Home Guard collectors ?

[frank m]

Home Guard

Glenn,

Why on earth would you want to start collecting Home Guard???

Why not ? Nothing wrong with it , maybe not so "popularly"as other items but interesting.

Greetings Frank

[robs]

This home front item arrived today for me; it's a Fougasse lithograph and I love it!

One of the series of eight posters published by the Ministry of Information under the title of ' Careless Talk '. Designed by Punch cartoonist ' Fougasse ' the pseudonym of Cyril Kenneth Bird.

It was from Roger at homefrontcollection.com

[robs]

I couldn't help myself....

[Etienne B.]

Found this at a dealers site.....maybe of interest

http://www.csmilitaria.co.uk/viewpho...ph=5363&phqu=7

regards,

Etienne

[nibelung1876]

Home Guard collectors ?

Verry nice guys.
If You got more items to show...please do so !!!

Grt, Glenn.

[robs]

House of Parliament souvenir items from rubble...

[KLMKsunbunny]

Totenhead:

Members of the Home Guard were just as brave and patriotic as those serving in front line service. Quite a few members of the Home Guard had been decorated for bravery in WW I.

Lieutenant William George Foster, 7th Wiltshire Battalion (Home Guard) was awarded the George Cross (gazetted 27 November 1942).

Interestingly, this story appeared in my local paper today:



WILLIAM Henry Johnson was awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery in the field after charging a German machine gun post single-handedly at Ramicourt in October 1918.

His platoon was held up by machine guns at very close range but Sergeant Johnson charged the post under heavy fire, bayonetted several gunners and captured two machine guns.

During the attack, he was wounded by a bomb but continued to lead his men.

The platoon was held up by another machine gun post but Sergeant Johnson again attacked single-handed, bombed the garrison and captured the Germans.

Before enlisting, Johnson was a miner in Manton, near Worksop, and when he moved to Arnold, he joined the ex-servicemen's club. He was also a bellringer at St Paul's Church, in Daybrook.

During the Second World War, he joined the Local Defence Volunteers and the Home Guard.


Good luck with your collecting..!

[Beersheba4thLH]

Interestingly, this story appeared in my local paper today:



WILLIAM Henry Johnson was awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery in the field after charging a German machine gun post single-handedly at Ramicourt in October 1918.

His platoon was held up by machine guns at very close range but Sergeant Johnson charged the post under heavy fire, bayonetted several gunners and captured two machine guns.

During the attack, he was wounded by a bomb but continued to lead his men.

The platoon was held up by another machine gun post but Sergeant Johnson again attacked single-handed, bombed the garrison and captured the Germans.

Before enlisting, Johnson was a miner in Manton, near Worksop, and when he moved to Arnold, he joined the ex-servicemen's club. He was also a bellringer at St Paul's Church, in Daybrook.

During the Second World War, he joined the Local Defence Volunteers and the Home Guard.


Good luck with your collecting..!

http://www.nottinghampost.com/COURAG...ail/story.html

[KLMKsunbunny]

Thanks for that, I couldn't add the photo or link from my phone...!

[PaulW]

Hi all, just adding to this thread. I picked this BD blouse up a little while ago, it came as part of a large auction lot and is named with quite a bit of history thanks to other collectors who were willing to share information.

There is quite a bit of information and many more pictures on this thread if you're interested:-

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=764813

Thanks to the contributors to this thread I acquired the books recommended (and more) and have found the history of the Home Guard quite fascinating. What I found interesting is the dedication and patriotic enthusiasm of the volunteers who really had no way of knowing (as we do now, with the benefit of hindsight), whether there would be an invasion or not in 1940. Those volunteers didn't know how the war in Russia was going to go even as late as Stalingrad (the ordinary people that is, not our military leaders), and whether Hitler would turn his forces on the UK again if he defeated Stalin. They must have known that they'd be virtually wiped out in the event of a serious invasion attempt had Hitler achieved the necessary military superiority to do so. Although we know now that Hitler had probably only the slimmest of chances for an invasion attempt in 1940 (and he possibly didn't even want to invade), the Home Guard volunteers couldn't possibly have known that at the time.

I looked into my local Home Guard and found that it was led by a VC winner at one point, and another officer served under Lawrence of Arabia. Some of them worked gruelling shifts day after day, often doing Home Guard duty at night, assisting the ARP during/ after bombing raids and getting zero sleep before going back on shift. Good bunch of guys who raised the morale of the civilian population.

Regards, Paul

[PaulW]

Home Guard Captain, 10th Norfolk battalion.

Some more pictures on this thread:-

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=758304

[PaulW]

2

The flashes were typically horizontal for Norfolk battalions.

[PaulW]

Since buying the jacket I've added an officers Field Service cap with a Bronze officer's type cap badge.

[PaulW]

4

Officer quality bronzed buttons and FS cap interior.

[PaulW]

A 1940 dated (1903 pattern) belt. I've more often seen officers wearing the 37 pattern web belt, but I have seen officers in wartime photos wearing this type of belt, more usually associated with other ranks.

The jacket is the "1940 pattern", 'Austerity' type, with exposed buttons that was first issued in 1942 as I understand it. This particular jacket appears to have been accepted by the Army (from the manufacturers) in February 1943. After looking at quite a few HG pictures I've come to the conclusion that this type of jacket is over-represented among officers. I can only assume that they 'pulled rank' when these jackets were first issued and got themselves a smart new BD outfit!