My interviews with Col Leslie Wood, Commanding Officer of Station XII reveal that a lot more went on at Aston House than is suggested in the official documents written after the war. Research, development and testing of explosives and special weapons was carried out at Aston.

He said, "We invented, made supplied and trained personnel in the use of 'toys' not only for the Resistance but for all the Special forces. Commandos, Small Boat Section, Airborne Division and Long Range Desert Patrol. We had about 40 specialized army officers and civilians, guards, and several hundred soldiers, FANY's and ATS and a few civilian technicians. We had magazines for explosives and sheds in which to handle them and large store houses for incendiaries and all the rest of our 'toys' and workshops wherein to experiment and manufacture.
We designed and made up special explosive charges tailored for the job in hand and simple to place and fire by any Commando or Resistance worker. Many tons of explosives as well as the devices we supplied were dropped by parachute to the resistance to blow bridges on D Day. The whole essence of helping the Special Forces was speed in both invention and supply. Some of this may sound a little grim but I can truthfully say that we regarded the whole thing completely impersonally and as tremendously funny, the more hideous the devices we invented and made to confound the enemy- the funnier we thought it. The same gaiety of spirit imbued the Commandos. I met nearly all the leaders and many of their officers and men when they came to Aston for last minute briefing and training in demolitions just before a raid. Most of what we did was bloody hard work but I will also tell you about the fun we had" 

CAN YOU HELP PLEASE?