As readers of The Orchid well know, the North Downs are one of the county’s most beautiful and relaxing natural treasures. However, it hasn’t always been so peaceful.

In 1940, as the Few fought the Battle of Britain over the Kent countryside, another group of determined men, equally few in numbers, were preparing for the worst.

During the dark days of the Second World War many farmers and agricultural workers were excused active military service because of their reserved occupations. Some of these farmers and their workers led a clandestine existence as members of the Auxiliary Units. This was Britain’s secret wartime resistance movement set up by Churchill in June 1940 after the Fall of France and the Dunkirk Evacuation to act as a ‘last-ditch’ defence against the expected German invasion.

The Kent coast between Sandwich and Dungeness was the most likely site for the German invasion, code named Operation Sealion, but the British Army, severely depleted of men and arms following the German blitzkrieg across Europe, was in no shape to take on Hitler’s finest storm troopers.

Winston Churchill ordered a Secret Army to be formed comprising men such as farmers, farm workers, landowners, foresters, gamekeepers and poachers, who knew the Kent hills, forests and marshes. Secret underground bunkers, observation posts and wireless stations were built along the North Downs, Romney Marsh, the Isle of Thanet and Isle of Sheppey, and in the Weald ready for the men to disappear down into when the Germans invaded.

The headquarters of the secret army was in a remote Bilting farmhouse called The Garth. It was here that hand-picked men, all civilians selected for their intimate knowledge of the countryside, were trained in the black arts of sabotage, assassination and demolition. Their suicidal role in the event of invasion was to disappear into the specially-prepared underground bases, wait for the Germans to roll over Kent, then re-appear at night to attack the German rear. Their aim was to cause as much chaos as possible by setting booby traps for German patrols, sabotaging railway lines, roads and bridges, attacking airfields, assassinating German officers and destroying supply depots - anything to slow up the German advance and buy the British Army time to regroup and counter attack. These men had a life expectancy of less than 10 days.

All along the spine of the North Downs patrols were set up in the woods and valleys around Hastingleigh, Crundale, Challock, Molash, Godmersham, Hollingbourne, Harrietsham, Elham, Lyminge, Alkham, Charing, Acrise and Doddington to name but a few.

For four long years these quiet men went about their daily lives without their wives, families, neighbours and friends knowing what they were up to when the sun went down and the moon rose. Then it was all over. No official recognition could ever be forthcoming; the secret army simply melted away into the very darkness that had always protected it. Many took the secret with them to the grave.

Adrian Westwood, from Hastingleigh, has been trying to trace the few surviving members of Kent’s Secret Army for the past two years. If you have any information on the men and women who served in the Auxiliary Units, or details about underground bunkers on your land please contact Adrian on 01233 750563.