British Auxiliary Units

The British Auxiliary Units were formed in 1940 as a secret stay-behind organisation intended to operate if German forces invaded Britain. Recruited largely from men with intimate knowledge of their local districts, patrols were trained to hide in concealed operational bases and attack enemy forces, communications and supplies from behind the lines.

Major-General Colin Gubbins played a central role in organising the system. The Auxiliary Units belonged to Britain’s invasion preparations rather than the overseas Special Operations Executive, although personnel, training methods and irregular-warfare experience overlapped. As the immediate invasion threat receded, their original role became less urgent, and the organisation was eventually stood down in 1944.

Historical fiction connected with the Auxiliary Units typically focuses on secrecy, invasion anxiety, rural resistance networks, hidden bunkers, sabotage and the moral pressures placed on civilians and soldiers preparing to fight in occupied Britain. The organisation provides a distinct context for wartime thrillers set on the British home front in 1940 and the years that followed.