*********************
FLINTSHIRE
Please go to the
DENBIGHSHIRE and FLINTSHIRE
section of this website.
*************************************************************
GLAMORGAN
- There's
an interesting
new website here which deals with Home Guard matters
in Glamorgan, with particular reference to re-enactment
activities.
- Some enthusiasts in Glamorgan still take the study of the Home Guard VERY seriously: see this youtube video (July 2008).
- This page of the website provides information about 21st century Home Guard reenactment groups in Glamorgan and other counties.
*************************************************************
GLAMORGAN, BRIDGEND
There
is information, including images, here
dealing with the Bridgend unit and their responsibility
for the nearby Royal Ordnance Factory.
(You
will leave this site).
*************************************************************
GLAMORGAN, CARDIFF
In
Anti
aircraft guns and sticky bombs in the Home Guard in Cardiff
Mr. Stanley Hayward remembers.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
GLAMORGAN, GOWERTON
Within
an extensive memoir entitled As
I Travel Along Life's Sometimes Stony Path - Part 1,
Mr. Stanley Ogilvie remembers his year of Home Guard service
up to July 1941.
(You
will leave this site).
*************************************************************
GLAMORGAN, LLANDAFF
and WHITCHURCH
An image of the local HG unit (No. 3 Platoon,
Llandaff North) can be seen here.
(You will leave this site).
***************************************************************
GLAMORGAN, LLANGRANOG
Mr.
Eddie Budd
recalls his enthusiastic participation as a six-year-old
in Home Guard manoeuvres.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
GLAMORGAN, LLANSAMLET
Click
here for an image of the Birchgrove unit. (You
will leave this site).
**********************************************************
GLAMORGAN, MERTHYR
TYDFIL
Mr.
Terence Sands describes
his service as a runner in the local unit.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
GLAMORGAN, PONTNEWYDD
In
this memoir,
a canine member of the local unit tries to assert his rights.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
GLOUCESTERSHIRE
To see a complete listing of all 19 of the Gloucestershire
Home Guard Battalions, their component Companies and their
associated Anti-Aircraft Batteries, as well as their locations,
click
here. (You will leave this site).
*********************************************************
GLOUCESTERSHIRE,
ARLE
A memory
of the local LDV.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
GLOUCESTERSHIRE, BRISTOL
A wonderful manuscript History of
"R" Battalion of the
11th Gloster (Bristol) Battalion,
written by Major J. H. Bromhead,
has recently been discovered, transcribed, edited and
published by local historian Ian Smith. The
publication also includes the personal history of the
latter's grandfather, John Francis
Smith (a veteran of the Great War) who rose in rank
from Corporal to Lieutenant in the course of his Home
Guard service, first in Bristol and later as a member of
the 8th Staffordshire (Burton)
Battalion.
This History and information about
John Francis Smith's service in the Great War and later in
the Bristol and Burton Home Guard can now be read within
this website -
HERE
.
Added
July 2023
An excellent detailed memoir
of the 11th Gloucester Battalion by Mr. Jack Yeatman. (You
will leave this site).
The interesting reminiscences
of a fifteen-year-old plotter, Mr. Norman Tilling, in a
rocket anti-aircraft battery defending the city.
(You will leave this site).
An
unusual and informative description
- in poetic form - of Mr. William Fox's Home Guard experiences
in Knowle, Hengrove and elsewhere.
(You will leave this site).
Mr.
Alan Hawkings, then an aircraft designer, gives an interesting
description
of life again on a Home Guard anti-aircraft missile battery
defending a not always grateful city.
(You will leave this site).
Mr.
Daniel Cuffe records one of his grandfather's experiences
in Bristol............
'...........My grandfather joined
the Home Guard in 1944. He was on guard at some place or
other (I think it was the gas works) with his mate when
they heard some rustling. "Declare yourself!"-
no answer. "Declare yourself!"- no answer. "
Declare yourself or I shoot!"- no answer. They fired,
and before the sounds of the shots had died away, there
was a long "moooh!" and then a terrific thump.
They ran faster than they ever ran in their lives!'
© Daniel Cuffe 2004 (This
memory originally appeared in the BBC WW2 People's War Archive.
WW2 People's War is an online archive of wartime memories
contributed by members of the public and gathered by the
BBC. The complete archive can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar.
You
will leave this site).
*************************************************************
GLOUCESTERSHIRE,
CHELTENHAM
A
childhood memory
of
the Home Guard in Fairview
by Jean Holtham (nee Trevett) .
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
GLOUCESTERSHIRE,
FILTON
Audrey
Hawes records a somewhat irreverent view
of early attempts by the local unit to achieve parade ground
proficiency.
(You will leave this site).
In
a wonderfully detailed and interesting memoir written in
1999, the late Mr. David Pepperell remembers life in the
local units, first the 13th Bristol Home Guard Battalion
and later the 18th. It is divided into three parts: Chapter
1, Chapter
2 and Chapter
3. (You
will leave this site).
*************************************************************
GLOUCESTERSHIRE,
GREAT and LITTLE RISSINGTON
Mr.
James Court relates My
Home Guard Incident involving a Wellington bomber.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
GLOUCESTERSHIRE, LOWER SLAUGHTER
John Oliver, a Sussex Home Guard, sent his wife and two small sons to the "safety" of rural Gloucestershire.
Mrs. Oliver's letters home reveal that even there she was subject to the close attentions of the Luftwaffe. Read her remarkable record of those events.
*************************************************************
GLOUCESTERSHIRE,
WOOTTON-UNDER-EDGE and SYNWELL
Click here
for information about these units.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
HAMPSHIRE
Hampshire Record Office in Winchester
holds records of a number of Home Guard units (originally
Local Defence Volunteers) from around the county. The records
include:
Log book, book of orders, photograph
and equipment book for Binsted Local Defence Volunteer Force,
later Home Guard, ref 268M87/1-5. The Platoon Commander,
H V Morton, is better known for his travel books such as
In Search of England; the records demonstrate his active
involvement in Home Guard affairs, including drawing up
a training scheme relating to the threat from army parachutists
Typed notes by Major A G Wade MC, Officer
Commanding 'B' Company, 24th Battalion Hampshire Home Guard,
comprising platoons in Bentley, Froyle, Binsted and Worldham,
ref 49M98W/A2/25
Company orders for 'D' Company (Thornycroft),
3rd Basingstoke Battalion Home Guard, ref 93M93/2-3
Details of manoeuvres of Basingstoke
Borough Home Guard, No. 1 Company, No. 1 Platoon, ref 93M93/5
Weekly orders for the Warnford Platoon
of the Droxford East Company Home, ref 6M64/30. These provide
a graphic demonstration of the need to save paper, as they
were typed on the back of pig breeding records kept by R
P Chester, the Platoon commander
Attendance register of 11th Hampshire
Home Guard, 'D' Company, at Eastleigh, 89M90/1
Photographs of Home Guard units at Alresford,
Basingstoke, Binsted, Colden Commmon, Droxford, East Meon,
Hartley Wintney, Kings Somborne, Longparish, Ringwood, Southampton
Docks, Wickham and Winchester
"We are always pleased to additional
records relating to Hampshire in the Second World War. We
are conscious that there are many Home Guard/LDV units for
which we hold very few records, and that Home Guard records
often survive in the keeping of individuals who were involved,
or their families; if you have any records that you would
be prepared to place in our keeping either as a gift or
a long-term loan, or to allow us to borrow for copying,
please contact us."
© Hampshire Record Office 2005 This
information is taken from a page within the BBC WW2 People's
Archive site. To see the original submission, which includes
an image of the East Meon unit, please click
here. WW2
People's War is an online archive of wartime memories contributed
by members of the public and gathered by the BBC. The complete
archive can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar.
You
will leave this site).
*************************************************************
HAMPSHIRE, BASINGSTOKE
No. 9 Platoon (Sub-Artillery), "D"
Coy., 3rd Hampshire (Basingstoke) Battalion,
photographed in October 1944 prior to stand-down.
Grateful acknowledgement
to David Morse.
*************************************************************
HAMPSHIRE, BEECH
and ALTON
Within
an interesting illustrated memoir about the district during
the war, amongst his earliest memories, Mr. Roy Montgomery
recalls the Home Guard service of his father, Mr. Scott
Montgomery:
".......Following
the start of Word War II my Father joined the local Home
Guard unit, believed to have been 'A' Company 24th Hants
Home Guard. It would appear that Alton was served by three
platoons, HQ for the centre of the town, No.1 for East Alton
and No.2 for West Alton. It appears that by early 1941 Father
was described as O.C. with Jim MAY as second in command,
presumably this was in Beech which would have been part
of No.2 Company. My Father was actually a sergeant and as
far as I know either Colonel BIRD, who lived at the "Old
Farm House" in Wellhouse Road or Major TWINING was
the commander.
Another sergeant was Andrew, a brother
of Jim MAY. A notebook from around this period exists which
lists a number of names, including LEA WILSON, A. RISBRIDGER,
D. EMERY, A.S. and J. BUTLER, HODGSON and CHURCHILL. A lot
of the details involve range practice, wearing armbands
and in one case the Beech Section being on duty at the Waterworks
OP, unfortunately although there are a couple of vague dates
there is nothing to indicate the month or year. Apart from
one photograph, which shows him in uniform wearing sergeants
stripes and holding me, very little information survives
from this period and all that I can remember is seeing him
in uniform on odd occasions.............
The other memory regarding the end of the conflict was being
taken by my Mother to watch my Father in his Home Guard
uniform marching in a victory parade through Alton shortly
after the war finished. My Mother and I were standing on
the raised pavement on Crown Hill and had a superb view."
© Roy Montgomery
2005 To
read the rest of this memoir in its original setting, the
BBC's excellent People's War Archive,
please click here. (You will leave
this site.
WW2 People's War is an online archive of wartime memories
contributed by members of the public and gathered by the
BBC. The complete archive can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar.)
*************************************************************
HAMPSHIRE, BISHOPS
WALTHAM and SWANMORE
With the Bishop's Waltham and Swanmore
Home Guard by Mr. Ronald Crook M.B.E. is an interesting
memoir
of Home Guard activities from 1940 to 1944 mentioning people
and places. (You will leave this site).
**************************************************************
HAMPSHIRE, BOURNEMOUTH
An
affectionate and moving memory
of Mr. Alec Kernahan, a Great War veteran and Home Guard
Bomb Instructor.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
HAMPSHIRE, CHANDLERS
FORD
Mr.
Eric Glasspool remembers
his father's Home Guard service.
(You
will leave this site).
*************************************************************
HAMPSHIRE, CHRISTCHURCH
and FRIAR'S CLIFFE
Mr.
Ewen Hentall remembers
both the little ships of Dunkirk and the armada of June
6th 1944.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
HAMPSHIRE, DENMEAD
Area
A very extensive and interesting memoir entitled
Reminiscences of a Hampshire Home Guard by Mr. Leonard
Piper telling of his experiences from May 1940 onwards,
mainly in the Denmead area but also for a period in West
Sussex. It is split into two parts, Part
1 and Part
2. (You will leave this site).
**************************************************************
HAMPSHIRE, ENHAM (between Andover and Newbury)
A visitor to this site is seeking details of the Enham unit, assuming that one existed. The Enham Alamein Community Heritage Project holds a photograph of a local unit which is unidentified
(see right - click on image to see an expanded version).
The group may be the Enham unit, or possibly one based in Andover. Further information would be most welcome. Please respond via FEEDBACK .
Further information from another
visitor to this website
(October 2017) suggests
that this image is in fact one of the Enham unit, as
previously thought, and, as such, part of "B" Coy.,
1st Hampshire (Andover)
Battalion. Further information on the image and the
Battalion as a whole is still being sought.
*************************************************************
HAMPSHIRE, FROXFIELD
Mr.
Kenneth Webb recalls
the day his Home Guard father captures and then entertains
for tea in the farmhouse kitchen two German airmen.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
HAMPSHIRE, NEW
MILTON
Mary
Smith remembers
her late father, Mr. Ted Ayriss.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
HAMPSHIRE, PORTSMOUTH
Mr.
George Legg's experiences
as an AA rocket gunner at Alexander Park.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
HAMPSHIRE, PORTSMOUTH
and SOUTHSEA
Mr.
P.J. McIntyre gives an interesting view
of an AA rocket battery.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
HAMPSHIRE, SOUTHAMPTON
In
The
End of the Supermarine Works (Wooston): Home of the Spitfire
L/Cpl. H.R. (Bob) Wood witnesses and survives the destruction
of the factory.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
HEREFORDSHIRE,
BROMYARD
A story
from the local Home Guard.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
HEREFORDSHIRE,
HEREFORD
In One Morning on the Milk Round
Mr. Frank Evans records a brief memory from his Home
Guard service:
"I was in the Home Guard in the
second world war. I was in a reserved occupation as I was
a farmer with a milk round.
One morning I remember seeing a German
bomber coming low over the cemetery in Hereford. I think
he was looking for the Ordinance Depot at Rotherwas. I used
to carry a loaded Royal Enfield rifle on my rounds, but
the plane was too fast to shoot and I wouldn’t have
wanted the bombs to go off over my head".
© Frank Evans 2005 (This
memory originally appeared in the BBC WW2 People's War Archive.
WW2 People's War is an online archive of wartime memories
contributed by members of the public and gathered by the
BBC. The complete archive can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar.
You
will leave this site).
*************************************************************
HEREFORDSHIRE,
WITHINGTON
The Withington Home Guard Personnel
List/Log Book is online and available for viewing or the purchase
of a scan
elsewhere.
IMPORTANT NOTE: follow the link and
then, to view all 28 pages of the document, go to the Search
icon at the top of the page and type in ...Withington Log
Book...
(You will leave this site. Grateful acknowledgement to Jon
Price).
*************************************************************
HERTFORDSHIRE,
BERKHAMSTED
In
A Rare Bird: Service with the 7th Battalion Hertfordshire
Home Guard Elizabeth Johnston writes an interesting
illustrated memoir
of her service as a signaller in the local battalion.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
HERTFORDSHIRE,
CHESHUNT
Walter Dear (b. ca. 1899 and in the
King's Royal Rifles during the Great War), served in the
Cheshunt Home Guard.
Please also see the
entry under Hertfordshire, Wormley
below.
**************************************************************
HERTFORDSHIRE,
GARSTON
Anecdotes
from the experiences of Mr. Bob Tarling in this Hertfordshire
HG unit. (You will leave this site).
**************************************************************
HERTFORDSHIRE,
LEVERSTOCK GREEN
The story of a Hertfordshire unit can be
read here.
(You will leave this site).
***************************************************************
HERTFORDSHIRE,
NEWGATE STREET and CUFFLEY
In
an extensive and interesting memoir
entiltled Remembering
the 40s - before and during the war Mr. Colin Paine
recalls his Home Guard service and his role as an "EY
rifleman" in the platoon. (You
will leave this site).
*************************************************************
HERTFORDSHIRE,
PIRTON and HOLWELL
Click
here to see an almost fully captioned picture of the
local unit.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
HERTFORDSHIRE,
PRESTON, near HITCHIN
Within
an interesting memoir about the district during the war,
Mrs. Rebecca Cooke gives a young girl's view of the Home
Guard:
".......My father
was in the Home Guard. They were all given the tin hats
and their uniform and had drill, I suppose it was in the
Playing Field. We used to play Home Guard, I know my little
brother had a tin helmet and I know we used to play at being
the Home Guard. Then they would have turns in fire watching,
all the older men in the village who weren’t called
up, they would go and watch for incendiary bombs being dropped
all over the place and they had sand bags with which to
put them out. Yes and they used to have, what do you call
them, a sort of crossed barriers. They were put across the
road so if anybody was coming along they would say, ‘Who
goes there?’ and stop them at the dead of night and
see who they were. ‘Halt, who goes there?’ they
would say. Every single sign post was removed. It seems
so childish now.....".
© Rebecca Cooke
2005 To
read the rest of this detailed memoir in its original setting,
the BBC's excellent People's War Archive,
please click here. (You will leave
this site.
WW2 People's War is an online archive of wartime memories
contributed by members of the public and gathered by the
BBC. The complete archive can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar.)
***********************************************************
HERTFORDSHIRE,
WELWYN GARDEN CITY
An amusing incident
involving
the late Mr. David 
Jones.
(You will leave this site).
****************************************************
HERTFORDSHIRE,
WORMLEY
William
Frederick Dear and and his youngest son Percy Dear
(b. 1922) were both members of the Wormley Home Guard. William
(seen right) had
served in the Great War where he was badly injured, losing
a leg. (Note his campaign ribbons).
His eldest son, Walter Dear (b. ca. 1899 and in the King's
Royal Rifles during the Great War), served in the Cheshunt
Home Guard.
William Dear's great-grandson is seeking a group photograph
or any other information about the Wormley unit. If you
can help, please go to Guestbook
for contact information or use Feedback.
****************************************************
HUNTINGDONSHIRE
A nephew of William Hufford is seeking further information about him and his Huntingdonshire HG unit. Please see the site Guestbook for contact details.
**************************************************************
HUNTINGDONSHIRE, EASTON
A relative of William (Bill) Clarke is seeking further information
about this unit, in which this great-uncle served. Please see the site Guestbook for contact details.
**************************************************************
HUNTINGDONSHIRE,
St. IVES
The experiences
of female auxiliary members of the Home Guard undertaking
intelligence and communication duties in St. Ives.
(You will leave this site).
**************************************************************
INVERNESSSHIRE, INVERNESS
and surrounding
areas
One of the more unusual Home Guard
stories is that of the creation of this Highlands unit,
the 3rd
Inverness (Newfoundland) Battalion Home Guard from
members of the Newfoundland Overseas Forestry Unit (NOFU).
Here are the introductory lines of this story:
"...Immediately after the German
breakthrough on the western front in May, 1940, the British
Government issued a call for volunteers from the civilian
population to form a Home Guard to assist in the defense
of the British Isles if and when the German forces attempted
an invasion from the captured ports along the European coast.
By this time, thirty-five Forestry camps were operating
in Scotland and Northern England. Large numbers of men from
the Unit immediately volunteered fro the Home Guard, and
they were posted to the nearest local commands. They continued
to serve until they were transferred to the highlands at
the close of logging operations in the south. By the middle
of 1942 the Unit was concentrated in the larger forests
of the Scottish Highlands, in camps of between sixty and
one hundred men.
The military authorities felt that owing to the potential
danger of an enemy landing on the less well defended areas
of Northeast Scotland, and the time required to mobilize
local defense forces, there was a need for a mobile force
that could be assembled and moved to any threatened area
on very short notice. Discussions took place with officers
of the Forestry Unit and a decision was reached to ask for
volunteers to form a battalion consisting entirely of officers
and men of the Unit. The response was tremendous, with large
numbers enlisting, and within a fortnight, the 3rd Inverness
(Newfoundland) Battalion Home Guard, had a compliment of
over seven hundred men. This Battalion had the distinction
of being the only Home Guard unit composed entirely of men
from overseas who were serving in Britain on specialized
war work........".
To read the full and interesting story
which includes mention of many people and places, please
click
here. You
will go to the Home Guard section of a site which commemorates
the approx. 3680 members of the Newfoundland Overseas Forestry
Unit who came to the UK early in the war and worked in the
North of England and Scotland until 1946. The site is worth
further exploration as it lists many of the men and locations
involved and because it casts light on a little known aspect
of the Home Front during WW2. Its Home Page can be accessed
here.
Another part of the site recalls the London Victory Parade
of 8th June 1946 and other celebrations in which members
of the unit participated. (You will
leave the staffshomeguard site, but
please note: as at May 2018 these
links are no longer working and the site may have expired or
changed its address).
Staffshomeguard is particularly pleased
to have received a visit to this site from several people
with family connections to NOFU and the associated HG unit:
*************************************************************
ISLE OF MAN
An
anecdote
from Mr. Ernest Copley.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
ISLE OF WIGHT,
COWES
The
detailed memories
of Mr. Ronald Williams, an employeee of Saunders Roe.
(You will leave this site).
The
memories
of Mr. Keith Whiiting.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
KENT
Further
reading:
Kent Home Guard: A History
by K R Gulvin
Board book: 92 pages - Publisher: North Kent
Bks (May 1980) - ISBN: 0950573337
********************************************************
KENT, BENENDEN
A
daughter remembers Mr. Reginald Wood's Home Guard service:
"....Dad
had joined the Home Guard. Mum said his uniform was far
too big for him. At least he was given a rifle, since the
Kent coast was quite a likely site for invasion. In some
areas all the Home Guard had were pitchforks. His particular
detachment of Home Guard were told that if there were an
invasion they were to make their way somehow to Pluck’s
Gutter, which would be the first line of defence. Their
families would have to fend for themselves. One night he
was on clifftop looking out to sea when he saw numbers of
landing craft emerging from the sea. Horrified, he went
straight to his CO, who turned to Dad and asked: “What
should we do?” Fortunately, the moon came out at that
point and they saw that the “landing craft” were,
in fact, huge banks of seaweed....."
© Pamela Wood 2004 To
read the rest of this memoir in its original setting, the
BBC's excellent People's War Archive, please click
here. (You will leave this site.
WW2 People's War is an online archive of wartime memories
contributed by members of the public and gathered by the
BBC. The complete archive can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar.)
*************************************************************
KENT, CHATHAM
Mr.
Joe Carley, a Manchester Home Guard AA gunner, is moved
south in 1944 to help defend Chatham.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
KENT, CHEVENING
In
the churchyard of St. Botolph's there is a joint grave
within which lie
Vol. Herbert Gordon Ware Dabnor,
aged 46, and his sixteen-year-old son,
Vol. Gordon Dabnor.
Both these Home Guards died as a result of enemy action on
Sunday, 8th December 1940. They were members of the
20th Kent (Sevenoaks) Battalion
and a number of their comrades formed a Guard of Honour at the subsequent
funeral.
The Kent and Sussex Courier of the
following Friday, 13th December, the day of the funeral,
reported the circumstances of this tragedy:
CASUALTIES ON A FARM.
A village which has already experienced the effects of
bombing, fortunately on past occasions without casualties,
again suffered on Sunday night, when a father and son lost
their lives. The father was killed instantly, the son
dying some hours later in hospital. Other members of the
family were injured.
The deceased man, Mr. Dabnor,
with his wife and 16-year-old son, resided in a cottage on
a farm, together with a cousin of Mrs. Dabnor’s and her
husband. In the evening the little family party were about
to leave the farm when a stick of high explosives came
crashing down across the fields. One landed near the farm
buildings, which were destroyed, and the male members of
the party, who were in front of the women, sustained the
full force of the blast. The two ladies escaped with shock
and, in the case of Mrs. Dabnor, a slight cut on one arm.
Mrs. Dabnor attributed their escape to the fact that they
were able to throw themselves to the ground just in time
for the flying fragments of the bomb to miss them. They
called to the others, she said, but got no reply, and then
they found them lying on the ground. She tried the
telephone to seek help, but the wires had been severed, so
she ran down to the farmhouse, from which help was
summoned.
Grateful acknowledgement
to Mike Buckless of Rockingham, Western Australia (related
by marriage), John of the Sussex History Forum and the
Kent and Sussex Courier.
*************************************************************
KENT, CHISLEHURST
Within the General Information section of this website there are
interesting examples of the documentation
produced in "C" Coy. of the
54th Kent Battalion commanded
by Major Howard Roberts, M.C.
************************
Harry
Lee Strickland Ransom
(1898-1982)
despite being a Lewisham man, served in Durham and
Yorkshire regiments during the Great War and both the
"C" (Shipley) Company, 3rd West Riding Battalion
and "B" (Chislehurst) Company, 54th
Kent
Battalion, Home Guard, in WW2. Glimpses into his
life and military service can be had
on this
page.
NEW! Added 29 November 2023
************************
An
article on the
Chislehurst Home Guard -
"C" Coy., 54th Kent Battalion
- and its association with the Chislehurst Caves, has
recently been written by Dr. Adrian Chan-Wyles and is
published within this website with his generous
permission.
NEW! Added
12 November 2023
*************************************************************
KENT, FOLKESTONE
Click the following title to read an interesting memoir,
Home
Guard Memories from Sandgate, describing life in
a unit in the very front line of Home Guard operations.
(You will leave this site).
In
an interesting and sometimes moving memoir,
Wartime
Folkestone - Childhood Memories, Mr. Don McHutchison
recalls home life at the time and especially the experience
of living in a house full of lethal Home Guard weaponry.
(You will leave this site).
**************************************************************
KENT, GOUDHURST
An image of the local HG unit can be seen
here.
(You will leave this site).
***************************************************************
KENT, GREENWICH
In
an interesting memoir
One
Schoolboy's War Against Hitler!
Mr John Greener remembers amongst
much else his Home Guard service in the Telcon factory unit.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
KENT, HUNTON
The
memories
of Mr. Frederick Guess are recorded.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
KENT, MEDWAY
In
Living
Life During World War Two Mr. Frank Smail provides
a fascinating and informative description of the duties
of the local Home Guard in the overnight manning of an anti-aircraft
rocket battery protecting the area.
There
were two of these batteries, on each side of the river,
and each was manned by about 100 men. (You
will leave this site).
*************************************************************
KENT, NONINGTON
and GOODNESTONE
Mr.
John Marsh remembers
incidents from his Home Guard service in "Hellfire
Corner".
You will
leave this site).
*************************************************************
KENT, RAMSGATE
A memory of the earliest days - Defending
England with Broomsticks.
(You will leave this site).
-
Mr. John Side remembers
his Home Guard service in the town and especially an aerial
attack one Saturday morning in August 1940.
(You will leave this site).
-
In a memoir entitled Air
Raids Over East Kent Mr. John Side has recorded
further interesting memories of his time in the Ramsgate
unit. (You
will leave this site).
- Mr. Side is trying to trace (Jan.
2008) an old comrade in the Ramsgate unit, Alfred
Wood, who later joined the Royal Marines - please see GUEST
BOOK
for further details.
*************************************************************
KENT, SEVENOAKS
In
Some
Snapshots from the Memory,
Mr. John Martin remembers aspects of his father's Home Guard
service and in particular a strange U.S. rifle, remembered
as an "Eddistone". (You will leave this
site).
*************************************************************
KENT, SIDCUP
A
son remembers
his father's method of disposing of surplus ammunition after
stand-down.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
KENT, TUNBRIDGE
WELLS (Skinner's School)
Mr.
Anthony Eldridge remembers:
"While
still at school the headmaster Major W G Bye was made C.O.
of the local home guard. He had many world war veterans
volunteered to join. In order to get them trained he made
the school OTC corporals and lance corporals to undertake
the retraining of these old soldiers. So there was I still
at school training World War One veterans how to fight a
war!!! A unique and strange situation."
© Anthony Eldridge 2005 To
read this memoir in its original setting, the BBC's excellent
People's War Archive,
please click here. (You will leave
this site.
WW2 People's War is an online archive of wartime memories
contributed by members of the public and gathered by the
BBC. The complete archive can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar.)
*************************************************************
KENT, ULCOMBE
The
capture
of a "Nazi" pilot.
(You will leave this site).
********************************************************
KENT, WALMINGTON-ON-SEA (Da
's Army)
The activities of this unit are probably
better documented than are those of any other platoon in
the British Isles. In addition to the frequent (repeated)
TV reports, much additional information is available online.
One excellent site can be reached by clicking here.
(You will leave this site).
****************
Cpl. Jones's butcher's
van (right) was reported recently (June 2006) as being illegally
parked at Kidderminster Station.
****************
An old training manual, prepared, published and used by members of the Walmington platoon has recently (late 2011) come into the possession of staffshomeguard. This little tome, comprising 127 pages of useful Home Guard information, is entitled "The Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard Training Manual" by Captain George Mainwaring and Members of his Platoon.
The copy in our possession was issued to Pte. Frank Pike and contains many annotations in his own handwriting. It also appears to contain type-written comments from Sgt. Arthur Wilson. (It is not unfair to say that both of these sets of comment, whilst expressed in widely differing styles, tend to indicate a degree of disagreement with the assertions made within the manual, especially those emanating from the Platoon Commander).
The various sections of the manual - please see the Contents page below - were written by members of the Platoon, all names and faces which seem strangely familiar. The pages are fully illustrated. Also contained are advertisements for local services: Hodges the Grocer, Jack Jones the Butcher and James Fraser, Undertaker (& Philatelist). If you wish to avail yourself of any of these, it may be best to telephone first before travelling any distance. 
The staffshomeguard webmaster would like to think that he is the owner of a unique and immensely valuable item of memorabilia relating to the best-known (and best loved) Home Guard platoon in the land. But honesty compels him to share a sneaking suspicion: namely that duplicate copies of this instructive and entertaining Manual may exist elsewhere and that an enquiry to The Orion Publishing Group Ltd., Orion House, 5 Upper St. Martin's lane, London WC2H 9EA could well bring them to light, especially if the title and ISBN reference 978 1 4091 41204 are quoted.
**************************************************************
KENT, WHITSTABLE
The
detailed and interesting memories
of Mr. Ken Palmer, a member of ‘B’ Company, 4th
(St Augustine’s) Battalion. Kent Home Guard, and later
in an AA unit in Slough.
(You will leave this site). 
*******************************************************
KIRKCUDBRIGHTSHIRE
Mr.
Bill Murray remembers
his Home Guard service as a seventeen-year-old schoolboy.
(You will leave this site).
*******************************************************
LANARKSHIRE
(incl. GLASGOW)
A vigilant charity shop volunteer in Glasgow who saved a
valueless leather wallet from the rubbish bin enables us to
glimpse the service of Sgt. Donald M.
McDiarmid. He was a member of the
11th City of Glasgow Battalion,
defending the Ibrox area
of the city. Fragments only, but sufficient for us to
remember him and his service. View them
on this page.
NEW! Added March 2023
*******************************************************
LANCASHIRE
Here is a summary of the Home Guard information held in the Record Office of Lancashire County Council. (Acknowledgement to "Wills", WW2Talk website).
****************
LANCASHIRE, ATHERTON
Memories
of Mr. Jack Millington's service.
(You will leave this site).
**************************************************************
LANCASHIRE, BRINDLE (and Whittle-le-Woods)
Information about the platoon defending these villages, part of the
12th County of Lancashire (Leyland) Battalion. (You will leave this site).
(Acknowledgement to "Smudger Jr", WW2Talk website).
**************************************************************
LANCASHIRE, BURNLEY
Mr.
James Pickering provides an
excellent overview of the Home Front as a whole as well
as memories of his childhood in a Lancashire Home Guard
family. This well-written and attractively presented website, recently reintroduced, contains sections on
air raid precautions and civil defence, air raids, the invasion threat and Nazi propaganda, rationing and shortages, travel, popular culture and entertainment
and of course the Home Guard. Mr. Pickering's father, Corporal Joseph (Joe) Pickering (1900-1963) - perhaps later a sergeant - was a member
of Summit Company of the Burnley Home Guard, the 29th County of Lancaster (Burnley) Battalion, commanded by Lt.-Col. H. Parkinson. The Company was headquartered at the Leeds & Liverpool Canal yard on Manchester Road and less officially at the Rose & Crown, also in Manchester Road. There are several reminiscences of this unit in the Home Guard section. (You
will leave this site).
*************************************************************
LANCASHIRE, CLAYTON
Home
Guard Days in Clayton tells the story of Mr. Dan McFarlane
in the Clayton unit, commanded by Jack Redditt, V.C. (You
will leave this site).
*************************************************************
LANCASHIRE, CRUMPSALL
and SALFORD
Mr.
Peter Barnford recalls
his father's Home Guard service and his own contribution.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
LANCASHIRE, DARWEN
Sally Whittaker recalls the local
Home Guard:
"I was born in 1933, so I don't
remember too much about the war. However, I do remember
the black-outs. We lived in a small cottage on Bog Height
Road at the Blackburn - Darwen boundary. There was an empty
cottage across the road from us and a comapny of Home Guard
used it as their base.
They used to do drills at the front
of the cottage and I remember watching them from my window."
© Sally Whittaker 2005 (This
memory originally appeared in the BBC WW2 People's War Archive.
WW2 People's War is an online archive of wartime memories
contributed by members of the public and gathered by the
BBC. The complete archive can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar.
You
will leave this site).
*************************************************************
LANCASHIRE, DAUBHILL
Mr. Barry Ainsworth's memory
of service with the L.D.V/Home Guard, part of the 5th Battalion,
Loyal North Lancs.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
LANCASHIRE, ECCLESTON
In
The
Home Guard in a small village in Lancashire Mr.
Arthur Rutter wins a Christmas raffle in the Farmers Arms.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
LANCASHIRE, HIGH
NEWTON and GREENODD
Mr.
Harry Park remembers
the Newton unit whose HQ was at The Crown.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
 |
|
Company
Sergeant-Major Waters,
Lancashire Home
Guard
by
Eric Kennington, 1943
|
LANCASHIRE, HULME
The
story of how Sgt. Fred McEwan of "C" (Hulme)
Company of the 46th Battalion Home Guard, together with
a comrade saved the caretaker's family in Hulme Town Hall
after an air raid involving a parachute mine.
(You will leave this site).
****************************************
LANCASHIRE, INCE
IN MAKERFIELD
An early recollection of Mr. Joe Martlew:
"......My next recollection is
of the Home Guard, again I would be about three years old,
I remember them drilling and training in our street and
a man who lived in our street that all the kids called Father
Roberts - no, he wasn't a clergyman - and he made me a wooden
rifle so that I could march up and down the street with
the Home Guard. ...."
© Bill Martlew 2005
To
read the whole of this memoir in its original setting, the
BBC's excellent People's War Archive, please click
here. (You will leave this site.
WW2 People's War is an online archive of wartime memories
contributed by members of the public and gathered by the
BBC. The complete archive can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar.)
*************************************************************
LANCASHIRE, KIRKBY
and LIVERPOOL
In
Anfield
Cemetery an eight-year-old John Sweeney shares a
Home Guard duty with his father and walks through a bombed
city. (You
will leave this site).
****************************************
LANCASHIRE, LEVENSHULME
Mr.
Joe Carley's detailed and fascinating story
of his service with particular emphasis on AA gunnery procedures
and experiences.
(You will leave this site).
****************************************
LANCASHIRE, MANCHESTER
Debdale Reservoir, Mawson Hall: a visitor to this website is seeking information about the Home Guard unit which guarded this area. Please go to GUESTBOOK and look at the message dated 29th January 2009.
In a further memoir entitled The
Home Guard Stand-down Parade in Manchester Mr. Joe
Carley describes the day of the stand-down parade when the
Manchester Home Guard, finally and a little sadly, faded
into history.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
LANCASHIRE, MORECAMBE
Images of the Morecambe unit can be seen here. (You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
LANCASHIRE, NEW
MOSTON
Within
an extensive memoir
Mr. Bryan Shaw remembers watching the local Home Guard activities.
(You will leave this
site).
*************************************************************
LANCASHIRE, NEWTON-LE-WILLOWS
This image shows the T. & T. Vicars
works unit at Earlestown:
No. 3 Platoon, "F" Coy., 79th
Lancashire (Newton-le-Willows) Battalion -"The Viaduct
Home Guard".
Private Norman Parr
is standing fifth from left, middle row; he later served
the Army Catering Corps in Berlin where in 1947 he married
a local young lady with whom he returned to England and
set up home in 1948.
(Grateful acknowledgement is made to Marian Cropper
(daughter of Norman Parr), the
Remember Britain's Home Guard Facebook page and
earlier contributors: Mr. Colin Lockwood and an unknown
newspaper).
*************************************************************
LANCASHIRE, PENDLETON,
SALFORD
Within
an interesting memoir entitled Bombed Out in Salford,
Joan Smith (nee Anderson) witnesses a Home Guard unit doing
its bit to defend the area:
"...After finishing
work at Metro Vics I had taken my usual bus ride back to
Salford and was making my way home to Romney St. As I walked
through the maze of terraced streets that made up the area
of Salford known as Pendleton the Air Raid Siren started
wailing.
As I rounded Saint George's Church on the corner of Frederic
Road and Whit St close to the ARP shelter, I heard the crack
of rifle fire, not something you would normally hear on
your way home from work even in wartime Salford. At seventeen
years of age I was more inquisitive, some would say stupid,
than frightened, so I decided to go and find out what was
going on.
At the opposite end of the street there was a group of home
guard, one of them had his Rifle pointing skyward, as I
followed the general direction his rifle was pointing, there,
what seemed miles away, was a parachute with what appeared
to be a large cigar hanging from it.
The leader of the Home Guard was known to me so I asked
him what he was doing, “He`s trying and get it before
it lands” he said. I was taken aback, what will happen
if you hit it? I asked him, What makes you think we will
hit it? Harry couldn`t hit a cow's arse with a shovel”
he said,” that thing's so bloody far away he can hardly
see it”. Sure enough he was right, the cigar disappeared
from view behind the skyline and later was followed by the
crump we had all come to recognise as the sound a bomb made
when it exploded. I guessed that it had fallen safely on
nearby Kearsal Moor and after getting the all clear continued
on my way home......"
© Andy Smith
2005 To
read the rest of this memoir in its original setting, the
BBC's excellent People's War Archive,
please click here. (You will leave
this site.
WW2 People's War is an online archive of wartime memories
contributed by members of the public and gathered by the
BBC. The complete archive can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar.)
*************************************************************
LANCASHIRE, PILLING,
near FLEETWOOD
The
Times reports on 9th January 1941 that Mr. Andrew Parr
is thought to be the oldest Home Guard at the age of 82.
*************************************************************
LANCASHIRE, POULTON
LE FYLDE
A
grandson relates
Mr. Thomas Hardisty's first ecounter with a Sten Gun.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
LANCASHIRE, STOCKPORT
Within an interesting memoir, Mrs.
Elizabeth Chapman remembers her encounters with the Home
Guard for the BBC WW2 People's War Archive:
".......Half-way
up the hill, the Home Guard Headquarters were located in
a big old house. This was 74, Brinnington Road, only very
recently demolished to make way for the Manchester Outer
Ring Road motorway. Saturday and Sunday mornings saw them
holding regular drill parades and they were an enthusiastic
and keen bunch of men. Since our semi-rural areas was located
on the edge of Stockport, the Home Guard had instituted
a security black-out, you would hear, somewhat unnervingly,
a deep masculine voice issuing a challenge:- "Halt,
who goes there? Friend or foe?" In the light of your
downward-pointing torch you would be aware of two hefty-looking
Home Guards with rifles at the ready. The answer you were
supposed to give was "Friend"! Then came the next
summons:-" Advance friend and be recognised!"
You advanced nervously, identity card in hand. Your card
carefully inspected and approved, you were allowed on your
way with the words: "Pass, friend!" and you went
on your way into the darkness!
I
wonder whether they ever did catch any spies! All about
us on the hoardings were slogans: "Careless talk costs
lives". You did not talk of the whereabouts or movements
of your soldier or sailor brother or boyfriend or husband.
That was all, as the saying went, very "Hush-hush"!,
- and another slogan ran: "Keep Mum, - like Dad!"
You had to be very, very careful!....."
©
Mrs.
Elizabeth Chapman 2004 To
read the rest of Mrs. Chapman's Home Front memories, entitled
One Child's War Part 3 Blitzes and Bombshells,
please click here. (You
will leave this site. WW2
People's War is an online archive of wartime memories contributed
by members of the public and gathered by the BBC. The complete
archive can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar.)
**************************************************************
LANCASHIRE, TARLETON
and HESKETH BANK
Captioned pictures of the Tarleton and Hesketh Bank units
can be seen here
and here,
respectively. (You will leave this
site. The destination site also includes a transcription
of the fascinating series of newsletters written weekly
between 1940 and 1946 by the Rector of Tarleton to parishioners
serving away from home).
*************************************************************
LEICESTERSHIRE
- For further reading:
"To The Last Round: The Leicestershire
and Rutland Home Guard 1940-1945"
by Austin J. Ruddy
Publisher: Breedon Books May 2007
HB 224pp - 240 x 170mm - 200 illus.
ISBN 978 1 85983 559 3
A reunion of HG veterans in July 2007
to mark the launch of this book was reported by the Leicester
Mercury. Click here
to read. (You will leave this site).
- This page of the website provides information about 21st century Home Guard reenactment groups in Leicestershire and other counties.
*************************************************************
LEICESTERSHIRE,
BLABY
Mr.
Ronald Cass recalls
his father's Home Guard service.
(You
will leave this site).
*************************************************************
LEICESTERSHIRE,
LEICESTER
In
No
Lights: The Home Guard in Leicester Mr. George Scattergood's
service is remembered.
(You will leave this site).
******
Jill
Woodman relates an early impression of her father's Home
Guard service in Leicester:
"Daddy
and uncle George were in the “Home Guard” and
when daddy had to go away in the air-force, I asked mummy
if daddy had to go in the air-force because he and uncle
George couldn’t catch Hitler! I thought they were running
around fields looking for Hitler. I was only about 4 years
old......."
© Jill Woodman
2004 To
read the remainder of this memoir in its original setting,
the BBC's excellent People's War Archive,
please click here. (You
will leave this site.
WW2 People's War is an online archive of wartime memories
contributed by members of the public and gathered by the
BBC. The complete archive can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar.)
*************************************************************
LEICESTERSHIRE,
LOUGHBOROUGH
Within
an interesting article
on wartime work at Brush Electrical Engineering Ltd. there
is an illustrated description of Mr. John Corey's factory
H.G. unit. (You
will leave this site).
*************************************************************
LEICESTERSHIRE,
NEWBOLD, COLEORTON
Mr.
David Buckley describes the tank traps constructed and manned
by the local Home Guard on the road between Newbold and
Lount.
*************************************************************
LEICESTERSHIRE, WORTHINGTON (and Bredon)
Memories of the Worthington platoon. (Grateful acknowledgement to DB of Shropshire. You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
LINCOLNSHIRE, BOURNE
and STAMFORD
A detailed record of the 4th Bourne and Stamford Battalion
can be viewed by clicking
here. (You will leave this site).
**********************************************************
LINCOLNSHIRE, GRANTHAM
In
an interesting article, Dads’
Army’s Minders! Patricia Brown recalls her
service in a Home Guard Intelligence unit and regrets some
aspects of the treatment of women Home Guards.
(You
will leave this site).
*************************************************************
LINCOLNSHIRE, LINCOLN
A
memory
of Mr. Sydney Robinson's service.
(You will leave this site).Mr.
Ronald Sargent briefly remembers
his L.D.V. and Home Guard service. (You
will leave this site).
*************************************************************
LINCOLNSHIRE, SALTFLEETBY
A detailed, fully captioned picture of the local HG platoon,
and other information about the unit, can be seen here.
(You will leave this site).
******************************************************************
LINCOLNSHIRE, STAMFORD
In
Memories
of the Home Guard which includes a photograph of
the unit, Cpl. V.H. Bettinson remembers service in the 4th
Kesteven Battalion Home Guard.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
LINCOLNSHIRE, WINTERINGHAM
Click
here to see an image of the Winteringham Home Guard
unit and close-ups of its members.
(You
will leave this site).
*************************************************************
LONDON
A
daughter recalls her father's contribution to Home Guard
music:
"In 1943, in spite of working
12 hour shifts as a tool maker 6 days a week, Arthur Pasoce,
my father, joined the Home Guard. Ever since the Great War,
when he learned to play the fife and clarinet, he had played
in a Territorial Army band or the GWR band where he was
an excellent clarinet player. Now the Home Guard had their
own Military Band, the Director of Music was Captain Campbell
the music master of Harrow School.Every Sunday morning they met for
band practice and during the summer they played in a London
park. One Sunday a bandsman dropped a cigarette end through
the slats in the floor of the bandstand and set fire to
the salvage stored below. They led the parades for War Weapons
Weeks and Wings of Victory Days to raise money for the war
effort.After D-Day they had to do military
duties, but it was not long before they were back to their
musical role. When the Home Guard was stood down they led
the parade through London and the nation said goodbye to
these old men who did what they could for their country
in its time of trouble."
© KathHGband 2005 To
read the memoir in its original setting, the BBC's excellent
People's War Archive,
please click here. (You will leave this site.
WW2 People's War is an online archive of wartime memories
contributed by members of the public and gathered by the
BBC. The complete archive can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar.)
*************
1st American Motorised Squadron: this Home Guard unit, first formed in September 1940 and comprising U.S. nationals resident in London can be seen in
this YouTube newsreel film clip
being inspected by Winston Churchill on February 9th, 1941. (You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
LONDON, CANNING
TOWN
A
memory
of Mr. George Lawkess, a Home Guard living in Nelson Street.
*************************************************************
LONDON, CENTRAL
Mr.
Alan Page remembers his experiences
as a Home Guard messenger boy. (You
will leave this site).
*************
Cpl. Gilbert Phillips (Phil) served in the Home Guard in Central London from 1942 at the age of 17 or 18 until stand-down in December 1944. He was initially involved in traditional Home Guard infantry activities in the defence of an important central area of the city as member of a battalion affiliated to the King's Royal Rifle Corps, almost certainly the County of London Battalion. Eventually, like many of his young comrades, he was transferred, after thorough training, to an anti-aircraft rocket battery located on Hampstead Heath where his unit was part of the Middlesex Regiment.
He wrote a remarkably detailed memoir of his experiences and with the kind permission of his family it appears in its entirety on a separate page within this website.
*************
Harold Wybrow also served in the defence of Central London. In 1942 and 1943 he was a member of the unit whose duty it was to man the "Z"-Battery of anti-aircraft rockets located in Hyde Park. His story, including mention of his later service in Normandy and Antwerp in the R.A.S.C., is told on this page of the website.
*************
Detailed information about a Hyde
Park AA battery, manned by the Home Guard, is provided in
"Z"Battery,
Rocket AA in Hyde Park" by Gunner Lionel Francis.
(You will leave this site).
*************
Another
memory
of the Hyde Park AA rocket battery, this from the experiences
of Mr. Harold Wybrow.
(You will leave this site; see also above).
*************
"101
Up!", a history of the Hyde Park Battery, the
101 County of London Home Guard,
was written by Captain G. J.
Redgrove in February 1945. It is reproduced
in its entirety within this website. It includes much
information about the life of this unit and a complete
list of members at stand-down.
*************************************************************
LONDON, CITY OF
Mr.
Raymond Akary remembers a frightening experience:"......When I was 16 I got a
job as an office boy in the City and I lived with my father,
in Birchin Lane, near Bank tube station. I joined the Home
Guard, and I was stationed at the Honourable Artillery Company
(H.A.C) in City Road. The only time I remember being frightened
during the whole war, was one night when I was on duty at
the H.A.C. I was supposed to tug on a rope attached to a
bell, when a flying bomb was close by, to warn all the military
personnel stationed in the barracks. One this particular
night I saw a doodlebug flying towards us, I could clearly
see the flames billowing out of the tail. It was heading
straight for the spot where I was standing, and instead
of ringing the bell, I ran like the clappers to the playing
field nearby. I rammed my tin hat on my head and threw myself
on the ground. As soon as I heard the big bang just
up the road I picked myself up and made my way sheepishly
back to the guard post. A Scottish Sergeant who was in the
Army saw me coming back and said “Yee didna ring the
bell, laddie!” and then he went off and brought me
back a mug of tea with rum in it!After several years of being in the
Home Guard and also being a firewatcher in the City, I joined
the Army right at the end of the war. I’ve lots of
experiences since then but I’ve never been as frightened
as I was that night....".
© Raymond Akary 2005 To
read the whole of this memoir in its original setting, the
BBC's excellent People's War Archive, please click
here. (You will leave this site.
WW2 People's War is an online archive of wartime memories
contributed by members of the public and gathered by the
BBC. The complete archive can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar.)
*************************************************************
LONDON, CROFTON PARK and CATFORD
In
June 1944 five Home Guards lost their lives when a V1 Flying Bomb hit their HQ in Brockley Road School. They were:
Corporal F. C. Lucas, Lieut. C. C. Pacey,
Lieut. W. W. Ray, M.M.,
Lieut. A. E. Smith and Sgt. E. A. Tarr. Follow the above link for more information.
*************************************************************
LONDON, EAST HAM
In
Blitz
1940 an eighteen-year-old Mr.Norman Henney encounters
a landmine. (You
will leave this site).
*************************************************************
LONDON, HACKNEY
In
an interesting memoir,
Sqn. Ldr. A.Garretts MBE retd. describes his enrolment and
instant appointment as an 18-year-old
sergeant in his local unit and episodes from his service.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
LONDON, HENDON
and HACKNEY
Mr Reg Pobjoy, later Berthold, remembers
his Home Guard service before call-up, including service
on a Hampstead AA battery. (You
will leave this site).
*************************************************************
LONDON, HYDE PARK
Please see LONDON, CENTRAL
above.
*************************************************************
LONDON, ISLINGTON
and HOLLOWAY
Mr.
Sydney Steers remembers
his service in a railway detachment of the Home Guard based
at the Holloway Cattle Dock.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
LONDON, KENTISH
TOWN
Mr. Bill Davies recalls:"The railway home guard were
so bad at 'abaht turninn' that the drill sargeant marched
them onto the turntable in the engine sheds at Kentish Town
and turned them to face the other way!!"
© Bill Davies 2005 (This
memory originally appeared in the BBC WW2 People's War Archive.
WW2 People's War is an online archive of wartime memories
contributed by members of the public and gathered by the
BBC. The complete archive can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar.
You
will leave this site).
*************************************************************
LONDON, NORTH
Mr.
David Pearce's evocative memories of 1939, when he is six,
and the years to until VJ Day, including his father's Home
Guard service:1940
........ By now my father has joined the Home Guard or
Local Defence Volunteers, as they were then known. He eventually
brings home a Lee Enfield rifle and a clip of five bullets.
I am allowed to clean the rifle by tugging on the pull-through
with its piece of oily rag on the end. The only time when
the rifle is near to being used is when a German aircraft
flies low up and down our street. It eventually drops a
bomb on the local railway station and machine guns the area.
My father wants to go to an upstairs window and shoot back,
but my mother vetoes the idea......
1941
.....The Home Guard is becoming more visible. My father
goes off to parades in full uniform with his rifle. They
hold exercises in the street that attract crowds of interested
children as onlookers. My father goes off to guard the local
gas works agianst Fith Columnists. These are Nazi sympathisers
who are waiting to create havoc when the invasion comes.....
1942-1944
..... This was a period where nothing seemed
to change. As small children we were shielded from the horrors
of war as much as possible. On one occasion the Home Guard
gave a party for the local children. This was held in a
church hall. The entertainers were a group dressed as cowboys,
singing cowboy songs. During their performance we were dimly
aware of explosions outside, but the performers just sang
louder. Afterwards, we found that there had been a major
air raid on the district, but we children knew nothing of
it. The Home Guard keeps
my father busy. They are called out to search for anti-personnel
bombs that have been dropped. these are small bombs that,
on landing, extend wings. If these are disturbed the bomb
explodes. The main concern is that we children might find
them......
© David Pearce 2003 To
read the whole of this memoir in its original setting, the
BBC's excellent People's War Archive, please click
here. (You will leave this site.
WW2 People's War is an online archive of wartime memories
contributed by members of the public and gathered by the
BBC. The complete archive can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar.)
*************************************************************
LONDON, PORT OF
LONDON AUTHORITY
In an interesting
article
Florence
Toft recalls the position of women in the Home Guard generally
and her own experience as a member of the P.L.A. Home Guard.(You
will leave this site).
*************************************************************
LONDON, St. JOHN'S WOOD
This "Letter to the Editor"
appeared in the press in August 2005:
On leaving school I served in the
local Home Guard company which was based in St John's Wood,
London. We were a polyglot collection with a high proportion
of members coming from the higher management of Marks &
Spencer. One of the sergeants was the manager
of the M&S flagship store in the West End and the other
was Eric Blair, better known as George Orwell. The company
motto was "We may not be brave but my goodness we are
intelligent".
G.P., Essex.......19th August 2005 (with
acknowledgement to the author)
*************************************************************
LONDON, SYDENHAM,
BATTERSEA and FORREST HILL
The
story
of Mr. Horace Wilkinson, a Home Guard dispatch rider, with
a pike but without a motor cycle.
(You will leave this site).
*************************************************************
LONDON, VAUXHALL, LAMBETH
The
South Metropolitan Gas Company in
Vauxhall was defended by the
49th County of London Battalion, Home
Guard. Like so many other units throughout the
country, "D" Company of this Battalion established a Social
Fund and a Committee of volunteers to administer it.
Minutes of Committee and General Meetings, from 1942 to
1946, survive. They tell us the names of many
Battalion members, the experiences of at least one of them
in his efforts to organise a fund-raising event, the dates
of their meetings and a record of all their doings and ups
and downs over the period.Their experiences were probably typical
of those of countless similar groups throughout the country.
These detailed
Minutes were assiduously created by the Hon. Secretary,
Vol./Pte. Walter
Seall.
They can now be read in their
entirety
here
and on associated pages of the website.
NEW! Added February 2023
*************************************************************
Grateful acknowledgement for badge images to Stanley C. Jenkins.
The
son of another member also left a note in the Guestbook
about his father, Mr. Louis Walsh
of St. John's; and has generously provided further
information about his father. This
fascinating information and the accompanying Home Guard
photographs are shown on a separate page of this website.
