A small stone lined pit which served as an observation post for an Auxiliary Unit Operational Base in Castleton, North York Moors (model https://skfb.ly/6MHZP). It is just large enough for a man to stand up in, and peer through the stone slit facing down into a valley. There is also a small stone ledge to the rear, probably to lean or sit on. A phone cable was reportedly found running from this Obs Post to the base, about 100m southwest of this postion.
The post would have served as a lookout for any activity happening in the towns of Danby and Castleton, or on the road running inland from Whitby. Had an invasion occurred, the men using this secret base would have gone to ground and carried out diruption tactics, sabotage and assassinations until captured or killed. Hundreds of ‘Auxiliary Units’ existed in secret, but most have no physical remains now. These abandoned ruins are a rare insight into a murky wartime secret at the heart of many rural communities in the Second World War.
Comments