British Secret Intelligence Service officers and others in the War Office were never convinced that appeasement would prevent a Nazi invasion. Defying high-level opposition, they quietly worked instead on preemptive 'Last Ditch' survival plans. These included a secret resistance network known as the GHQ Auxiliary Units. It was the only one in Europe prepared in advance of an enemy assault. The Auxunits were civilian 'stay-behinds'. One section worked as Patrols, usually consisting of half-a-dozen men in hidden underground operational bases. They were hurriedly selected immediately after the Dunkirk evacuation then trained and equipped with firearms, explosives and booby-traps. Instructed to 'stay-behind' underground as the enemy passed over, they were then to emerge each night to commit mayhem for as long as they could stay alive. Others, men and women, would remain behind above ground, to spy on the enemy and communicate intelligence to the Defence Force by a covert radio network. These Units are still effectively secret and this is the most comprehensive history published to date. AUTHOR: John Warwicker has spent more than twenty years investigating the role of the British Auxiliary Units in World War II. He is the author of With Britain in Mortal Danger. He has lectured in the subject extensively and helped establish the Parham Museum dedicated to the topic. SELLING POINTS: Untold aspect of WWII fully investigated New research on the secret army authorised by Winston Churchill Discusses the ongoing secrecy of the units and their involvement with Rudolf Hess REVIEW: A carefully researched book on along-neglected subject which fills a major gap in our Second World War knowledge' ? Norman Longmate, author of If Britain Had Fallen 32 pages of plates
