THE untold story of a clandestine fighting force set up in the face of the expected Nazi invasion of Britain is told in a new book.

The Mercian Maquis: The Secret Resistance Organisation in Herefordshire and Worcestershire during World War II is the fruit of years of work by researchers Bernard Lowry and Mick Wilks.

It tells the story of the Auxiliary Units, set up in the greatest secrecy in 1940 to fight as partisans against a German invasion.

The Auxiliary Units in Herefordshire and Worcester-shire could have been right in the firing line, says Mr Wilks.

"It seems clear that the planners were anticipating a German invasion through Wales, through Herefordshire and Worcestershire towards Birmingham and the Black Country, one of the main manufacturing centres," he said.

If that had happened, the Auxiliary Units, recruited and trained in secret, would have taken to their hidden rural lairs, only leaving on missions of sabotage as the Nazi armies moved by.

The authors decided to write the book after uncovering information about the Auxiliary Units in their work for the Defence of Britain project, which was set up to record the nation's 20th Century military heritage.

"The men who volunteered for these units have not really been recognised. They had to keep their involvement secret and in many cases they were criticised at the time for not doing more for the war effort," said Mr Wilks.

One of the distinguishing factors is that they were mostly country lads - young farmers, gamekeepers, hunt servants and others.

"They deserve to be remembered," he added. "They had no illusions that when the invasion came, their life expectancy would have been weeks. The Germans would have hunted them down as terrorists and shot them."

Also weighing on their minds must have been the prospect of Nazi reprisals against civilians when Auxiliary Unit missions were successful.

"We saw how the Germans reacted when the French Resistance got going," said Mr Wilks. "It would have been the same here."

The Mercian Maquis details how the units were trained in the arts of "dirty" fighting and sabotage, and describes their weapons and their operational bases, hidden underground in remote woodlands.

Surviving members of the Auxiliary Units interviewed by Lowry and Wilks talk about their individual patrols, such as Mechach Patrol, based just outside Ledbury, Jacob Patrol in woods on Bromyard Downs, Jehu Patrol, outside Alfrick, and Samson Patrol, recruited mainly from Boy Scouts in Broadheath.

Many of these were overlooking the A44, which would have been a main invasion route towards Worcester.

The Mercian Maquis is liberally illustrated with photographs and drawings. It is published by Logaston Press, priced £7.95.