Contesting home defence
Contesting home defence

Author: Penny Summerfield

Publisher: Manchester University Press

Published: 2013-07-19

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 1847791549

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Contesting home defence is a new history of the Home Guard, a novel national defence force of the Second World War composed of civilians who served as part-time soldiers: it questions accounts of the force and the war, which have seen them as symbols of national unity. It scrutinises the Home Guard’s reputation and explores whether this ‘people’s army’ was a site of social cohesion or of dissension by assessing the competing claims made for it at the time. It then examines the way it was represented during the war and has been since, notably in Dad’s Army, and discusses the memories of men and women who served in it. The book makes a significant and original contribution to debates concerning the British home front and introduces fresh ways of understanding the Second World War.

To the Last Man
To the Last Man

Author: Malcolm Atkin

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2019-04-30

Total Pages: 434

ISBN-13: 1526745941

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This historical study of the UK’s WWII homeland defense service dispels the propaganda and pop culture myths to reveal its true wartime role. In 1940, Britain formed an armed citizen militia to act as the first line of defense in case of Nazi invasion—an essential, if suicidal, mission intended to buy time for the organization of regular forces. Officially, they were the Home Guard. Later, a British sitcom that ran for nearly a decade in the 60s and 70s dubbed them Dad’s Army. That show contributed to a distorted perception of the Home Guard that persists today. But as Malcolm Atkin reveals in this thought-provoking book, the Home Guard’s image was manipulated from its earliest days. Sifting through official documents and contemporary histories, as well as stories, artwork and poetry of the era, and comparing these with postwar films and histories, Atkin explores how the myths of the Home Guard arose and were exploited. He also shows how the strong sense of gallows-humor amongst its volunteers—which fits in with a long tradition of self-deprecating humor in the British army—was taken out of context and became the basis of the TV series. To the Last Man strips back the myths, analyzing how the modern perception has evolved. The result is a new, gritty, and sometimes shocking appreciation of the role that the Home Guard was expected to play in the Second World War.

Without Conscience
Without Conscience

Author: Robert D. Hare

Publisher: Guilford Press

Published: 2011-09-20

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 1606235788

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Most people are both repelled and intrigued by the images of cold-blooded, conscienceless murderers that increasingly populate our movies, television programs, and newspaper headlines. With their flagrant criminal violation of society's rules, serial killers like Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy are among the most dramatic examples of the psychopath. Individuals with this personality disorder are fully aware of the consequences of their actions and know the difference between right and wrong, yet they are terrifyingly self-centered, remorseless, and unable to care about the feelings of others. Perhaps most frightening, they often seem completely normal to unsuspecting targets--and they do not always ply their trade by killing. Presenting a compelling portrait of these dangerous men and women based on 25 years of distinguished scientific research, Dr. Robert D. Hare vividly describes a world of con artists, hustlers, rapists, and other predators who charm, lie, and manipulate their way through life. Are psychopaths mad, or simply bad? How can they be recognized? And how can we protect ourselves? This book provides solid information and surprising insights for anyone seeking to understand this devastating condition.

The British Home Guard Pocketbook
The British Home Guard Pocketbook

Author: A.F.U. Green

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2018-03-22

Total Pages: 218

ISBN-13: 1472835573

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'The Home Guards are an attacking force lying in wait for, and ready to destroy, any enemy who dares to set foot on out shores.' The Home Guard has been immortalised in British culture in the TV series Dad's Army. Formed by men not eligible for active service – too old, too young, in reserved occupations vital to the war effort – who were expected to resist a German invasion with any resources they had to hand, the Home Guard is the embodiment of plucky British resolve against the odds. The British Home Guard Pocket-Book evokes this spirit. Written by Brig-Gen Green, commanding 4th battalion, Sussex Home Guard and Training Adviser for the Sussex Zone, this book is based on his experience and, in his own words, 'is the result of my ransacking the dusty pigeon-holes of memory and the condensation of many books, official instructions and writings'. Its tone is informal and colloquial: 'March discipline. Troops will always march off the parade ground at the Slope. As soon as this has been done the order "March at Ease" should be given. When marching at ease the rifle may be carried in any way a soldier fancies.' Nevertheless, the book is full of sound advice on training, organisation and discipline, fire arms, reconnaissance and field engineering, the responsibilities of the Group Pigeon Officer, the proper position to adopt for surviving a dive bomb attack, and how to set a trap for an unwary advancing German cyclist!

Masquerade
Masquerade

Author: Kit Williams

Publisher:

Published: 1980

Total Pages: 40

ISBN-13:

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On his way to deliver a splendid necklace to the Sun from the Moon, Jack Hare is diverted by a series of odd characters and when he finally reaches his destination he realizes that the necklace is missing. The reader is invited to answer several riddles and solve the mystery from clues given in the text.

Dad's Army
Dad's Army

Author: David Carroll

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2009-03-30

Total Pages: 140

ISBN-13: 0752499890

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The Home Guard was formed in May 1940, when the dark clouds of war rolled over Britain and the nation stood alone, threatened with a Nazi invasion. Within six weeks of a radio appeal for a new civilian army to guard the Home Front, a staggering 1.5 million men had enrolled for service, covering every city, town and village in the country. Despite initial deficiencies in the provision of training and equipment, the Home Guard later developed into a cohesive force and one of impressive diversity. David Carroll draws on the personal accounts of those men and eventually women who served, to reveal what it was really like to spend long nights on duty watching for the disguised enemy parachutists to drop on the fields of Britain. He conveys the fighting spirit of the men while examining the Home Guard's contribution to the war effort. Dad's Army is a comprehensive account of the Home Guard - from the early disorganised days of May 1940 until 'Stand Down' at the close of 1944, by which time they had become a force to be reckoned with.

The role of federal military forces in domestic disorders, 1877-1945
The role of federal military forces in domestic disorders, 1877-1945

Author: Clayton D. Laurie

Publisher: Government Printing Office

Published: 1997-07-15

Total Pages: 500

ISBN-13: 9780160882685

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CMH 30-15. Army Historical Series. 2nd of three planned volumes on the history of Army domestic support operations. This volume encompasses the period of the rise of industrial America with attendant social dislocation and strife. Major themes are: the evolution of the Army's role in domestic support operations; its strict adherence to law; and the disciplined manner in which it conducted these difficult and often unpopular operations.