Today I want to continue my series on the Home Guard. I want to look at the amazing response to the government's call for volunteers in 1940. In Part One, we talked about the fear of an invasion that many in Britain had after the fall of France. I want to focus on the men who stepped up and the many women who supported them.
They often had very little military experience, but they were determined to play their part in defending their country, even if they could not serve abroad.
By the spring of 1940, Germany had achieved an incredible series of victories across Europe at a very fast speed. Many people were understandably worried that an invasion of Britain might be next. Newspapers had worrying reports from the continent, while rumours of German paratroopers and spies spread. Families listened to radio broadcasts, wondering what might happen in the coming months.
On the 14th of May 1940, the government announced that is was creating the Local Defence Volunteers, which was usually known as the LDV. The aim was a simple one. It wanted to recruit men who were too old or too young for regular military service or employed in vital civilian occupations to volunteer to help defend their local areas. That evening, the Secretary of State for War, Anthony Eden, made a radio appeal asking men to come forward.
The response was extraordinary. Within only hours, police stations were crowded with men eager to enrol. Long queues started to form outside of recruitment centres all across the country. Some men who had served in the First World War felt a duty to protect Britain again. Others who had never worn a uniform before felt they could not just stand by while the country was preparing for a possible invasion.
Around 250,000 men volunteered within the first week, and the numbers eventually rose to over 1.5 million.
The volunteers came from all walks of life. Farmers, shopkeepers, teachers, railway workers, clerks and labourers all stood side by side waiting to sign up. Many of these men were fathers, even grandfathers all of whom were worried about the future of their families. Some were disappointed that their age or occupation had prevented them from joining the regular armed forces, so the LDV offered them another way to contribute.
Unfortunately the enthusiasm quickly created problems. So many men volunteered that there were not enough uniforms, weapons or equipment to go around. In the early weeks, many volunteers attended drills wearing their ordinary clothes and armbands marked "LDV." Some units had very little more than walking sticks, sporting shotguns or old hunting rifles. But in spite of this the training started almost immediately. Men met after work in village halls, school playgrounds and fields to learn basic military skills.
Although the situation sometimes appeared to be completely chaotic, the volunteers took their responsibilities seriously. Many of them spent long hours patrolling roads, watching for suspicious activity and preparing defensive positions. They knew that if an invasion came, they might be among the first line of resistance. The possibility was frightening, but many believed that doing something was better than just waiting for the Germans to make a move.
As the months began to pass, the LDV became more organised and it eventually adopted the name by which it is best remembered today: the Home Guard. What had started as a response to what seemed a national emergency was becoming an important part of Britain's defensive preparations.
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