal Adrian FFrancis Le Maitre           Amusement caterer           14 Aug 1941   03 Dec 1944
•Private Eric John Barton                           Aircraft carpenter                27 Oct 1940   03 Dec 1944
•Private Frederick Walter Blake                  Dairy farmer 16 Nov 1941 03 Dec 1944
•Private Charles Samuel Maurice Cassell   Architect 27 Nov 1941 09 Jun 1943
•Private Charles Walter Dibbens                Carpenter and joiner        14 Aug 1941   15 Apr 1943
•Private Charles Edward Herbert    Draftsman and engineer 15 Sep 1942 03 Dec 1944
•Private Kenneth Ivan Hooper                                                              14 Aug 1941 03 Dec 1944
•Private Edgar Wilfrid Moor                         Builder and estate agent 14 Aug 1941 03 Dec 1944
•Private Richard Arthur Ward                     Timber merchant manager 14 Aug 1941 03 Dec 1944

SERGEANT EWART GIBBONS RAPKINS 1st April 1899 – 11th June 2000

•Known as Bill, he was born in Southampton and his family moved to the Isle of Wight when he was 12. He was a keen Boy Scout and by 15 was a King's Sea Scout with the 1st Sandown Group. After school he started an apprenticeship with J Samuel White, the shipbuilders at Cowes. This was interrupted by his service during the First World War but completed on his return. He then joined the British India line for two years working in India and Africa.
•On his return he set up an engineering company with premises initially in George Street then Albert Road. During the war, in partnership with fellow Auxilier Adrian Le Maitre, they produced parts for aircraft including the Spitfire.
•Ewart married Ruby Bartlett in 1923 and they had three daughters. She died in 1952 and five years later he married Kathleen Harvey. He lived to the age of 101, attributing his long life to keeping active, a daily glass of Guinness and his wife's soup. His daughter described him as a man of integrity, who had the ability to give advice and inspiration to all who were close to him.
•He was Scout Leader until his retirement. The Rover Scout crew provided the basis of the Auxiliary Fire Service and also the Sandown Auxiliary Units Patrol. In 1939 he was recorded as being in the Auxiliary Fire Service. The Sandown Fire Brigade Roll of Honour records that he was a member of the Crescent Road Section from 1939-1941, along with Ken Hooper and Edgar Moorman, who were also patrol members. The detailed records kept by the Fire Service show that they had frequent call outs, at times more than twice daily, in addition to training sessions and duty shifts supporting the Sandown Fire Brigade. They also record that Rapkins, who wore glasses, was issued with Mark III Spectacles, a type officially issued to be worn with a gas mask, on 8 Aug 1941. Also that he resigned but did not return these prescription glasses (no doubt as they would remain useful for service with the Auxiliary Units for wear under his service respirator).
•He was promoted to Lieutenant 5 Sep 1944, shortly before the stand down of Auxiliary Units.

Corporal Adrian Francis Le Maitre 22 Feb 1897 - 22 May 1988

•Born in Walthamstow, his family moved to Sussex. In 1921 his occupation is recorded as experimental engineer. He appears to have put in planning applications to build various properties and garages in Hove in the 1920s along with his brother.
•In 1924 he came to the Isle of Wight and established as a reputable provider of amusements in Sandown. This allowed him to rent the Eastern Pleasure Gardens. After the war he ran 'The White City' arcade.
•Adrian married Ethel Gibbon in Sussex in 1933 having met her at a dance in Brighton. They made the Island their permanent home in 1936.
•During the war, he and Bill Rapkins were in partnership producing aircraft whines and related parts. They were involved in the production of Spitfires along with a number of others on the Isle of Wight. In 1942-42 he was President of Sandown Rotary Club.
•He was a member of Sandown and Shanklin Council and became Chairman in 1947. Later he was a Justice of the Peace, serving 23 years. He was one of the founders of Sandown Business Association and was its President for a time. He also had a number of other roles in the community and as result was awarded an MBE in 1969.
•He was also a First World War veteran, he served as an engineer with the RAF until August 1919. He is recorded as 5ft 7 with light brown hair and hazel eyes. In 1939 he was in the Observer Corps.

Private Charles Walter Dibbens 06 Jan 1917 - 2005

•He was interviewed for a children’s book "My War: Home Guard" by Philip Steele published by Wayland Press 2003 : -
•"I was a keen Sea Scout as a boy. My friend ‘Rap’ was a Rover Scout leader and he sounded me out. The next thing I knew, an army officer dressed in ‘civvies’ came knocking at my door. Would I be interested in helping my country? Could I keep a secret? We were given training lectures at Wotton Town Hall and the we had to go out and put into practice what we has learned. We were taught to use weapons and explosives and to survive off the land. I couldn’t even tell my mother what I was getting up to. Some of my friends in the unit would never tell a soul about their wartime activities, even when the war had been over for years.
•It was different in the auxiliaries. We were only seven to a unit, each led by a sergeant. We did meet up with other units, but none of us was allowed an overall view of the organisation. That way, we couldn't pass on information if we were captured. We wore uniforms – we had to if we were to be treated as proper soldiers under the Geneva Convention – but we didn’t have parades. As auxiliaries we had to learn how to survive off the land. We were shown how to catch rabbits for food and told to steal crops growing in the fields. One evening I was walking along the road with a sack of illegal vegetables when the local policemen stopped for a chat. There was I trying to hide the sack behind my back and talk innocently. It seemed to take an age until he carried on walking his beat. I worked in a shipyard by day and what with night exercises and weekends, I didn’t have much time left for enjoying myself! I was called up near the end of the war. I was based in Gibraltar, providing water transport for Combined Operations in the North Africa campaign. I came back to the Isle of Wight after the war and took up my old job of shipwright. I got married in 1950."He appears in the Sandown Fire Brigade records as one of a number of people leading a Fire Party, holding a stirrup pump at their home to help fight fires, particularly in case of incendiary bombing. A number of Sandown Auxiliary Firemen joined the Sandown Patrol.
•In 1950 he was awarded the Scouts Silver Cross for his part in the rescue of 6 boys from Sandown Cliffs. He was an assistant Rover Scout leader then and later became Group Scout Leader. He would subsequently be awarded the Scout Acorn and bar. He spent 53 years with the Scout Group retiring in 1981, at which point he had also completed 35 years as an Auxiliary Coastguard. It perhaps wasn't so surprising he had joined the Cub Scouts in 1928, as his father had served with Baden-Powell at Mafeking.

Private Kenneth Ivan Hooper 08 Dec 1912 - 08 Aug 1988

Along with Rapkins and Moorman he was a member of the Crescent Road Section of the Auxiliary Fire Service 1939-1945, serving as a driver. He resigned on 8 Jul 1941 to join the Patrol.
He was also very active in Scouting. In 1950 he was awarded Scouts Silver Cross for his part in the rescue of 6 boys from Sandown Cliffs while he was an assistant Rover Scout leader. He would subsequently receive the Scout Silver Acorn and became Group Chairman.
He served over 35 years as a Coastguard at Sandown.

Private Richard Arthur Ward 16 Feb 1899 - 17 Jun 1964

•Richard was born in Caernarvon, North Wales and when he enlisted had been working as an electrician on Anglesey. He joined the Royal Flying Corps on 1 Mar 1917 and transferred to the Royal Air Force when it was created on 1 Apr 1918. On 30 May 1918 he was posted to the newly formed 253 Squadron based at Bembridge on the Isle of Wight, flying coastal reconnaissance and anti-submarine patrols. At the start of January 1919 he qualified at an AC2/Electrician.
•Richard married Isobel Love on 1 Jun 1920, having met her during the war in Bembridge. A year later he came out of the RAF and moved to live on the Island.
•His RAF enlistment form described him as 5' 8" tall with brown hair and grey eyes, with a fresh complexion.
•He was known as "Taffy Ward" to his footballing’ pals and played centre half for both Sandown and Bembridge as well as representing the Isle of Wight in the County side.
•Until shortly before his death he was an active freemason along with a number of other Island Auxiliers. He was also active in Scouting, being Secretary to the South East Wight Association after the World War Two.
•He became director of Alexander Sharp & Co Timber Merchants, having spent his life in the building trade.

We have little or no information on the following members:

•Private Charles Samuel Maurice Cassell 03 May 1908 - 02 Aug 2003

•In 1939 he was a Chemist Assistant. He later became an Architect like his father.
•Discharged from the Auxilary Unit on 9th June 1943 and joined His Majesty's Forces. He served as a Corporal in the 36 British Division in the Burma Campaign. He was awarded the Burma Star and was a member of the Burma Star Association. •Private Eric John Barton 23 Sep 1913 -????

•Private Frederick Walter Blake 09 Jun 1905 - 28 Sep 1984

•Private Charles Edward Herbert 09 Aug 1901 - 12 Sep 1986

•In 1939 he was a Special Constable