The Stay Behinds

One of the series of Guild webinars, given by Bob Shaw, will take place on Monday 5 January, commencing at 1900 (UK time).

During 1940, when a potential German invasion seemed to be a real threat, a secret, specifically trained force was created under Churchills orders to stay hidden whilst the regular forces and Home Guard were overrun or withdrew and then ‘pop up’ behind enemy lines to commit acts of sabotage and assassination.  Hidden within the Home Guard, these patrols were also known as ‘stay behinds’ and had a series of pre prepared ‘operational bases’ to operate from with a life expectancy of 14 days.  They were always envisioned to cause delay and hinderance in the short term and were not a long-term resistance movement.  So how did they train and where?  What were they equipped with? What impact would they have had in the event of Operation Sealion and a successful German landing?