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| HOME GUARD PLATOON PHOTO |

"THE GREATEST EVER AMATEUR ARMY"

On 14th May 1940, Anthony Eden, the Secretary of State of War, broadcast an appeal for men to join the new Local Volunteer Volunteers (LDV).  The LDV would consist of civilian men volunteers aged between 17 - 65 who were not eligible for conscription because they were too old or medically unfit for the Regular Army, as long as they were capable of 'free movement', or those in a reserved occupation.  

A reserved occupation was a job that was deemed vital to the running of the nation, locally such work would have included men in the forestry or farmers, though not farm workers as their tasks would later be carried out by women - the "Land Army".  The ranks of many LDV units were bolstered by World War One veterans of advancing years but still eager to fight for their country.

Their task was to spot an invasion attempt either on the coast or by parachutists.  Then they would:

• Observe & Inform: This meant supplying details to nearby regular army units;
• Obstruct: This would take the form of manning roadblocks to prevent enemy movement or simply removing spark plugs from vehicles;
• Patrol & Protect: The LDV would be required to guard strategic points;

The latter caused many arguments within the LDV, especially with the WWI veterans, many of whom wanted a more offensive role.  Rather than guarding key areas they wanted to take the fight to the invaders, though how effective they would have been is in doubt as most LDV units were not equipped with proper weapons, most of Britain's arms were left in France by the retreating BEF force, and had to make do with what they could get their hands on.  There are reports of LDV units armed with ancient muskets, pikes and home-made weapons, though these were probably more dangerous to the user.

It would not be until the end of 1941 that all units were in possession of rifles and ammunition and uniforms would take a while too, in the beginning the volunteers would be required to wear civilian clothes with a LDV armband. On 24th July 1940 Winston Churchill renamed the LDV, from that date they would forever be known as the "Home Guard".  It wasn't always easy going for the men of the Home Guard. Although they were volunteers not regular army, they were still expected to train, turn out for parades and exercises similar to the regular army but they were not expected to get paid.  The men had families and jobs to attend, especially at harvest time, and some men were even hauled up before the magistrates for failure to attend an exercise. As the war continued and the threat of invasion seemed to have passed, the ranks of the Home Guard were beginning to suffer from apathy.  More men were failing to attend exercise, more employers were not allowing their workers to attend as their workforce was already dwindling and there were fewer men joining anyway.  The Government though still saw a need for the Home Guard, after all the Germans could still launch a surprise attack anywhere in Britain, it didn't need to involve a full scale invasion.  So during February 1942 Churchill announced compulsory conscription into the Home Guard. It was at around this time that the Home Guard's role changed from observing and harassing the enemy to actually taking them on.  Units were now well equipped, there were no more improvised weapons for they had rifles, spigot mortars, grenades and some even had

machine guns.  They were given powers to help the Police and Fire Brigades, and could even request to check people's ID papers.  They also had powers to arrest people without needing a warrant, some even manned anti-aircraft batteries.

Spigot mortar

1940 Nominal Roll (Details taken from a group photograph on show at the Brandon Heritage Centre)

Brandon Home Guard - 1943 Summer Camp

2^nd Cambridgeshire and Suffolk Battalion Home Guard

The Brandon and Mildenhall companies attended the Summer Camp at Balsham.

On the first evening, Saturday, they attended preliminary training, this included the handling of a Lewis Gun and demonstrations by the Chippenham squad.

The second day was a more strenuous day.  The men were given field firing exercises and for some it was the first time they had used live ammunition.  This was followed by a mock battle.

Brandon Home Guard - 1945 & disbandment

  A rifle club was created by the Home Guard in Brandon and Lt. Smith was selected as Chairman and Lt. Cameron as Honorary Secretary.  Major F. Holmes donated a cup to the club for competition shooting.
  The Home Guard Social Committee held the first of their fortnightly whist drives in the Drill Hall in January.  Lt. Renault was the Master of Ceremonies.
  In August the following appeal was printed in the Bury Free Press from Colonel Garrett, Chairman of the Suffolk Territorial Army Association, to members of the Home guard.

Les Bond's Home Guard certificate

Recollections of the Brandon Home Guard:

"One of the things they had to do, ordered by the Government I suppose, was to obliterate the word ‘Brandon‘. The plaque on the Infants’ School was done with cement and then after the war they tried to chip out the cement. The one on the Market Hill, near the town clock, was just painted out. They removed all signs too." - Charlie Wharf

"Bert, my father would go off two or three times a week and most weekends.  When they first started they didn’t have a uniform, all they had was an armband.  Just like you’ve seen on Dad’s Army, they just had an armband and a broom handle or a pitchfork, or something similar.  Then they gradually got kitted out with a uniform." - Dick Norton

"They were very active. One day a week and maybe Sundays they would have a parade or exercise.  Most of the roads had concrete blocks halfway across the road and barbed-wire barriers that they could pull across. There were several roads where there were roadblocks and places where there were pillboxes. One was on the corner of Rattler’s Road. There were also blocks of concrete with spigot posts where you could position a mortar." - Harry Rumsey