The Secret Arsenal

The Brotton patrol provides us with an example of the weapons issued. Patrol members were issued with Lease-Lend Colt .38 revolvers in leather New York Police holsters which were later replaced by standard webbing. Each man had a Fairbairn-Sykes knife and a Sten gun. There were two Lee-Enfield .303 rifles in the group. Explosives were first Nobel 808 gelignite and later plastic. 

Fuses were cordtex, silvernite with time-pencil detonators. There were plenty of molotovs and sticky bombs.

The Home Guard unit to which they were attached had .300 rifles, a Northover Projector and a Spigot Mortar (Blacker Bombard). The Northover Projector was tested in fields to landward of the Carlin How - Brotton road. Someone had refitted the fore-sight by screwing it through the barrel and attaching the locknut inside the bore. The first time it was used this had predictable results, the Molatov bottle smashed in the barrel ejecting burning petrol like a flame thrower and scattering the crew.

Visit the Secret War cabinet in the Imperial War Museum to see a good selection of the weapons and sabotage equipment carried by Auxiliary Unit patrols.

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Photos courtesy of the Imperial War Museum and Mr. Ray Ford