Malcolm Atkin Military Research
Auxiliary Units - An Open Secret?
How Secret Were the Auxiliary Units?
The Operational Branch of the Auxiliary Units is often claimed to be both totally secret and 'civilian', with their Home Guard uniforms being merely their 'cover', as part of the romantic mythology that accrued around their history after the war. Warnings about this were made as early as 1957. Such assumptions are largely based on post war oral history, collected decades after the event, and are contrary to the documentary evidence of the time.
The men of the Operational Branch were enrolled from the Home Guard in order to give it a legal status as a uniformed part of the 'Armed Forces of the Crown' and subject to military discipline - explicitly so that the volunteers could not be accused of being civilian. Modern confusion has arisen because they would only fully achieve this status upon being mobilied at the time of invasion. As this never happened, the modern impression of the Auxiliary Units has been significantly distorted. Formed in expectation of a quick invasion in 1940, the long term secrecy of a body that wore uniform with distinctive badges, and worked from within the local community, but did not share regular Home Guard duties, was not properly considered. This meant their secrecy was compromised from the start, but the volunteers were not always aware of how far their secret had been shared.
Great stress was made on being able to identify enemy units by their distinguishing uniforms. It is, thereof, ironic that the Auxuliary Units were made clearly identifiable by their shoulder flashes and sometimes ostentatious display of weaponry.
For decades after the war, thanks largely to the influence of Colin Gubbins (who for personal resons intensely disliked anything to do with SIS), the impression gathered that the Auxiliary Units were super-secret whilst their predecessor, the Home Defence Scheme of Section D, SIS, was chaotic and riddled with security breaches. The Auxiliary Units were said to be so secret that not even their wives and girlfriends knew what they were doing. This was an impression that the veterans were pleased to play up to in their accounts to early researchers.
It is now known that the existence of the Auxiliary Units was widely known within the Home Guard and military establishment, and even within the wider community - including the clientele of local public houses. Details of the Auxiliary Units had been circulatd to local LDV commanders in July 1940, meaning it was impossible to keep their existence a secret thereafter. The changing patrol structure and promotions were then posted in battalion Part II Orders. From 1942 the role of the Operational Branch changed to one of acting as reconnaissance units to the local Home Guard, where covert action was not a priority. In Sussex, Canadian troops discovered the existence of the Operational Base of Firle Patrol in January 1942 and ransacked it three times during the year (stealing the patrol rum supply and other supplies). Yet the patrol did not move to a new location until August! In Morpeth, Northumberland, the local patrol was known as the 'Death of Glory Boys' by regulars of the local pub. Their secrecy was protected largely by the wartime acceptance of the principle of not asking too many questions and turning a blind eye to anything remotely 'hush hush'. This included the unusual sight of auxiliers, uniformed as privates in the Home Guard, travelling to Coleshill by train, toting large US revolvers on their hips. The HQ of the Worcestershire Auxiliary Units was in the Van Moppe’s diamond factory at Wolverton Hall where the workers were well aware that some form of clandestine operations were based. This was probably not least because the auxiliers used to drink in the nearby public house after exercises. One worker later admitted ‘The Van Moppes were working for the intelligence service, we did not know officially but you would be daft if you did not realise something was going on in the cellar’.
The intelligence-gathering branch of the Auxiliary Units - the Special Duties Branch - was formed on a different basis. Most significantly, they were created under the influence of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) and, in contrast to the Operation branch, the local operatives were clearly civilian (albeit facilitated by Royal Signals and ATS), and their secrecy was more carefully protected during the war. Nonetheless, some of their hidden wireless statinos were discovered by courting couples, poachers and also by Royal Signals troops who had picked up their radio signals.
The earliest published accounts of the Auxiliary Units date from 1945 but there is strong evidence that local communities were aware of the existence of the Operation Branch, at least, during the war itself.
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