Churchill's so called 'Secret Army' were Auxiliary Units recruited for their local knowledge and trained to raise havoc in the event of the UK being invaded in WWII. The personnel were to live in Underground bunkers which were covertly dug in secluded places all over the country.
Jim began his excellent talk by outlining key events at the beginning of WW2 and the growing knowledge of Hitler’s plans to invade Britain.
Churchill decided guerrilla type tactics were needed to infiltrate enemy lines and tackle head on any German forces landing on British shores.
He recruited a small team of British officers, who, in turn, recruited intelligence offers to set up resistance patrols. The recruits were given information on a “need to know” basis. Although eventually 638 patrols were set up across Britain, each patrol was self-contained unit and knew nothing of the activities, or the existence, of the others.
Training took place at weekends, and involved a trip to Coleshill, now in Wiltshire. The Auxiliary force was highly trained in the use of a variety of weaponry, often supplied by the US before they came into the War. Every effort was made to keep this force secret: messages were left at designated locations, which could be a cavity in a wall for example: collected by people who had no idea who had left them and passed on to a recipient who remained unknown to others in the chain.
Underground bunkers were built in hidden locations across the country, manned by women operating a wireless network, often working on their own through the night. Jim’s mother was one of the women working in one of these, in the hills above Harrietsham, near Maidstone.
Many people involved in the Auxiliary forces were thought of by their neighbours as being members of the Home Guard. They were recruited from those in reserved occupations: farmers. doctors, teachers; people who knew their locality and local people well. Jim pointed out that if an ancestor of ours was in this position, and there are unexplained gaps in their wartime history, they may well have been involved.
The activities were not spoken of after the war. Only in 2013 were representatives invited to take part in the march past at the Cenotaph. The organisation was so secret, most people were unaware it existed.
Jim is a member of the Coleshill Auxiliary Research Team. The Team are keen to collect any information about ancestors who may have been part of this select force. Further information is available HERE.
Report by Viv Carter