Britain's Secret Defences: Civilian saboteurs, spies and assassins during the Second World War

The narrative surrounding Britain’s anti—invasion forces has often centered on ‘Dad’s Army’—like characters running around with pitchforks, on unpreparedness and sense of inevitability of invasion and defeat. The truth, however, is very different.

Top—secret, highly trained and ruthless civilian volunteers were being recruited as early as the summer of 1940. Had the Germans attempted an invasion they would have been countered by saboteurs and guerrilla fighters emerging from secret bunkers, ...