- Sat, 16 August 2025
A rifle position in the sandstone wall at the entrance to Firbeck House in Easby Lane. The slot in the wall was made by Mr. Robert Pickersgill, shown in the photograph, whilst he was a member of the Local Defence Volunteers.
‘Auxiliary Unit’ was the codename given to a force of civilian volunteers. They were to carry out sabotage, guerrilla warfare and spying from behind enemy lines in the event of a successful German invasion of the British Isles during World War II.
Formed in 1940 there were 640+ Patrols with a total force of 4,200 men.
The badge contains the numbers :
201
202
203
These numbers are the three organisational groups for the Auxiliary Units for the whole of the UK.
The units around Great Ayton were in the 202 numbered area.
In 1960 whilst carrying out a survey of the old Ironstone mine an Auxiliary Unit Operational Base was found within the mine.
The base consisted of an underground chamber containing bunk beds and a table. Access to the chamber was via a hidden trapdoor and tunnel off the main mine shaft.
The trapdoor was well camouflaged and would not have been visible to anyone walking along the main shaft.
Lieutenant J F Pain, Ryehill
Pvt F G Forster, Westbrook (Hay & Straw Merchant)
Pvt G W Brown, 12 Deuchar Terrace (Miner)
Pvt R Whitworth, Westbrook (Electrical Eng)
Pvt R S Williamson, High Green (Chemist)
Pvt C Raw, Craignair (Moodys Agric Supplies)
The now-sealed entrance to the mineshaft containing the Auxiliary Unit Operational Base in Cliff Ridge Wood.
The only visible evidence remaining at the site is a block column with metal pin.
It is thought to be either an alignment post associated with the guns or a mounting post for a Lewis machine gun.
In the Council minutes of October 1941:-
Petition from residents residing in the immediate vicinity of the searchlight unit
being erected in the field adjacent to Newton Road asking for site to be moved.
Site position to be reconsidered.
“I saw that thing come down, what was it, a bomb or something. I think Vic was on nights. I was looking out of the house, across that area, in the middle of the night. There must have been an air raid warning. I was looking out of the bedroom window and saw it come down. It seemed as if it was on strings.” The raid took place on May 8th 1941.
It was thought that the stone bridge was the target for the landmine but it is more likely that the mine was being jettisoned after a raid on Middlesbrough. Landmines because they were on parachutes were susceptible to the direction of the wind. In this case the wind seems to have carried the mine away from the village
A camp was built in Great Ayton during the early part of the war.
It is thought (although no documentary evidence has been found) that the camp was built to house evacuees from the expected bombing raids on Middlesbrough.
Ayton had 36 public air-raid shelters.
34 Shelters
2 Shelters
Each Holding 48
Each Holding 24
people = 1632
people = 48
Total Shelter Places = 1680
70% of Village Population provided for. (Council Minutes November 1940)
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