Britain's Secret Army

Britain's Secret Army

By Tony French
People in story: Charles French
Location of story: England

In the Spring of 1940 the Germans threw the British out of Europe.
After General Andrew Thorne had brought 48 Division home from Dunkirk, he was directed to take command of X11 Corps and to defend Britain against German invasion.
On May 14th. Anthony Eden broadcast to the nation for volunteers for a new force to go on duty with the Army against invasion. Churchill made a great deal of propaganda use of this force, greatly exaggerating its strength, arms, skill and general ability. That propaganda truly served its purpose. However, the dire situation demanded a well armed guerrilla force, something quite different.
In April, 1940, a Major Colin Gubbins was recalled from France to take to Norway five of the newly formed “Independent Companies” to make hit and run raids on the Wehrmacht’s over-extended lines between Oslo and and Narvik.
When Colin Gubbins withdrew from Narvik he was given a special task to create an underground guerrilla force that would operate in the United Kingdom in the event of a German invasion and occupation.
Contrary to a popular view, Intelligence reports indicated that invasion from the air was unlikely since Hitler had niether sufficient aircraft nor sufficient airnorne troops for such an operation. Therefore, the Germans would probably come by sea.
As they would be most vulnerable during the first few days after they had landed the new Resistance force would be concentrated in a coastal strip from Norfolk to Hampshire.

Recruitment
Recruitment would have to be done in absolute secrecy. It was decided to pinpoint the most likely men through the Home Guard without, in many cases, informing the Home Guard officers. Gubbins was looking for men who “know the forests, the woods, the mines, the old closed shafts, the hills, the moors, the glens - people who know their stuff.” He could arrange deferments from military service for key civilians. He showed a preference for veterans of the First World War.
Recruitment was successful. It included poachers and gamekeepers,ghillies, stalkers, verderers from the New Forest, farmers and their workers, and miners. Sometimes it included parsons, physicians and Council workers. They were men with deep knowledge of the countryside. They would blend into it. They would be secretive, able to live rough and, when the time came, they would fight until they triumphed or were killed.
All members had to sign oaths of secrecy within the Official Secrets Act in an atmosphere which kept them from telling their wives and families.
That was the case with my father. In those far from easy times the less the men’s families knew, the better it was for them and for the Resistance itself.
They were told that they were members of certain battalions. In the South it was the 203rd. Those battalions do not appear in any official lists. No-one in the Resistance was enrolled, officially, in anything and could never have claimed the protection afforded by the Geneva Convention.
Later, when the Resistance was disbanded the members were told to say nothing as they might be needed again in the future. They were to maintain secrecy.
This they did for many years. They became the forgotten men, no medals, no citations. But there were gestures of thanks from those on high, who knew what had been done - just in case.

 

Many of their dugouts and tunnel systems still exist. Some are accesible.

Steve W.

 

There are a couple of dozen still surviving in various parts of Scotland. I'm planning to visit some in Fife over the next week or so.

 

there are several places of interest near my old chippenham home.chippenham sits over the bristol avon,and the main london-bristol,railway.

 

so have these men already been commerated or honored in any kind?

 

Ahhh the Auxiliary Units, really quite incredible stuff. Being in Kent there was a ton of Aux activity around here, including hideaways under a brick factory just down the road, and many smaller ones in the woods of the North Downs and the occasional story surfacing.



Relatively recently one of them died in his home just along the coast at Westgate-on-Sea, and triggered a big alert when relatives found a number of weapons and a box of grenades concealed in his attic. Thing was it was very hush-hush with them sworn to never mention their activity, and so when no one ever asked for the cache to be returned he was honour bound to keep it under his hat, well bungalow roof, for over sixty years.

"Last Ditch" by David Lampe is a brilliant account of the Aux Units, and widely available. "With Britain in Mortal Danger" by John Warwicker is a good one, but at £50 a pop a trifle expensive.

Aux Unit Info:
AUXUNIT NEWS Record of the Auxiliary Units 1940-1944

Well not to any great degree, it's typically similar to a lot of the secret war efforts, even when Lampe was writing his book in the mid-sixties folk were still very unwilling to even mention it.

cheers,

 

To bad actually but understandable. That act of secrecy that they signed when did that expire? of isn't there any number of years that have to pass?

 

Quite. I don't believe the Official Secrets Act has any expressed duration so it's open ended. Of course in sensitive cases, like the unrelated Hess flight, it's deliberate to not declassify everything until it's far past being contentious.

In cases like the Aux Units I believe it just a matter of events overtaking the facts - an oversight. Given how many tens or even hundreds of thousands of OFA papers would have been signed, and how few folk are employed in declassifying, along with all the workload in between I find that understandable. I think the interesting part is how many were willing to protect that secrecy right up until death.

Also of some interest is how the Aux Units were concealed as being part of the Home Guard, or Dad's army as we call it, but were fast tracked for the very best of equipment and men. Historically the Home Guard are quite maligned as being old men with knives tied to broomsticks, so illuminating to see that wasn't quite the case.

I highly recommend Lampe's book though if you're interested, it's positively thrilling. It also includes the full "Gestapo arrest list" of Brits who were marked down as enemies of the Third Reich.

cheers,

 

Hmm thanks for the explanation. I'll look the book up in the local library. who knows I may be lucky