Swinhoe Auxiliary Unit and Their Operational Base

This is another collapsed O.B. in Northumberland. The site is near to Chathill and approximately half way between South Bloomfield and Swinhoe farms.

There is little to see now, one ventilation pipe can just be seen sticking through the grass and some brick work is exposed.

The brick work is probably the part of the main entrance wall judging by the layout of the O.B. site.

It follows the normal construction pattern of the Northumberland O.B.s. The “elephant “shelter is positioned on the high ground close to Tuggal Burn. The bolt hole route is evident heading toward the burn. The rest of the site is just a bit of a hollow in the ground. I suspect that originally the site was wooded but is now exposed.

The O.B. was built by the 184th Special Tunnelling Company R.E. as were all the other Northumberland O.B.s. From their correspondence with the War Office it would seem that all were completed around the end of December 1942.

The site is located at the North West end of former RAF Brunton.

World War 2 map ref: - qU687472. Modern O.S. - NU 195 268

Swinhoe Cell members (as far as is known)

    F. Hoult
    J. Robinson (the only casualty, killed in a rock fall while training)
    G.C. Gregory
    H. Hodgson
    F. Rogerson
    A. Pyle

(Many thanks to B.Ricalton for his kind help with this project)

You can see more on this OB here

Page text and images supplied by Stephen Lewins.