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MEMORIES
AND INFORMATION - STAFFORDSHIRE HOME GUARD
13th STAFFORDSHIRE (CANNOCK) BATTN.
THE
CANNOCK
HOME GUARD
SUMMARY
PAGE
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13th STAFFORDSHIRE
(CANNOCK) BATTN.
 The 13th Staffordshire Battalion, commanded by
Lt.-Col. H. V. Mander, M.C.,
(see
image), was
responsible for Cannock
and adjacent areas.
This page gives information on the Battalion's
area of responsibility, on how it was organised and
on its published history; and some additional
information.
Much of the surviving information about
this Battalion's
activities comes from a rare 1945 unit history
entitled The 13th Bn. North
Staffordshire Regiment, Home Guard, 1940-1944.
This book is reproduced in its entirety on six
associated website pages. Please see The 13th
Battalion History further down the page.
The Cannock Battalion's area included, in
addition to the town itself:
Boney Hay, Bradley, Bridgtown, Calf Heath, Chadsmoor, Chase Terrace,
Chasetown, Cheslyn Hay,
Churchbridge, Coppenhall, Dunston,
Featherstone, Four
Crosses, Gailey, Gentleshaw,
Great Wyrley, Hanley, Hatherton,
Heath Hayes, Hednesford, Huntington, Landywood,
Leacroft Colliery, Levedale, Littleworth,
Newtown, Norton Canes, Penkridge,
Pillaton, Pottall Pool, Pye Green,
Rawnsley, Shareshill, The
Saredons, Teddesley, Wedges Mills, Whittimoors,
The Wilkin, Wimblebury.
This is a map of the Battalion area, based on
information so far available. Some of the
boundaries are conjectural. It demonstrates the
area of responsibility of three of the five
Companies.
It also shows
Companies of adjacent battalions: the
14th Staffordshire
(Stafford) Battalion and the
25th Staffordshire (Brewood)
Battalion. To the north-east, the
adjoining battalion will have been the
12th Staffordshire (Rugeley)
Battalion; to the south-west, the
32nd Staffordshire
(Aldridge) Battalion; and to the
south, the
20th Staffordshire
(Wolverhampton) Battalion. |
Click on the map for a
higher definition version
The Battalion comprised four Companies,
"A"-"D", each responsible for a specific area
within the Battalion; and a further HQ Company
with specialised responsibilities for the
entire Battalion. The four geographically based
Companies were further sub-divided into Platoons,
each responsible for a smaller area, such as a
village.
H.Q. Company was divided into specialist sections.
These were the area of
responsibility of each of the Companies:
"A": Cannock and the area to the
south-west, including
Calf's Heath, Cheslyn Hay, Featherstone, Four
Crosses, Great Wyrley, Landywood, Newtown, the
Saredons, Shareshill.
"B":
Penkridge, Huntington
and areas in the north-west.
"C": Areas to
the north and north-east of the town including
Gentleshaw, Heath
Hayes, Hednesford, Littleworth, Norton Canes, Pye
Green and Rawnsley.
"D":
Boney Hay, Chase Town,
Chase Terrace and the Wilkin area of
Watling Street, Brownhills.
"H.Q.": all
areas, likely to have been based in
Cannock and
with responsibilities in the town itself.
HISTORY OF
THE 13th NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE REGIMENT,
HOME GUARD, 1940-1944 |
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Much of the surviving information about
this Battalion's
activities comes from a rare 1945 unit history
entitled The 13th Bn. North
Staffordshire Regiment, Home Guard, 1940-1944.
This book is reproduced in its entirety on six associated website pages, as follows
(please click on individual links): |
THE 13TH Bn. NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE REGIMENT
HOME GUARD
Pages 1-15: Introduction and General
Information
Foreword - Lt.-Col H. Vivian
Mander, M.C. (image) - Battalion Record
- Early Organisation - Battalion Defence Schemes -
Disposition of Strengths and Weapons - Exercises:
"Coal", "Parker", "GAM" and others - Weapon
Training - Cadres - Demonstrations - Battle Drill
- Camps - Training Competitions - Courses of
Instruction and Strength Analysis - Field Firing
.....and the name of many individuals
Pages 16-23:
"A" Company, also Medical
(Cannock and the
area to the south-west, including
Calf's Heath, Cheslyn Hay, Featherstone, Four
Crosses, Great Wyrley, Landywood, Newtown, the
Saredons, Shareshill)
"A" Company – Shooting Competitions – No. 1
Platoon – Attack on a Bridge – No. 2 Platoon - No.
3 Platoon - No. 4 Platoon – Home Guard Women
Auxiliaries – Equipping a Recruit – Do You
Remember? – Do You Know? – Medical – A.M.L.O. –
Films
.....and the name of many individuals
Pages
24-29: "B" Company, also "'I' Hi-Lites"
(Penkridge, Huntington
and areas in the north-west)
"B" Company – Early Days – First Duties –
Quarters and Changes – Training – Liaison – Social
– Organisation – Operational Role – Stand Down –
Training Note – "B" Company Claim – 9 and 10
Platoons – "B" Company in Camp – 7 Platoon – 8
Platoon – 6 Platoon – Hanley Exercise – "The"
Company Intelligence – And An Old Soldier Too
.....and the name of many individuals
Pages
30-41: "C" Company, also Gas
(Areas to the
north and north-east of Cannock including Gentleshaw, Heath
Hayes, Hednesford, Littleworth, Norton Canes, Pye
Green and Rawnsley)
"C"
Company – Our Beginning – Taking Shape
–
Changes and Arming –
Camps – Memories (including the tragic accident in
June 1942) – Missing from Home – Battalion
Officers, October 1944 (image) – "The Home Guard"
– 12 Platoon – 13 Platoon – 14 Platoon – 15
Platoon – 16 Platoon – 17 Platoon – 18 Platoon –
"P.A.D." – Do You Remember? – Exercise "Brin" –
"C" Company Flashes – On Exercise – Cinderella
Section – The "I's and Ears of "C" Company" – "C"
Company Officers' Mess - Gas - "I" Hi-Lites - H.G.
Women Auxiliaries
.....and the name of many
individuals
Pages 42-51: "D" Company, also "D"
Day Diary
(Boney Hay, Chase Town,
Chase Terrace and the Wilkin area of
Watling Street, Brownhills)
"D" Company – Early Days –
"Do Something" – Observation Posts – Finding
Quarters – Duties – Equipment and Training –
Instructors and Camps – Sirens – Ceremonial
Parades – Specialist Training – Exercises – Call
Out – Alarms – Night Ops. – Quiz – POWs – Training
Generally – Sport and Social – To Sum Up – First
Impressions of the Home Guard – South Coast
Holiday – "D" Day Diary
.....and the name of
many individuals
Pages 52-68:
"H.Q." Company, also Roll of Honour, Stand-Down
(All areas,
probably based in Cannock and
with responsibilities in the town itself)
"H.Q." Company – In Lighter Vein: Good Spots,
Impossibilities, Bad Spots, The Best Story –
Battle Drill – 24 Platoon – Orderly Room, HQ
Company – Interview – Who Goes There? – 27 Platoon
– They Also Serve – 26 Platoon – Summer Training
Camps – Battle Drill Demonstrations – Ammo – A Car
Joins the Home Guard – Chaplains – Do You Know? Do
You Remember? – Battalion Signals (image) –
Battalion Intelligence (image) – Signals – Rifle
Competitions – Pioneer Section – Tailpiece – For
Absent Comrades – Awards – Roll of Honour – The
Early Days – Final London Ceremonial Parade –
Stand Down Activities
.....and the name of many
individuals
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FURTHER INFORMATION ON
THIS BATTALION
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In Memory of
ALL MEMBERS OF
THE CANNOCK HOME GUARD
13th Staffordshire
(Cannock) Battalion
Home Guard
1940-1944
including
John William Borton
(Wednesbury)
Victor Leslie Bradbury
(late R.F.A.)
Arthur Cashmore
Bert Cashmore
Cyril Edmunds
(Great Wyrley)
Percival Manifold
(Chadsmoor)
Leonard Morris
Harold Palmer
G. Perks, Cpl.
("C" Coy.)
Kenneth Desmond Tonks
(Bridgtown)
Leslie Daniel Vernon
George Watkiss
All still remembered in the 21st Century
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Grateful acknowledgement is made to
the mainly unknown authors and publishers of
"The 13th Bn. North Staffordshire Regiment, Home
Guard, 1940-1944" and it is hoped that they would have
been pleased to see their words finding a new and wider
audience in the third decade of the 21st century;
to Austin J. Ruddy and his
Remember Britain's Home Guard Facebook page; to John
Carter for a copy of parts of an original HG map on which
the above map is based; and to
all those who have made known to staffshomeguard the name
of a relative who served in this Battalion.
x175A - June 2020
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