The Home Guard.

The Home Guard was formed on 14th May 1940 after a broadcast appeal by the then Secretary of State for War, Anthony Eden. The Home Guard was originally called the Local Defences Volunteers or LDV. Some uncharitably christened them "Look, Duck and Vanish". They were later renamed the Home Guard after Churchill used the phrase in a radio broadcast.
 

The Early Days 1940.

The Home Guard consisted of volunteers aged from 17 to 65 who had offered to serve as unpaid, part-time soldiers. They would become full-time once the Germans had landed. Their original purpose was to keep watch for airborne landings. The Government expected 150,000 to volunteer, but by the end of May over 300,000 had signed up, and at the beginning of September a million and a half were in its ranks. A shortage of uniforms meant all many had was a armband with the letters LDV, although by July uniforms had arrived of ill fitting denims.

Tactics.

One of the aims of the Home Guard was to hold up the enemy whilst regular troops could be deployed, therefore with the lack of weapons ingenuity had to be used. Among the tactics was to leave open all manhole covers so Germans would fall down them in the dark. Another was to place containers on the road propped up with a small stick. Attach a string to the stick and trail it off to an unseen position, the Germans would have to inspect each one to detect any bombs. It was recommended to make sure every so often place on with a live bomb. Householders were also to be asked to prop open a window and place a straight stick or piece of tube out the window to simulate a sniper position.
 

Weapons.

Initially the Home Guard was desperately short of weapons. The regular army had priority over the Home Guard due to the losses of equipment at Dunkirk. Even by September many units were virtually unarmed. Many units improvised by using shotguns, air rifles, old hunting rifles, museum pieces, bayonets, knives and pieces of gas pipe with knives or bayonets welded on the end. The most popular early improvised weapon was the molotov cocktail. This consisted of a bottle filled with petrol, with wick through a cork that was lit just before it was thrown. The bottle was intended to break igniting the contents. The weapons situation was improved by the delivery of a million old US rifles in mid July, although each had only 10 rounds a piece. 20,000 revolvers and shotguns were located as a result of an appeal.

The Auxiliary Units.

Formed in 1940 these were most secret units in the Home Guard. The Auxiliary Units were men recruited from Home Guard units to form "stay behind" guerrilla units if part of the UK was occupied. There were three battalions, numbered 201 (Scotland and Northern Counties), 202 (Midlands) and 203 (London and Southern Counties). These men were not actually on  the Home Guard roster. This was purely a cover and as they were not enrolled, they were not strictly covered by the Geneva Convention. Their uniform may have given them some protection against being shot out of hand if captured.

The Later Years 1941-1944.

By 1941 the threat on invasion looked less urgent. The Home Guard had received some more conventional weapons including sub-machine guns. The Home Guard also had some unique special weapons such as the Northover Projector which looked like a drainpipe on legs that was designed to fire grenades. Another was the Sticky Bomb, a grenade with a adhesive coating. One of the most lasting remains are spigot mortar emplacements. The Spigot mortar was a cheap anti-tank weapon that fired a 20lb high explosive mortar bomb.

The Home Guard did not fall below one million until they were stood down in December 1944. The Home Guard was finally disbanded on 31st December 1945.
 

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