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No4 (Luppitt) Platoon, Dcoy 19th (Seaton) were on duty from 17.30 hours on April 25th 1942 to 18.00 hours on April 26th, for a period of the Raleigh Exercise.

An enemy force were to be approaching the East Devon Sector — and hand written instructions had been issued to all Home Guard Platoons in the area.

The headings of which were; 1 Duration. 2 Ammunition. 3 Bounds. 4 Dress and distinguishing remarks. 5 Prisoners. 6 Casualties. 7 Roadblocks. 8 Demolition. 9 Digging. 10 Buildings. 11 Vehicle lighting. 12 Exercise — labels. 13 Comms. 14 Security. 15 Fifth Column. 16 Telephone calls ‘Raleigh’. 17 Aircraft.

Luppitt’s defended home was manned for this period by one section of the Platoon, and scouts found nothing untoward to report. The mobile section of the Platoon, based at Beacon, received information from an umpire, acting ‘a little boy’, that an army contingent was bedded down for the night near Langford Bridge. Sgt G Hooper (later to be CSM) directly sent scouts forward to investigate, and report to an agreed rendezvous.

Their report was considered and acted on. Sentries of the bridge were to be avoided by crossing further upstream and the enemy approached from the Cheney’s Farm side. Clay bombs and imitation rifle fire started the action, and within minutes ‘a few shouted orders, and they were gone’. The report, which the whole Platoon later received, was full of praise from the umpire — a returned army general — for the way in which Sgt Hopper handled the incident.

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