A THIN and faded pamplet found in a forgotten museum file has uncovered an intriguing episode of local history in Sussex.
The booklet was disguised as an information guide for farmers while all the time being a World War Two explosives manual for a secret army of saboteurs.
Entitled A Countryman's Diary 1939, with the subtitle Highworth's Fertilisers Do Their Stuff Unseen Until You See Results!, it was standard issue to Britain's Home Guard Auxillary Units.
The units, whose existence is still blurred by the popularised image of the more regular 'Dad's Army' Home Guard, were made up of volunteers.
Often reserved occupation farm workers, they were primed to sabotage German troops and equipment as well as roads, bridges and railway lines, should the 'enermy' ever succeed in its much feared invasion.
Among those known in Sussex are bunkers in Hustpierpoint, Ditchling, Gatwick, Goodwood, Shipley and, best preserved of all, Staplefield.
The patrol will be included in a talk Stewart gives in the council chamber at Queen's Hall, Cuckfield, on Tuesday October 7. The talk starts at 8pm and costs £2 for museum members and £3 for others with refreshments included.
Read the full story in the Mid Sussex Times
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