Churchill's Secret Farmers: The 'Assassins' Prepared to Fight Nazis on British Soil

In the summer of 1940, with France fallen and German armies poised across the English Channel, Britain prepared for invasion. Winston Churchill rallied the nation, but behind the scenes, a secret force was being organized to wage war if the Germans landed.

Alistair Moffat's book, "Assassins and Secret Listeners," recounts the story of two clandestine operations. One involved the Auxiliary Units, a group recruited from individuals with intimate knowledge of the British countryside—gamekeepers, miners, and farmers. Their mission was to sabotage invading forces by destroying ammunition dumps, bridges, railways, and transport depots.

The second operation centered on a network of amateur radio enthusiasts who intercepted German messages, providing vital intelligence about enemy movements to Bletchley Park.

The 'Assassins'

The Auxiliary Units, nicknamed 'the Assassins,' were prepared for a brutal campaign. In the event of an invasion, they were to disappear into hidden bunkers concealed in woodlands or beneath earth mounds. From these positions, they would emerge to attack occupying forces with explosives and knives. These operatives were expected to survive for only two weeks after their activation.

Their orders extended to a chilling directive concerning the British population. Moffat writes that the Auxiliaries were instructed to eliminate anyone who might jeopardize their operations by passing information to the Germans. This included Nazi sympathizers and potentially local officials who could be coerced by the Gestapo into revealing crucial details.

Radio Listeners

The radio listeners engaged in a quieter form of warfare, intercepting German Morse code transmissions from their homes and forwarding the intelligence for analysis. One notable listener, bedridden from injuries sustained in World War I, intercepted a significant message from German spies in New York to their handlers in Berlin. This act earned him a letter of thanks from Churchill and a medal from the King.

Secrecy and Legacy

Due to the Official Secrets Act, many individuals involved in these operations took their experiences to their graves, making research challenging. While Moffat lists his sources, the absence of footnotes complicates the verification of specific accounts.

The book also explores the physical remnants of this secret war, with Moffat searching for surviving bunkers across Britain. These encounters with the tangible evidence of a hidden conflict are described as bringing the narrative vividly to life.