The Secret Army

THE SECRET ARMY

Uncover the Secrets of Britain’s Resistance Organisation

This new book is now released.

Novelists, playwrights and theorists have often toyed with the question of what would have happened if the Germans had occupied Britain in 1940. This compelling story reveals exactly what was intended by both sides. The Six Townships Community History Group investigates the German plans and the countermeasures undertaken through the specially formed British Resistance Organisation.

What would the British have done? During the darkest days after Dunkirk, a clandestine resistance movement, innocuously named the Auxiliary Units, sprang into being. Its function would have been to carry out guerrilla warfare against the Germans. British civilians were trained to spy, sabotage and kill; hide-outs were established; caches of arms and explosives were hidden; and a resistance radio network was created.

Although they never went into action, the resistance was ready and waiting: the last ditch of Britain’s defence. So successful was their organisation that they became the model for underground movements all over occupied Europe. In telling this story, the Six Townships Community History Group relates one of World War II’s best kept secrets and offers insight into what might have been.

They were led for over one year by Anthony Quayle, the actor, who gave this tribute. "They were some of the grandest fellows it has been my privilege to lead; I never met a more enthusiastic bunch of chaps. If the Germans had landed in the North-East hell would have erupted beneath them and I mean ‘beneath’. The idea was to have underground hide-outs and allow the Germans to sweep over us. We would then have popped up behind them to give them a touch of the jitters. We had no official motto, we didn’t even wear official uniform, but un-officially the motto was "Terror by night".

Who were these freedom fighters and where are they today and how effective would they have been after a German Invasion? The bulk of the North-East story has now emerged and the truth has been unfolded. The resistance men never had an official uniform but for security reasons they donned Home Guard when necessary. So secret was their purpose that records at War Office level are almost non-existent.