Appeal for information on Yorkshire's Secret Resistance Army

Feb. 3, 2012 - PRLog -- In the dark days of 1940 with the Nazi army poised across the Channel after the Dunkirk evacuation, Britain stood alone with its defences stretched. Amongst those vital to Britain’s defensive plans were a group of civilian volunteers made up of all layers of society most of whom had an intimate knowledge of their local area.

They were given intensive training in guerrilla warfare and were to attack the enemy supplies and reserve troops once the invasion was under way. They were all willing to leave their families, and give their lives.  The average life expectancy of an Auxilier was predicted to have been two weeks after going into action in order to defend their country.  So seriously did they take their signature on the Official Secrets Act, that many veterans never even let their closest family members know what they had been trained to do.

Andy Gwynne, from Kingston-Upon-Hull is a member of The Coleshill Auxiliary Research Team (CART), a non-profit organisation set up in 2009 to specifically research the Auxiliary Units.  There is currently very little known about the Auxiliary Units in Yorkshire with only limited information about units in places such as Aldbrough, and so Andy has made it his personal mission to research Units in his home county.  

“Many Auxiliers are either unaware that they are now allowed to talk about their experiences or believe that no one is interested – nothing could be further from the truth.  As former members start to pass away it is a real shame that their stories and experiences will be lost forever,” explained Andy. “They were extremely brave men and should be recognised for the sacrifices they were willing to make.  We are very keen to hear from relatives who know or suspect that family members might have been involved.  Also we would be interested to hear from people that may have played in underground bunkers in woodland areas as a child as these bunkers are often our first clue that an Auxiliary Unit was operating in the area.”

If you were a member of the Auxiliary Unit in Yorkshire and would be willing to come forward, or if you have any information regarding a local Unit, please contact Andy at cartyorkshire@gmail.com or on telephone number 07854 267 082

You can find more about CART and its work here http://www.coleshillhouse.com

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CART is non profit making and has no financial support from any company.

Since CART's birth in June 2009 the website has seen over 53,000 unique visitors and has attracted TV, Radio and national press attention and the group has many expert members.