A LAST surviving member of Churchill’s ‘secret army’ from Beaminster has died at the age of 102.

George Raymond was a life-long farmer but served during the war as the highly trained member of the Meerhay Auxiliary Unit Patrol - Churchill's so-called 'secret army'.

The patrol trained locally on Hewstock Farm, owned by George and his brother Ernest, who was also in the unit.

Coleshill Auxiliary Research Team member Will Ward said Mr Raymond wished all his comrades had had a chance to be recognised before they died.

There were patrols at Symondsbury, Whitchurch Canonicorum and Shipton Gorge.

Mr Ward said: “George felt that the rest of the units never got recognition Beaminster did just by the pure chance because he’d lived long enough for the secrecy to be lifted.

“He felt like he was taking credit for something that wasn’t all his to take.”

The patrols were trained to blow up key targets – like Beaminster Tunnel to cause maximum disruption and Mapperton House in case it was used as a German HQ

Mr Ward added: “They were taught how to wrap explosives around petrol tanks so it wouldn't take very much explosive and would be just as effective as if it was a huge bomb. So you could blow up lots of trucks with what one man could carry.”

He said patrol members were so highly trained if they were called for the regular army they were approached to join the SAS.

He said: “It definitely wasn’t Dad’s Army.”

“The bit we forget these days is that we know we won the war and we know they didn’t invade. But in 1940 when these guys joined it was anything but a foregone conclusion.

“With the job that Mr Raymond had, had the German’s invaded he wouldn’t have stood much of a chance. They only gave them rations for a couple of weeks because that is how long they expected them to survive.”

The patrol trained at the local Aux Units HQ at Melcombe Bingham where they practised with revolvers and slept rough. They were taught how to silently despatch sentries. Mr Raymond remembered being deaf for several days having done so much firing.

Their original base was in a disused Lime kiln in woods above Ebenezer Cottage but later the army built a typical “Elephant” shelter close by with an entrance concealed by bushes and an escape tunnel made from concrete sewer pipes.

Mr Raymond, one of seven children, donated his battledress blouse and side cap to Beaminster Museum in 2001.

After the war Mr Raymond went back to doing a milk-round with his brother.