Fri 9 Jan 2015: Charlbury Society: " Dad’s Underground Army – British Resistance in WWII"
This event is in the past.
Talk to be given by Bill King and Helen Bessemer-Clark
Memorial Hall 8 p.m. Refreshments 7.30 p.m.
All welcome. Non-members £3.00 Under 18 free
In the late 1930s preparations were made in secret for a clandestine organisation to come into operation should Britain be threatened with invasion. In the event of invasion small groups of men trained in all aspects of clandestine warfare would have literally gone underground and, as opportunity permitted, would have emerged behind the enemy lines. This organisation would, as part of its concealment, be known as the 'Auxiliary Units'. In 1940 the Auxiliary Units were activated. Auxiliers were civilians selected for their specialised skills and intimate knowledge of the countryside. Country Doctors, Veterinary Surgeons, Farmers, Gamekeepers, Poachers...... and others were recruited secretly to the organisation. Under the cover of their civilian roles and unknown to their families and friends these men, all volunteers, operated in this secret role throughout the period 1940-44. No official recognition was ever given to the existence of these units and no medal was ever awarded for Auxiliary Unit service. They never formally existed.