Churchill's Secret Army

[terrymo]

Good morning
I'm trying to discover why the attached scroll was issued to Archibald Barrett and also his brother Charles A Barrett. They imply they died in service when they actually survived and lived well into old age, with one not dying until 1999.   The brothers joined the Cornwall Branch of the Home Guard Auxiliary and were recruited into Churchill's Secret Army.   There is plenty of information on the internet about this Secret unit but I'm more interested in why a scroll like this would be given, when the men were very much alive.  Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

[philipsearching]

I suppose the obvious question is: could A BARRETT be someone other than Archibald Barrett?  Perhaps his father, uncle or cousin.

Errors can be made when issuing memorial scrolls, but to mistake a living person for a dead person would be quite a large blunder.

Philip

[arthurk]

Could it have been some kind of subterfuge, because of being engaged in top secret duties? Or was it all so secret that no-one knew who was still alive?

I'm not familiar with the background to this - does this article help at all:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-24851203

[terrymo]

The scroll is definitely for Archibald Barrett as it was the right regiment at the bottom, with his enlisting date. His brother Charles  A  Barrett also had a  similar scroll. There is a lot of information about the Secret Army and they disbanded  in 1944 with many so highly trained they went on to join SBS and SAS.
It is possible the scrolls were issued as cover for them.   They weren't expected to survive once they came out into the open.  They were on suicide missions.  The Forces War Records website holds their service records  and the person who brought the scrolls into me at Saltash Heritage Centre is going to subscribe so that she can access them.  I don't think they will tell her very much, but it's worth a look.

[youngtug]

If you contact the British Resistance Archive/Coleshill Auxiliary Research Team  they may be able to help. I am sure that they would also be interested in your find.
  http://www.coleshillhouse.com/contact-us.php

[IMBER]

  The Forces War Records website holds their service records  and the person who brought the scrolls into me at Saltash Heritage Centre is going to subscribe so that she can access them.  I don't think they will tell her very much, but it's worth a look.

I can't see how the Forces War Records website can hold their service records as WW2 records are all still held by the MOD. They may have a list with names on it but probably not much more than that. The following explains how to apply for service records:

https://www.gov.uk/get-copy-military-service-records/apply-for-someone-elses-records

More information here:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/home-guard-personnel/

Imber

[terrymo]

I have emailed a copy of the scroll to Coleshill in the hope they might know why they were issued.   My gut feeling as that as they were on suicide missions and perhaps didn't come back when expected,were presumed dead.  Imagine their poor mother, hearing first that her two sons had died, and then they come back from the dead!