The British military took over the occupation of the Audley End house in 1941, after the death of its owner, Henry Nevill. 

During the times when Nazi Germany was destroying Poland and brutally exterminating its population,  the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) worked in collaboration with the Polish military in order to help train the iconic “Cichociemni” unit.

The Cichociemni were trained to be parachuted back into Poland with the goal of destabilising the German occupying forces. It is in this context that Audley End was used for rigorous training programs. 

“They learned sabotage, unarmed combat, disguises and safe cracking among other things” – Andrew Hann, English Heritage Historian tells Euronews.

The Cichociemni also used the surrounding woods for shooting practices. “They’d have to raid the local post office, escaping with some money having not been detected” – he explained. 

The “Silent Unseen” were also rigorously trained to remember their false identities. They were regularly woken up in the middle of the night and asked to recall who they were meant to be as spies. 

“They made these interrogations really authentic by dressing in Gestapo uniforms and tying people to chairs and clapping them about a bit. They didn’t pull anyone’s fingernails out, but they made it as authentic as they could” – the British historian told the news outlet. 

It is estimated that 537 out of the 2,613 Polish soldiers who volunteered for special operations took part in the Audley End training programme. More than half of them were airdropped into occupied Poland in the first half of the 1940s. 

Image: English Heritage

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen