Wiltshire Research Organisation Prepare To March For Clandestine Army
British resistance veterans to march past the Cenotaph for first time this weekend.
SWINDON, U.K. - Nov. 4, 2013 - PRLog -- Sunday 10th November will mark a very special day for one organisation based in Wiltshire. For the first time veterans of the British Resistance (or Auxiliary Units as they were known) will be marching past the Cenotaph on Whitehall. This is the first official recognition of this group of clandestine civilian volunteers since it was set up by Churchill during 1940.
The Auxiliary Units were formed of volunteers who were too old or too young to be called up, or in reserved occupations. They were picked because of their intimate local knowledge of the surrounding area and were often farmers, gamekeepers or poachers.
In the event of an invasion they were to go directly to their operational bases (OB) hidden underground throughout the British countryside, without letting a soul know where they were going or their mission. Once in their OB these highly trained volunteers would wait for the invading army to pass over them and then come out at night and disrupt the enemy’s supply chain, cut vital communications, ‘deal’ with collaborators and generally try to make a nuisance of themselves to allow the regular forces to counter-attack.
Such was the danger of their mission the life expectancy of an Auxiliary Unit member was only expected to be a fortnight after the invasion started. They signed the Official Secrets Act and never told their nearest relatives or friends what they had to do, most never revealed even after the war, taking their secrets to the grave.
Another group that will be represented at the Cenotaph for the first time will be the volunteers of the Special Duties Branch. These volunteer civilian’s and ATS personnel were to gather information on the invading army’s forces, numbers of vehicles, specific regiments etc and pass this on covertly to the regular forces via a secret radio network.
A Wiltshire based group, the Coleshill Auxiliary Research Team (CART) successfully lobbied the Royal British Legion to allow these groups to march past the Cenotaph in London in recognition of the sacrifice they were willing to make. The group is named after the village on the Oxfordshire/
Tom Sykes, founder of CART, from Highworth, just down the road from Coleshill said. “We are hugely proud to have made it possible for veterans and families of volunteers no longer with us to march on Sunday 10th. It will certainly be emotional to see this group of civilian volunteers gain the first official recognition in over 70 years.
“It should be proud day for Wiltshire too. The county had a huge part to play in the Auxiliary Units. It provided the perfect location to train these civilians into some of the toughest and most skilled resistance fighters the war would have seen. Fortunately for us, it never came to that, but we should not forget the ultimate sacrifice they were all willing to make for our freedom.”
Read more about the Cenotaph march here (http://www.coleshillhouse.com/
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About CART & The British Resistance Archive.
The Coleshill Auxiliary Research Team (CART) publishes its findings on the British Resistance Archive (BRA) website.
CART also provides an internal network for dedicated researchers who focus on the British Resistance and agree with CART's core value of making the research public.
• CART is made up of select volunteer historians and published writers known as County Information Officers (CIOS) and also public members.
• CART is not a business or an academic body of professional researchers.
• CART is non-profit making and has no financial support from any company or organisation. It is funded solely by donations and the revenue it makes from the sale of various items sold in the shop.
• Since CART's birth in June 2009 the website has seen over 110,000 unique visitors and has attracted TV, Radio and national press attention.
For further information about CART please go to this page http://www.coleshillhouse.com/
The Auxiliary Units were formed of volunteers who were too old or too young to be called up, or in reserved occupations. They were picked because of their intimate local knowledge of the surrounding area and were often farmers, gamekeepers or poachers.
In the event of an invasion they were to go directly to their operational bases (OB) hidden underground throughout the British countryside, without letting a soul know where they were going or their mission. Once in their OB these highly trained volunteers would wait for the invading army to pass over them and then come out at night and disrupt the enemy’s supply chain, cut vital communications, ‘deal’ with collaborators and generally try to make a nuisance of themselves to allow the regular forces to counter-attack.
Such was the danger of their mission the life expectancy of an Auxiliary Unit member was only expected to be a fortnight after the invasion started. They signed the Official Secrets Act and never told their nearest relatives or friends what they had to do, most never revealed even after the war, taking their secrets to the grave.
Another group that will be represented at the Cenotaph for the first time will be the volunteers of the Special Duties Branch. These volunteer civilian’s and ATS personnel were to gather information on the invading army’s forces, numbers of vehicles, specific regiments etc and pass this on covertly to the regular forces via a secret radio network.
A Wiltshire based group, the Coleshill Auxiliary Research Team (CART) successfully lobbied the Royal British Legion to allow these groups to march past the Cenotaph in London in recognition of the sacrifice they were willing to make. The group is named after the village on the Oxfordshire/
Tom Sykes, founder of CART, from Highworth, just down the road from Coleshill said. “We are hugely proud to have made it possible for veterans and families of volunteers no longer with us to march on Sunday 10th. It will certainly be emotional to see this group of civilian volunteers gain the first official recognition in over 70 years.
“It should be proud day for Wiltshire too. The county had a huge part to play in the Auxiliary Units. It provided the perfect location to train these civilians into some of the toughest and most skilled resistance fighters the war would have seen. Fortunately for us, it never came to that, but we should not forget the ultimate sacrifice they were all willing to make for our freedom.”
Read more about the Cenotaph march here (http://www.coleshillhouse.com/
*** ENDS ***
About CART & The British Resistance Archive.
The Coleshill Auxiliary Research Team (CART) publishes its findings on the British Resistance Archive (BRA) website.
CART also provides an internal network for dedicated researchers who focus on the British Resistance and agree with CART's core value of making the research public.
• CART is made up of select volunteer historians and published writers known as County Information Officers (CIOS) and also public members.
• CART is not a business or an academic body of professional researchers.
• CART is non-profit making and has no financial support from any company or organisation. It is funded solely by donations and the revenue it makes from the sale of various items sold in the shop.
• Since CART's birth in June 2009 the website has seen over 110,000 unique visitors and has attracted TV, Radio and national press attention.
For further information about CART please go to this page http://www.coleshillhouse.com/
End
| Tags | : | Churchill, World War Two, Remembrance Sunday, British Resistance, Auxiliary Units |
|---|---|---|
| Industry | : | Event, Lifestyle |
| Location | : | swindon - Wiltshire - England |
| Subject | : | Events |