Ground Station Zero

This place in Matlock, Derbyshire is an example of British preparations for a resistance movement in the event of the country being occupied by Germany in WW2.

After the evacuation  of the British  Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk in 1940, Winston  Churchill  set his mind to what should be done to prepare for the expected invasion. Part of his response was to form the irregular guerrilla force known as the Auxiliary  Units to act as clandestine saboteurs  and assassins in the rear of the  invader's front line. A series of hidden underground  bunkers were constructed in isolated areas. They were provided with stores of arms, explosives and ammunition. Food supplies were very limited because survival of these troops (who would not have had the protection of the Geneva Convention  if captured)  would not be expected to exceed more than a couple of weeks. The story of Britain's "Secret Army" did not become widely  known until the 21st century. 

Churchill's advisers then turned their attention to what would happen after an occupation and they responded by setting up an information gathering and communications network which they called the Special Services Section of the Auxiliary Unit organisation. This place was part of that effort. Civilians were recruited and trained to, essentially, spy on the occupiers, recording such things as troop movements and defensive works, and radio stations were established, often manned by professional Royal Signals (or female equivalent) troops to allow the collected information to be disseminated. Specially designed  radios (https://www.staybehinds.com/kit/trd-radio-telephony-set) which used frequencies that were hardly ever utilised (until the advent of BBC  television) were provided. Whilst many radio stations were hidden underground in rural woodlands and mountains (https://www.staybehinds.com/special-duties-branch) this place is an example of the type of radio station that would be established in urban areas which relied more on subterfuge than camouflage to keep their locations secret. Radios were often hidden in attics and the image of the radio hidden under an old lady's bed, common in situation comedy broadcasts, was actually taking place in England in 1940. In these radio stations a hand grenade was  attached, via its pin, to the radio bench with orders to the operators to blow themselves and their radio up rather than allow capture. It is not clear how the long dipole antenna would have been accommodated here. It seems that the property next door at number 137 was also involved since it was modified to allow light signalling to aircraft to be carried  out.

This site, in a tailor's shop, at the top of Matlock Bank had another advantage. The route below, through the Derwent valley, along the A6, is one of only two reasonable trunk road routes  to northern England available at the time (the main road from Birmingham to Manchester) and the view from the rear of the property through the Derwent gorge is second to none. The site was also conveniently close to the School of Military Intelligence, established in a large spa hotel nearby. The downside to this was that the hotel would have inevitably been taken over by the Germans in the event of an occupation and thus the enemy would have been on the doorstep.

One can only admire the courage of those who volunteered to "stay behind" at a time when invasion across  the Channel was seen as highly likely.