Posted: 6/29/2015 3:58:53 AM EDT
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Interesting! ran across this today, (H/T to WRS)
British Resistance Archive 
from: Western Rifle Shooters Association |
Silence Was Apparently Golden Back Then When Your Back's To the Wall One sinister weapon which was given to the members of the Auxiliary Unit patrols was a special .22 rifle - usually manufactured by BSA, Winchester or Remington. A report by Duncan Sandys to the Prime Minister in August 1940, confirmed that sniping would be in the Auxiliary Units' remit. This rifle, which was fitted with a powerful telescopic sight and a silencer, could either fire high-velocity bullets for additional lethality at extended ranges or subsonic bullets for virtual silence if the target was relatively close. The Resistance men who received these weapons were told that they were for sniping at German officers and for picking off tracker dogs before they came too near, but several members of the Resistance have admitted that they were also intended to be used on British people in their areas who they thought might collaborate with the Germans. More recently, it is thought that this rifle was to be used for the assassination of Britons that might have proved to be "loose tongued" under interrogation or know too much about who was in each Auxiliary Unit, such as the Chief Constable. |
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Studied these guys as part of my War Studies degree 20 years ago
A few books out then, quite a few more now Helped with some research on them for a TV special that was aired about 16 years back too. Never been to the museum as I'm in the wrong part of the UK (in many ways!) The film actor Anthony Quayle was a Unit Commander for a part of Northumberland where I lived for a few years recently. After AU service he then went into SOE & served abroad. Quite a lot of the AU patrol members later became full time soldiers for the duration of the war once the invasion threat was over. They were given free choice of joining any army unit - with NO further training required on reporting for duty: quite a few went into SAS squadrons & Army Commando units - as they'd been given such specialist training already |
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Quoted:
Interesting! ran across this today, (H/T to WRS) British Resistance Archive http://www.coleshillhouse.com/CART-Images/Auxiliary%20Units%20Slideshow4.jpg https://westernrifleshooters.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/screen-shot-2015-06-28-at-11-26-51-pm.png?w=500 from: Western Rifle Shooters Association are those MKIII stens? I didn't think they came until later in the war? |