Partisan Leader's Handbook

Body

Written by Colin Gubbins and Millis Jefferris and first produced by General Service (Research) in May 1939. This was one of a series of 3 books along with Art of Guerrilla Warfare and How to use High Explosives. It was produced as brown-paper covered pamphlet. It consisted of 29 pages and they were issued to the first Intelligence Officers at their briefing in Whitehall in July 1940. A copy is known to have been donated to the British Resistance Organisation Museum by the family of the late Stuart Edmundson, the first IO for Devon and Cornwall.

The pamphlet details the "nuts and bolts" of running guerrilla resistance ops in occupied territory, from the organisation of a guerrilla band to intelligence collection, raids and sabotage. The pamphlet was influenced not only by Colin Gubbins’ own experiences in Russia, Ireland and India, but also by his intensive study of guerrilla warfare in general.

The series was later translated in several languages to form a core training for Allied agents likely to work in subversive operations behind enemy lines.

References

John Warwicker