Men and women, drawn from all walks of civilian life, listened to the coded messages of German intelligence and passed them on to Bletchley Park. At the same time, men with firearms experience were recruited into secret patrols trained in sabotage and silent killing with knife or garotte. In June 1940, with a full-scale German invasion expected any minute, these auxiliary units were poised to undertake suicidal missions attacking enemy supply lines and assassinating anyone who helped the Nazis. Sworn to secrecy, their heroic work has long been overlooked, yet it played a crucial part in the Allied victory in 1945. Alistair Moffat’ s book finally pays them their due.

Alistair Moffat was born and bred in the Scottish Borders. A former Director of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Director of Programmes at Scottish Television and founder of the Borders Book Festival, he is also the author of a number of highly acclaimed books. From 2011 he was Rector of the University of St Andrews. He has written more than thirty books on Scottish history, and lives in the Scottish Borders.

Under 25s can save £2 per ticket, just select the correct option when purchasing.

Event starts at 1pm and finishes at 2pm.

This event is part of the Borderlines Carlisle Book Festival.