The Home Guard. [Dads Army]

Recently I had much pleasure to watch again that funny British comedy series, Dad's Army. Although I found the plots quiet amusing, I would have imagined that the script writers had to have drawn closely from the actual duties of the home-guard. These home-guard troops could not have been made-up of old and geriatric men. I would have no doubt that their ranks had been made up from many old WW1 campaigners. I would have imagined that many would have enlisted in the firm belief that England was indeed under immediate threat from the German war machine poised across the channel. I understand the many of these platoons would have done, like what Captain Mainwaring's platoon did, and patrolled the coastal and inland towns dotted throughout the UK. Capturing German parachutists, relieving regular troops in noncombatant duties and numerous other duties. I suppose what I'm asking is what type of action where they reasonably expected perform and what type of training did these chaps actually receive. Also, what weaponry was in there possession to actively carry out their responsibilities. How far from the truth was Dad's Army from the British TV series? Apart from the comedy, I would imagine it was reasonably close to real

I can't speak about the Home Guard, but I vividly remember the Massachusetts State Guard on drill in Concord MA during WWII. I suppose it was a 4th of July celebration, or perhaps Patriot's Day, April 18.

The State Guard (I believe they existed in most but not all states) was a military force that substituted for the National Guard, which of course had all been mobilized. I suspect their primary function was to have been to fill the Guard's role in emergencies such as hurricanes, floods, riots, and of course foreign invasion, as a quasi-military force. They were not responsible for Civil Defense; there was a distinct organization of local volunteers for that.

They were of course mostly WWI veterans, and they were armed with bolt-action Springfield 1903 rifles. I believe they also had 'doughboy' steel helmets similiar to what the British army wore, along with puttees and the rest of the WWI kit, but I may be filling in the details.

Toward the end of the war I was living in Brookline MA, and the school I attended had apparently been a State Guard amory during the war. Its cellar was equipped with a rack of Springfield 'rolling block' rifles dating from the Spanish-American war and firing a caliber-.45 bullet; they were generally referred to as 45/70 rifles. I believe the model year was 1863. I liberated one of those weapons and later used it for deer hunting, to the great hilarity of the local lads. I imagine that any State Guard unit parading with them would have looked equally funny.

all the best

{snip}

One of the writers (Jimmy Perry?) was the character portrayed as 'Private Pike', so much of what went in was based on his personal experience - suitably adjusted for TV comedy & mainly consisting of a gentle poke at the class system.

Cheers

Like most sitcoms and dramas Dad's Army is rooted in fact but with characters and events exagerated to the nth degree for entertainment puropses. You might start with the BBC's page on the subject of the LDV (Local Defence Volunteers aka Look, Duck and Vanish 8^) ):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/wwtwo/homefront/ dadsarmy/dadsarmy_1....

Thene there are lots of sites on both the LDV and the TV series, just search for <'Dad's Army' LDV>

Not a lot.

Initially, broom sticks and carving knives, the odd ww1 souvenir or shotgun. Then, lee enfields and BAR, Molotov cocktails. Then lee enfields and bren, grenades. Some rather weird 'support' weapons of the cobbled together nature in the series. Very little ammo.

The real Dad's army wasn't up to much. But they relieved regular army from guard duties, probably not so important until 43 or 44. There were quite a few civilians they shot by mistake. That 'sky at night' presenter...damn.... can't recall his name. Anyhow, his first task in the Home guard was to build a road block. In a cul de sac.

There's a TV documentary series currently on the history channel... or at least here in the UK... about the real home guard. You may want to look out for it or get someone to tape it.

Andy O'Neill www.l-25.demon.co.uk/index.htm

As a kid on the California coast when the war started I recall a flury of 'Civil Defense' activity in LA. My dad, (who was an ANZAC Gallipoli vet from WWI), became an Air Raid Warden. My older brother became an official 'messenger' and got to carry a pouch about during those few early air-raid alarms and drills, and I, at 11, became an 'Aircraft Spotter' but all this 'Home Guard' actvivty seemed soon to peter out to the point of disappearance. Did I miss something? Anybody got a firmer grip on this than I do?

John Brookes

He's interviewed in person in the series about the real home guard, perhaps he was too young at the start of the war and joined the RAF after the home guard.

Andy O'Neill www.l-25.demon.co.uk/index.htm

snip

My dad was there too! In the RNLI (Royal Navy Light Infantry <Marines>.

Perhaps he met your dad!

My dad became the CO of the local HG in s. Wales.

It was based on personal experience.

A fair number were fit young men in reserved occupations. They did a full-time job during the day and still carried out patrols at night. Some, like Frank Pike and one of the writers, Jimmy Perry, were not yet old enough to join the regular army.

There are pictures of the Home Guard taking the Guard at Buckingham Palace.

Initially, what weapons they could find themselves. In one episode, Dad's Army gets a supply of pepper, to throw in the enemy's eyes while they take his weapon. That is based on an actual entry in the training manual. However, it was not long before a number of American WW1 Springfield 0.300' calibre rifles became available. The Home Guard pike - a bayonet welded to a steel tube - is well known, but it was not much used. By the time that became available, most patrols were being issued with firearms. By 1941, the Home Guard was a well-equipped fighting force with training similar to that of the regular army.

The following is a list of personal equipment issued to the 203 GHQ (Reserve) Bn Home Guard. This was one of the Auxiliary Home Guard Units, trained to fight behind enemy lines after an invasion, so it was better equipped with explosives and got weapons earlier than ordinary units.

Pistol 0.38 or 0.32 36/40 rounds pistol ammunition Fighting Knife Cleaning kit Battledress complete Boots Gas Mask Anti-gas onitment No 2 Steel helmet Haversack Gloves Rubber Truncheon Camouflage veil Knife Fork Spoon Mess tin Ground sheet Two blankets Field dressing Two sterilisation sets

The patrol leader would have charge of

2 x 0.300' rifles 1 x Thompson sub-machine gun 4 x Sten guns 1 x 0.22' Winchester silenced sniper rifle with telescopic sight

The last was a specialised item issued to the Auxiliary Units only. Ordinary Home Guard units would have had more rifles and fewer automatic weapons. The Auxiliary Units were all quite small, for security reasons, so seven main firearms would have equipped most patrols. They tended to comprise mainly gamekeepers and farmers - people with an initmate knowledge of the local countryside. They were provided with two week's supplies at their base posts. They were not expected to survive long enough to need more if the invasion came.

I get the impression that some of the comedy was real life too. There has been a very recent series on British TV, The Real Home Guard, presented by Ian Lavender (Pike) and writer Jimmy Perry. It shows the development from the LDV days, up to the Home Guard as a serious fighting force. There are frequent references to situations that appear in the comedy series.

Colin Bignell

Dads army is set in the UK and is about the UK home guard... it's often not discussed but set in around 1940 to 1941. Hence SMLE and bren in late war.

Andy O'Neill www.l-25.demon.co.uk/index.htm

This mixture of arms makes the whole list look suspect. 300 calibre rifles were US weapons (Springfields) supplied to the Home Guard/LDV in 1940 when there was a shortage of SMLE 303 weapons. But the Sten gun was then not yet invented, and unlikely to be available to the Home Guard before 1942