People thought they were cowards for not fighting

Have you heard of the 4,000 volunteers in Britain who once formed the secret guerrilla cells created to resist the Nazis? From The London Daily Mail, Valerie Elliott reporting, we learn

Issued with top-secret orders, their role has remained unsung for decades. But now the undercover resistance units Churchill planned to activate in the event of a German invasion during the Second World War are at last to be honoured.

And for the first time, former members are to parade with other veterans at this year’s Remembrance Day ceremonies at the Cenotaph.

If wartime church bells rang to warn of enemy invasion, the orders for the Auxiliary Unit volunteers were to disappear without telling anyone and to report to hidden bases in the countryside.

Each was issued with sealed orders giving a list of potential collaborators, some as senior as county chief constables, who might have to be executed if there was a risk of them helping the Germans.

Most of the volunteers worked in the countryside and were chosen for their knowledge of the local area and ability to use a weapon.

Trained at Coleshill, in Oxfordshire, they operated in tight groups and their role was to disrupt and destroy the enemy’s supply chain, kill collaborators and take out strategic targets. Unable to tell anyone about their activities, they disguised their real mission by pretending to belong to the Home Guard.

Tom Sykes, of the Coleshill Auxiliary Research Team, which has campaigned for the men to be honoured, is delighted by the RBL’s decision. ‘Many of these veterans were in reserved occupations and could not join the regular Forces,’ he said. ‘But when the call came, they did not hesitate to join what would have been a suicide mission to confront the enemy.

‘They were taught cutting-edge guerrilla warfare and even used Thompson sub-machine guns before they were given to the British Army.

‘But they were sworn to secrecy and sadly suffered taunts and were sent white feathers by people who thought they were cowards for not fighting.

‘Thankfully, the invasion never came and many who joined feel they did not contribute. Nothing could be further from the truth, as I’m sure the majority would agree….’

Read more here: http://thecampofthesaints.org/2013/04/01/accessories-for-the-resistance/

Will we have something similar in America some day?