BBC History - Home Guard

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Fact 1
Britain's Home Guard was originally called Local Defence Volunteers.

Fact 2
The broadcast that called for men to join the Home Guard came on the 14th May 1940, from Anthony Eden, the Secretary of State for War, braodcasting from BBC Home Service. He addressed 'men of all ages who wish to do something for the defence of their country': 'Here, then, is the opportunity for which so many of you have been waiting. Your loyal help, added to the arrangements which already exist, will make and keep our country safe.'

Fact 3
The Local Defence Volunteers was launched without any staff, or funds, or premises of its own. Eden had simply instructed his listeners 'to give in your name at your local police station and then, as and when we want you, we will let you know.'

Fact 4
Before Eden's broadcast had ended, police stations in all regions of the nation found themselves deluged with eager volunteers. By the end of the first 24 hours, 250,000 men - equal in number to the peacetime Regular Army - had registered their names. Although the age range was meant to run from 17 to 65, it was not strictly enforced at the beginning, and more than a few old soldiers contrived to creep back in (such as Alexander Taylor, a sprightly octogenarian who had first seen action in the Sudan during 1884-5).

Fact 5
The portrayal of the Home Guard in the BBC series Dad's Army was not far from the truth. Most new recruits were forced to wait several weeks before official uniforms were sent out, but in some cases the denims came without the caps or the caps arrived without the denims.

Fact 6
The wait for proper weapons was longer still. While the War Office searched for suitable arms from abroad, the eager volunteers proceeded to improvise: rolled umbrellas, broom handles and golf clubs were adapted for military service, and all kinds of antique fowling-pieces, blunderbusses, carbines and cutlasses were dusted down for action.

Fact 7
It was Winston Churchill, who was responsible, in July 1940, for the change of name from Local Defence Volunteers ('uninspiring', in his opinion) to Home Guard ('much better', he declared). It was also Churchill who saw to it that the Home Guard began to receive proper military training sessions, and a more orthodox administrative structure, as well as regular boosts to its chronically fragile morale: each year, on the anniversary of its formation, a national 'Home Guard Day' was held to make the force feel, in Churchill's words, 'that the nation realises all it owes to these devoted men.'

Fact 8
When the Home Guard were eventually stood were no gratuities or medals, but, following Churchill's intervention, the men were allowed to keep their battledress and their boots.
On Sunday, 3 December 1944, at a farewell parade in Hyde Park, King George VI, the Home Guard's Colonel-in-Chief, declared: 'History will say that your share in the greatest of all our struggles for freedom was a vitally important one.'

Fact 9
At its peak the force had numbered 1,793,000; 1,206 of its men had either been killed on duty or died from wounds, and 557 more sustained serious injuries. They had cost little, but contributed much.

Fact 10
Those who had served in the Home Guard for three years qualified for the Defence Medal, but men who had left earlier, often to join the Forces, received nothing. They were allowed to keep their uniforms and boots - valuable commodities in times of rationing.

Fact 11
Other decorations awarded to the Home Guards included thirteen George Medals and two George Crosses, both posthumous. The King's Badge -a round silver badge, with the words "For Loyal Service - was awarded to members of the Home Guard who were discharged through injury from war service.

If you are interested in honouring the
1000+ Home Guards killed during the
war or know of anyone else who
qualifies please write to me,
Michael Burkenshaw"