18 Monday,January le, leetf Evcnint lf Hitlerhad succeeded in invadingBritain, he was assured of a hotreceptir II 1f, T the ripe old age of 89, A Jlck Archerstill works in fla family-rungarden nurs- Undercoversoldier ery selling potted plants and shrubs. But few of those who meet him today past. breakssilence that realise that he has a secret For 55 years ago Mr Arch-er was a key member in a local cell of the undercover Auxiliary Units. years In thc event wartime lasted of a Nazi inva- for 55 sion, it would have been the role of these units to mount a guerrilla campaign to disrupt the enemy in every way possi- ble. Stationed in Highworth, three miles from Coleshill, Lieut Archer was in command of five other members. Born and bred in Highworth, he was an ideal recruit to the secret army. His knowledge of the surrounding country- side was extensive, and he was young and fit enough to live rough. ,lack Archer first became involved with the units when he tried to join the Wiltshire Regime'ntof the regular army. "l went to ask the advice ot'Major Jennings, '*,ho was in charge of the Highworth Home Guard, and told him I was thinking of volunteering for the Wiltshires," he said. "The next morning I received a mes- sagefrom the major saying I was wanted up at Westrop House in Highworth." When he arrived, Mr Archer recalls being introduced to a brigadier. "He told me that he wanted to have a very secl'otchat with nrc," hc said. "Hc said hc understood I was tl'rink- ing of joining the Wiltshircs, but that I had been selectedfor a dift'erent kind of job. "He told me that Auxiliary Units were being formed consistingof lirlly trained men who could stand up t0 parachute landings. "I was told I had been selectedas an officer anil should help to fbrrn a cell."

llefore he left the room, the impor- lJtance of keepingthe units'existence secret was heavily stressed. "I wasn't even allowed to tell my wife," I The early/years. . . this pre-warplcture shows Jack Archer, left, as an Army Mr Archer said. "It was very, very se- cadet.Next to hlm ls his commandlngofflcer, Major Barrett cret. "'fhe brigadier said that when I went who had been specially released from "lt was very difficult to keep secret. I out r-rfthe door I was never to answul prison. Mr Archer recalls that they had uscrl to get funny looks in the pub and it any que'stionsabout thc strb.iect,exccylt previously been in the businessofrob- caused a lot of unrest among people to nlv ct.rnrnrandingofticcr'." bing banks. closeto me. Mr Archer had already received basic "'fhey were exl)ertsin high explosives "llut after the war, when Churchill training with the Local Defence and were both given pardons after the releasedall the information about the Volunteers and went nn to do more at war," he said. units, a lot of people sent letters and Chiseldon and Bulford camps. Despitebeing a member of the British camc up to me to apologise." "I didn't go to Coleshill in casepeople - the countrv's Although he did not seeany action, who knew me there wondered what I last-ditch line of defence in case oi a Mr Archer knows he and his colleagues was doing," he said. German invasion - Mr Archer had to would have had a hard time if the "The training was very hard and r.n'ent suffer taunts of not doing his bit for the Germans had invaded. on for tnonths.I had to know every field war effort. '"'l'he men were all tough and well and hedgerow for m iles around "l got stopped in the street by moth- trained and would have causedendless Highworth." ers who told me their sons were fight- trouble for the Germans," he said. The Highworth cell consiste'dof six ing and asking to know why I wasn't," "But if we had been captured, we men - including two explosivesexperts he said. would have been tortured and killed." Theex-postm istress's tale ANOTHERmember of the Hlghworth "l served In the Alr Force ln the community involved in the unlts was Middle East durlng the war. Thlnklng the town's late postmlstress,Mabel back to before lwent, I suppose there Stranks. were one or two strange Incldents. Mrs Stranks played an important role "l rememberreturning home one i& in vetting men before they were sent to night and there were these Norwegian :$ ColeshillHouse. men dressed In khakl in the house. F, ',it She would check identity papers of "ln the mornlngthey were gone and those ,ii' sent to her on route for training. mum never mentioned it." lf satisfied they were genuine,she Althoughboth were involvedin the iI .i:, would make a call to a secretnumber units,Jack Archer says he only ever :il and a car would appearto pick up the spoke to Mabel about it once. t'ti new recruits. "She used to come to the nurseryfor ij Mrs Stranks'sson Ted,77,lives herfruit and vegetables,"he recalled. $ betweenAshton Keynes and Cerney "One day, when we were alone,she Fr. Wick. lookedat me and said: 'l was very :ir "lt was a dangerousjob, but I knew much afraidthat if the Germansgot # s; nothingabout her involvementuntil a hereyou and me would havebeen in *a. book was written on the sublect In for a very hard tlme'. . Mabel Stranks 1964,"he said. "She was very a brave woman." I Jack Archer today . . . "our operationwas so secret I waln't cycr ilser Monday,January 19, 1998 19 DAVIDPEARCE hears one man's story of a battlethat never happened LIIE A Guerrillas trainedto fightright to theend nRlvlNG throughthe sleepy Vvillage of Coleshill, near Highworth,it is hardto believe it was a wartimebase for a se- cretarmy. But bc.tween1940 and 1944,more than 3,500 crack troops were trained there in guerrilla warf'are. They were all members of Britain's secret World War Two army the Auxiliary Units. Set trp on the express orders of , the units were i?, nar }J designed to cause havoc to an in- Iy the ,i* vading German force. f,i' Members were trained in all as- MoD 'i;l pects of warfare, from unarmed said- '#t combat t