St. Leven / St. Buryan Auxiliary Unit, Cornwall

Please note this location is on private land

A report by Nina Hannaford - CART CIO for Devon. If you can help with any info please contact Nina by emailing cartdevon@gmail.com

This page was last updated at 4:38pm on 8/1/12

Officer in charge of Trencrom, St Leven and Madron was Reggie Sandow, part of Trencorom patrol.

It is currently unknown when the patrol was formed.

Sargent  Jack Laity of St Buryn
W Cyril Lane of St Levan
Joe Semmens of Porthcurno
Norman Matthews of St Buryan
Lewis Hosking of St Buryan
A Nelson Hosking of St Buryan. He was a JP                                      
Harry Laity who was also a JP of Porthcurno

St.Levan from the air. Photo by Tom Corser www.tomcorser.com

The operational base built of a heavy gauge nissan hut set in a bank at Crean Hill near St Leven. It was entered by crawling through a fox or badger hole. The operational base was constructed by the patrol.

"The Base was positioned on an old Roman road at Crean Hill near St Buryan. It was 11 feet deep and 18 feet long with a built in escape tunnel. It had a wooden floor and walls with an arched galvanised roof.
There was about four feet of soil on top and turf and hawthorn trees were planted on top to camouflage.
 
Furniture consisted of a table with two wooden forms.
 
The Patrol stored half a ton of TNT explosives and 8 cwt of Nobel 808 in the bunker as well as other explosives and equipment" - Information from Auxilier Norman Matthews and taken from The National Monuments Record (No 1426425)

Observation Post/s: Currently unknown.

Porthcurno had a telegraph station with 14 working cables running world wide. It was the most important cable station in the British Empire. In 1940 underground tunnels were built at Porthcurno to house the station protecting from attack.

It is assumed that this would have been heavily defended but is a possible target.

Currently unknown

Currently unknown

Harry Laity was approached by Reggie Sandow of Trencrom Patrol to join the patrol.

Information from Denys Matthews, son of Auxilier Dick Matthews of Madron patrol. Undated article in The Cornishman, Auxilier Norman Matthews, The National Monuments Record.

If you can help with any info please contact us.