The Home Guard much more than Dad’s Army | World War 2
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ก.ค. 2021
- The Home Guard are often misrepresented in their post war media depictions. From there Humble begins in 1940 to being stood down in 1944, the citizens army went from wooden rifles to webbing & Anti tank weapons in a matter of months. They were a far cry from Dad’s Army!
Join me as we debunk 5 Myths on the Home Guard.
I used a number of books to base my research on for this video they include;
‘We remember the Home Guard’
‘In search of the real Dads Army’
‘The Home Guard 1940-1944’
‘Are we at war?, Letters to the Times 1939-45’
All images are from the IWM archives & are used under fair use. All research and opinions are my own. Resource materials are used under fair use also.
Follow me on twitter: / rm_mili_history
Thanks for watching.
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Men with local knowledge of the area, a force to be reckoned with.
The one unspoken weakness of the Home Guard, was the fact it was locally drawn. My Father in law who would have fought to the last round in a conventional fight, said he didn't know what they would have done if the Germans by way of reprisals had rounded up all the local civilians, their families, and herded them into the local church and either set it in fire or threatened to, if they didn't surrender.
anyone who will lay their live on the line to defend their fellow country man deserves total respect. i wonder how many would volunteer today if the same happened again.
Quite a high chance, just look at how many volunteered to join the home defence forces in Ukraine
Great video - it's a testament to the Home Guard that if you look up the Commonwealth War Graves Commission registers, quite a few Home Guard lost their lives in service.
The P14 is no joke - best damn bolt action the US (as the M1917) ever used.
It's such a great rifle. Shooting one was fun
As an American, my first introduction to the British home guard was the opening to the Disney film Bed Knobs and Broomsticks. They sung my favorite song from the whole movie.
It’s actaully quite a good representation of the Hg
Great video. The home guard is an extremely interesting topic to me as an American, the mix of weapons and equipment they used is fascinating. As is the fact this is the closest Britian has come to having an "armed populace" mindset for a long long time.
Tom Wintringham training them on anti-tank warfare around 3:26 - veteran of the Spanish Civil War.
Eagle eyes, well spotted.
Funny thing is he later praised a dictator 10 times worse than Hitler
Love the video! It saddens me that I can't find more information on the Home Guard or it's history. It fascinates me about how the force started and what it eventually became. I think it honestly should have been kept in service as a voluntary force even after the war and their disbandment for a few reasons, but mainly because they weren't paid the government wasn't losing a ton on it and it provided valuable training for young men prior to joining the regular army; along with the fact that having it known to your enemies that you have a force dedicated strictly to defending the home land that frees up the regular army is also a great benefit.
If you watch my Operation Brave Defender there is a section on the Home Service Force that were an 80s Home Guard like force. The HG were raised again in the 1950s, and I also wrote a 4 page article about HG weaponry for the Armourer Magazine here in the UK. Thanks for watching!
great video robbie, maybe you could turn this into whole myth busting series, I'd be interested to see that!
Glad you enjoyed the video! I may return to the format in the future! 😎
I wish Indey Neidell's World War II channel would cover the Home Guard.
Well for now you’ve got my video 🥰😎
@@RMMilitaryHistory True.
It's funny how the modern post war territorial army was thought of like a modern home guard with many of the same myths (perpetuated by TV comedies like "All quiet on the Preston front") that led to the reorganisation as the collective "Army reserve" to help eliminate the image "Territorials" conjured up despite being a valuable addition to the regular army throughout its existence.
It’s interesting how both were lampooned by comedy writers and the regualr army had more serious dramas like Red Cap or Spearhead over a straight comedic take on television
IMS it was not, ‘…humerous depictions…’ of the TAVR that caused the government to re-designate the ‘Territorial Army’ to the ‘Reserve Army’. It was the attempt by Tony Blair’s government to mobilise select elements of the TA to fight in one of the various ‘Gulf Wars’ that led to the change. One mobilised TA soldier refused his mobilisation orders, claiming that the mobilisation was illegal since ‘Queen’s Order 2’ (conventionally understood to be the full mobilisation of the TA in support of the Regular Army following a State of General War) had not been signed and, consequently, the TA proper could not be mobilised, and that nominated TA solders could only be ‘invited to attend’. I also seem to recall that another part of his defence was that he had always understood that the purpose of the TA was to fight [on the plains of Northern Germany] against the Warsaw Pact in defence of the Homeland and that he had enlisted under that premise and for that purpose, and that this mobilisation was decidedly NOT in defence of the Homeland.
I cannot recall the eventual verdict of the trial, but the episode did cause the government (presumably on the advice of its lawyers) to change the TAVR to the RA and amend the Terms of Service for all RA personnel.
Great stuff! Love the AA footage, the chap on the Oerlikon always makes my day.
It’s great footage! That guy on the Oerlikon looks like he is having a whale of a time!
@@RMMilitaryHistory Wouldn't you?
Neither of my grandfathers fought in either war, as they were too young for the First and in reserved occupations for the Second- having been born in 1902 and 1904 respectively. The younger of the two was an ARP Warden in his spare time, but to my knowledge, never uttered Put that light out or Ruddy Hooligans!
Very pleasant unrushed narration.
I feel sure everyone accepts Dads Army only for what it was - one of televisions best ever comedy series with a perfect cast.
When looking up on google to see what made men eligible for the LDV rather than the regular army it said, in two separate sections that ‘the LDV was made up of men between the ages 17 and 65’ so if that’s true then all men in the regular army were aged under 17 and over 65 which is complete nonsense!
When I think of the Home Guard I think of that brilliant film: Went the Day Well, 1942!
In the story of Dad’s Army, Private Pike was about 18 years old and a junior clerk at Mainwaring’s bank, Private Walker was older but not an old man, he was a spiv, wheeling and dealing on the black market, in fact he is recruited by accident when he sees a group gathering and thinks he sees a business opportunity.
Both Pike and Walker are conscripted, Pike is discharged due to having a rare blood type, Walker is discharged as he is allergic to corned beef.
In real life the script writers served in the home guard, the character of Pike being based on one of them.
Sir David Attenborough served too, at the age of 17.
Indeed they did, I actually rate the 1st 2 seasons as being pretty accurate on the creation of the HG and the procurement process ect. It settled into normal sitcom fayre in later seasons. But it’s still great telly
The Pattern 1914 and Model 1917 rifles were excellent rifles. Second to none. An improved Mauser
Enjoyed this Robbie, well done.
Thank you! Stay tuned for more 😀
May I ask something I have always wondered. Did the Home Guard receive extra rations of tea?
Great question I will see what I can dig up!
@@RMMilitaryHistory what kind of rations did they receive? Civi rations or military rations ?
Here’s a discussion in parliament from 1940 on that very topic api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1940/aug/07/home-guard-posts-tea-and-sugar-rations
Beware old men in a profession where men die young. Drachinifel talked about this on Venom Geek's channel, although in the context of ship design during the Borg v Federation war from Star Trek. The Home Guard commanders and senior nco's were men in their 40s and 50s and therefore young soldiers in ww1 that survived at the front of some horrific battles like the Somme. In dispatces to Army high command they were shown to be terrifyingly creative at twisting the knife should Germany have invaded England. One plan the Generals came up with was to flood the pipes at major ports with fuel oil and light them up like a giant fire bomb to keep the Germans from landing. A home guard officer wrote for them to wait and let let the Germans land first before incinerating them.
The main problem is that the Home Guard just weren’t that old. The average age in 1940 was 37 and that reduced as the war went on. There were plenty of young men and it became a useful training organisation for seventeen year olds and others waiting to be called up.
Extremely fascinating thank you
Great video and so much informations!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great video!
The portrayal of the Home Guard is probably as accurate as portraying an MI6 agent with a classic fast car. Sometimes the filmic necessities displace historic accuracy. BUT without the filmic necessities "Dad's Army" would never be successful as a TV show and the Home Guard would slowly sink into oblivion.
The series in the early few seasons were not that bad in their portrayal of the HG, later seasons it flows into generic comedy plots, but yes it did cement the Hg in pop culture forever
Good video ❤
Ally tally: 11:50 Was that a scratch built or standard mount for that 20mm AA gun? Also, is it an Oerlikon, a Polsten, or something else?
We probably need to re- instate the Home guard they way things are going 😊
Perhaps!
Thank you for this.
My pleasure! Stay tuned for upcoming videos
@@RMMilitaryHistory I am researching Crime and Policing in Staffordshire in WW2. 1) didn't know there were Police 'units' of the Home Guard. 2) Some Home Guard were killed when a mortar blew up near what is now Hednesford Raceway. 3) Mr Bostock connected to Lotus shoes was asked to resign from the head of the Stafford Branch of the Home Guard because of his association with the intern Herman Simon who founded 'Evode Limited' ie Evo-Stick adhesives. Hope this is of interest.
@@cuthbert246 oh wow that’s some great research!
@@RMMilitaryHistory Thank you I have only covered 2 -3 years of the war. Keep up the good work.
@@cuthbert246 I will do! The podcast & the channel keep me busy!
Were the Home Guards subject to full military discipline? Were any actually court- martialled?
Great video Robbie. What the heck is that regional accent in the propaganda film supposed to be?! Norfolk I think? He clearly wasn't paying attention in his training either if he thinks the M1928 TSMG fires at 600rpm!
I knew you would know something like that :) In the MOI film I think Bernard Miles is trying a Norfolk type accent. The interesting thing to me is footage from that film is also used as the bulk of the 1941 film Citizens Army that I used in the video. I only noticed as they try and edit our Bernard Miles but he sticks out among all the HG regulars!
@@RMMilitaryHistory Ah, interesting!
@@jonathanferguson1211 i had to sit through so much footage I was like it’s BERNARD! When I saw him haha
As a Peterboroughian, with a big family history in the East, this is definitely a "fen-billy" accent... Fenland farmers accent.
th-cam.com/video/gsVNA36SSb4/w-d-xo.html, they all served, which makes the show iconic.
1/6d. One Shilling and six pence. The d stood for denarii, the Roman 'penny'. The / is a hand written s.
Although the series was “tongue in cheek” there was no doubting their courage. You failed to mention that awful recent film that implied cowardice
👎
Thanks for watching, indeed the series does show the courage of the men but I think as it goes on in later series it loses its early charm a little. The remake wasn’t great although it was cast quite well
The way the world is today we should bring back the home guard
ive seen more than one comment on these lines...
🧐🤔💯👌👊👍
Silly Boy. 🪖
Well, really it’s “stupid boy”. 🤦🏻♂️
The most interesting truth or myth about Home Guard was published in the question and answer page in the early nineties in the Daily Mail.
Someone wrote to the paper to ask if the Home Guard had seen active service?
A Daily Mail reader said his father was POW in Stalagluft 45, and came across two Home Guardsmen interned at that location.
One was a sergeant, and the other a private, both came from the Newcastle area.
Another reader the following week pointed out that in May 1945 the Houses Parliament passed an act that all British/ Commonwealth POWs would get full back pay from the day they were captured including the Home Guard !
I spoke to a historian who contacted the local newspapers in the Newcastle, and got nowhere due a D notice being authorised by the Government.
So is this a myth or true ?