A ribbon cutting ceremony took place on Monday 14 November 2022 by Councillor Barry Quinn, to officially unveil the Binnegar Operational Base (OB) Memorial Benches in Binnegar Lane, Wareham.

In 2017, the remains of an OB for one of these Auxiliary Units was discovered during the quarry expansion. During excavation by Raymond Brown Quarry Products, experts were called in from Historic England, the County Archaeologist and Coleshill Auxiliary Research Team (CART) to assess and excavate the site and record findings. This OB is now believed to be that of the Wareham Patrol as local knowledge and research has not found any link to the East Stoke Platoon of the Home Guard.  The findings, together with more details are documented on the CART website: https://www.staybehinds.com/the-coleshill-auxiliary-research-team

Research and investigations conducted by CART volunteers have shown that there were a number of Auxiliary Unit OB’s in Purbeck with at least four patrols. The cellular structure of the Auxiliary Unit Patrols meant that no one patrol had knowledge of the others or where their OB was. Such tight security meant that patrols were less likely to be compromised in the event of capture.

Two memorial benches have been constructed from blocks and ventilation pipes salvaged from the OB, with wood from an oak tree felled in the vicinity. They commemorate the men of the Auxiliary Unit who manned the OB but received no real recognition after the war, being bound to secrecy by the Official Secrets Act.

After the retreat from Dunkirk, the country was under threat of invasion and this vantage point may well have been an observation post (OP) for members of the East Stoke Home Guard. Or, it may have been members of the secret Auxiliary Units, Britain’s wartime resistance in waiting and often referred to as “Churchill’s Secret Army” that lay up awaiting their chance to strike at the Nazi invaders.  The Auxiliary Units were set up in 1940 in case of a Nazi invasion drawn from the Home Guard and local civilians. Their role was to hide underground whilst the first wave of an invasion passed by and then emerge to sabotage supplies, transport and communications to hamper the German forces and allow a counter attack. Made up of six to seven men in a patrol, they were taught demolition and issued with large quantities of explosives and weapons. Each patrol had an underground hideout known as an Operational Base (OB) where they could rest and store their supplies, it would be carefully camouflaged to avoid discovery. The men were told their life expectancy after invasion could be just a couple of weeks.

Councillor Barry Quinn commented: “ I am very pleased that this project has finally come to fruition. It has really been a team effort involving volunteers from East Stoke and CART, working with our sponsors Raymond Brown, Bindon Engineering and Holme Sawmill to deliver a community asset which both tells the historical narrative and provides a place of rest for users of the bridleway to take in a beautiful view. I hope it will be enjoyed by locals and visitors for years to come.”

“We were delighted to support CART in investigating this important part of local history, which has helped piece together part of everyday life for an Auxiliary Unit Patrol and their Operational Base during war time.  We hope that the benches and interpretation board serve as a reminder of those who were prepared to lay down their lives for our country.” Said Rob Westell, Raymond Brown Estates and Planning Director.

Fortis and Raymond Brown Quarry Products have received their President’s RoSPA Award (13th consecutive Gold Awards) for working hard to ensure staff, subcontractors and suppliers get home safely to their families at the end of every working day.

Organisations receiving a RoSPA Award are recognised as being world-leaders in health and safety practice. Every year, nearly 2,000 entrants strive to achieve the highest possible accolade in what is the UK’s longest-running H&S industry awards.

Steve Laight, HSQE Manager commented: “I am pleased to advise that both Fortis and Raymond Brown Quarry Products have been awarded their 13^th consecutive gold award for Health & Safety performance in 2021. Well done to all our staff for their hard work in achieving this.”

Julia Small, RoSPA’s Achievements Director, said: “This is a fantastic and well-deserved accomplishment. All our award entrants demonstrate their unwavering commitment and passion for keeping people safe at work. By receiving this recognition both Fortis and Raymond Brown Quarry Products join like-minded businesses and organisations worldwide, who represent the very best in their approach to Health and Safety. I would like to add my personal thanks for all the work that it has taken to secure this well-deserved award – congratulations to all those involved, who champion and drive up Health and Safety standards every day. You are a fantastic example to others in your sector.”

All Raymond Brown and Fortis sites took part in a group-wide “Stop for Safety” event for two hours on Monday 4th October.

The event was an opportunity to get all our employees thinking and talking to each other about the hazards and risks we face daily, control measures we have in place and any improvements we can make.

Steven Laight, HSQE Manager commented: “Thank you to all the site teams for their participation and input and for working together to bring on the improvements suggested during the event.”

The site team have completed the “Roke Mega Cell” in phase 5, the largest cell construction to date at Roke Manor Quarry at approximately 200km³, creating a void capacity of around 360,000 tonnes.

Raymond Brown is celebrating after landing an internationally-recognised award for demonstrating high health and safety standards.

Raymond Brown was awarded a RoSPA Gold President’s (12 consecutive Golds) Health and Safety Award for working hard to ensure staff, customers, clients and contractors get home safely to their families at the end of every working day.

Organisations receiving a RoSPA Award are recognised as being world-leaders in health and safety practice. Every year, nearly 2,000 entrants vie to achieve the highest possible accolade in what is the UK’s longest-running H&S industry awards.

Steven Laight, HSQE Manager, said: “The RoSPA Health and Safety Awards are recognised as being both the most prestigious and yet toughest health and safety competitions in the world. To have won our twelfth consecutive award as well as a Gold President’s Award is testament to our staff and the strong health and safety culture within our organisation.  The board, management teams and all of our employees have once again demonstrated their commitment to the highest levels of safety throughout what has been a very tough year for us all.”

Julia Small, RoSPA’s achievements director, said: “The RoSPA Awards scheme is the longest-running of its kind in the UK, but it receives entries from organisations across the globe, making it one of the most sought-after achievement awards for health and safety worldwide.

“RoSPA is very proud of the achievements of its entrants, and with this award we recognise the best of the best, those organisations that have gone the extra mile, raising the bar for the delivery of safety in the workplace. Employees, wherever they may be should be able to go to work safe in the knowledge that they will return home unharmed and healthy at the end of every day. Our RoSPA Award winners are central to achieving this goal. By entering they are driving up standards and setting new safety benchmarks for organisations across the world. Currently, around 7 million people are directly impacted by the RoSPA Awards, but the scheme’s global influence is even wider – with nearly 2000 organisations from 46 countries represented this year. I would also particularly want to thank our main sponsor NEBOSH, the National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health – for their continued support for the 16th consecutive year.”