We Remember the Home Guard

We Remember the Home Guard

Author: Frank Shaw

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2012-05-10

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13: 1448147565

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'I remember standing on top of our local glen with a block of wood, expecting thousands of Germans coming down from the sky. What was I going to do with the block of wood? I never knew.' Leonard Jackson On 22 June 1940 France surrendered to Germany and the invasion of Britain seemed a very real possibility. The Home Guard was formed to defend our villages and towns. Members came from reserved occupations, those who had failed their medicals, the elderly and the young, with miners and farmers training alongside former majors. Their weapons and ammunition were negligible at first, but slowly these amateur soldiers began to produce professional results. In this unique book of reminiscenses about life on the home front, we see these men as they practise with pitchforks and fall into ditches after a pint or two of ale on the job. But we also see them learning how to fire grenades after a day studying engineering and undertaking night watches after exhausting factory shifts - knowing they could be the last stop between the enemy and their families and homes.


The British Home Guard Pocketbook

The British Home Guard Pocketbook

Author: A.F.U. Green

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2014-01-27

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 184486247X

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The Home Guards are an attacking force lying in wait for, and ready to destroy, and 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 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, such as: '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!


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!


Sussex's Military Heritage

Sussex's Military Heritage

Author: Dean Hollands

Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited

Published: 2020-08-15

Total Pages: 164

ISBN-13: 1445695189

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Explore the military heritage of Sussex from Celtic and Roman times to the present day in this new highly illustrated book.


The Home Guard

The Home Guard

Author: David Carroll

Publisher:

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 136

ISBN-13:

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A text which uses over 200 photographs to bring to life the Home Guard during a unique period in British history. The images recall the activities of the auxiliary force otherwise known as 'Dad's Arm'. The book draws on the early days of the Local Defence Volunteers from the moment when Anthony Eden broadcast an appeal, to the official stand-down of the Home Guard n 1944. This title evokes memories of World War II in a domestic setting and asserts life on the Home Front from the perspective of those left behind to defend it.


In Search of the Real Dad’s Army

In Search of the Real Dad’s Army

Author: Stephen Cullen

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2012-02-29

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 1848842694

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What was the Home Guard? Who were the men and women who served in it? And what can be said of their real role and significance once the popular myths have been stripped away? Despite the fame of the Home Guard – of Dad’s Army – the true story of this wartime organization tends to be neglected. The myths obscure the reality. Stephen Cullen’s aim in this thoroughgoing new study is to cut through the misunderstandings in order to reassess the Home Guard and its contribution to Britain’s war effort – and to deepen our understanding of the men and women who were members of it. He sets the Home Guard in the long historical context of domestic defense planning, then focuses on the preparations made before the outbreak of the Second World War. In detail he traces the changing role of the Home Guard during its wartime existence as it adapted to meet the multitude of challenges it faced – from civil defense and intelligence gathering to training for guerrilla warfare. Using vivid eyewitness testimony and oral history, he takes a grassroots look at the men - and women – from all ages and social backgrounds who made up this national defense force. The equipment, uniforms, weapons and vehicles they used and the field defenses they manned are described as their role developed over the course of the war. He also examines the evolution of popular views of the Home Guard from wartime days to the present – the notion of the People’s Army, the thinking of early Home Guard commentators like George Orwell, and the writings of more recent historians who have sought to explain an organization that retains such an extraordinary hold on the popular imagination.


Churchill's Army

Churchill's Army

Author: Stephen Bull

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2016-09-22

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 1844863980

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Winston Churchill, Britain's iconic war time Prime Minister, is inextricably linked with the victorious British Army of 1939 to 1945. Yet hindsight, propaganda, and the imperative of the defeat of Hitler and Imperial Japan, have led to a tendency to oversimplify the image of Churchill the war leader, and 'his' Army. For whilst Churchill was undeniably a towering statesman, his relations with both the Army and War Office were ambiguous and altered considerably not only with the progress of the Second World War, but over decades. In this comprehensive book, Stephen Bull examines every aspect of the British Army during the Second World War, and considers in detail the strengths and weaknesses of an organisation that was tested to its limits on many fronts but made an immense contribution to the successful Allied outcome. The book explores the structure of military power from the men who ran it, the Generals to the detail of the regiments they commanded. It looks at the uniforms the soldiers wore and the badges and insignia they bore on their uniforms. The weaponry Churchill's army used is discussed in detail, from small arms including rifles, bayonets, grenades, carbines and machine guns to the massed firepower of the artillery along with the increasing sophistication of tanks and other military vehicles during the period. Finally the role of auxiliary and special forces and their contribution to the campaign is considered. The comprehensive text is enhanced by more than 200 contemporary photographs.


The Home Guard Training Pocket Manual

The Home Guard Training Pocket Manual

Author: Lee Johnson

Publisher: Casemate Publishers

Published: 2019-02-19

Total Pages: 187

ISBN-13: 1612007686

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Excerpts from the many unofficial “manuals” avidly bought by members of the British Home Guard desperate to prepare for invasion during World War II. How would you clear a stoppage on a Bren Gun while in action? What is the most effective way to clear a wood of enemy forces? How best could you counter a landing by enemy airborne forces in your area? What measure can you take to help ensure accurate rifle fire at night? What qualities should you look for when selecting a patrol commander? Just a few of the practical questions posed—and answered—in the selection of publications included in The Home Guard Training Pocket Manual. Numerous manuals and training pamphlets were privately published during World War II to supplement the slim official Home Guard manual produced by the War Office. Covering everything from patrolling, night fighting, drill and small arms proficiency to the legal powers of the Home Guard, these manuals were welcomed by the men of local Home Guard units keen to do everything possible to prepare for possible invasion—when they would be the first line of defense. This pocket manual collates a selection of material from these fascinating publications, often written by serving soldiers and reprinted multiple times due to demand.