Senate Member
Posts: 6,009 
April 16th, 2007, 02:15 PM
We all know about the Home Guard - affectionately known as the "Dad's Army" - an army of almost two MILLION civilian soldiers, many of them too old to join the regular army, ready to defend Britain at home. In the event of a German invasion of Britain, they were to fight, as best they could, the Germans.
But what did the women do?
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Mums with guns were ready for the Nazis
By Ben Fenton
16/04/2007
Photograph of Goodyear Home Guard Gun Crew, c.1943
Two million defend Britain from possible German invasion: As early as 1939, following the torpedoing of HMS Royal Oak at anchor in Scapa Flow, Scotland, Winston Churchill wrote a letter to his Chiefs of Staff asking, "What would happen if 20,000 enemy troops were to land on the east coast of England?"
The announcement of the subsequent creation of the Home Guard to defend Britain as best as possible in the event of a German invasion met with near-universal enthusiasm and over a quarter of a million men tried to sign up within the next 24 hours. The government had expected 150,000 men to volunteer in total, but by the end of the first month 750,000 men had volunteered. By the end of June 1940, there were nearly 1.5 million volunteers and the number never fell below a million for the rest of the organisation's existence although the peak was 1.8 million in March 1943.
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Not just Dad's Army, but Mum's Marauders too.
The Home Guard was a very different organisation from the bumbling and badly-led eccentrics of the Walmington-on-Sea unit (as depicted in the 1970s BBC comedy show "Dad's Army"), one in which women played a surprisingly large part, according to a new study.
Women were so prominent in protecting Britain's shores against imminent invasion that they were required to sign papers showing they understood that they could be shot as guerrillas if the Germans captured them.
After 1940, no woman was allowed to wear uniform but, especially on the south coast, where the Germans were expected to arrive, they demanded to be allowed to bear arms against the invader.
Prof Penny Summerfield, joint author of a new book, has discovered that some were required to sign indemnity forms.
"They had to make it clear that they understood that the Germans, if they captured armed defenders not in uniform, were entitled to shoot them.
"They either had to sign the paper or resign from the Home Guard," Prof Summerfield of Manchester University, said. "I don't think a single one resigned."
The female contribution has been seriously underplayed by the few previous histories of the Home Guard, but the new book shows how women played a vital support role after being denied their own armed organisation.
The Home Guard was formed to be an active defence unit rather than a guerrilla force, although some elements under the Communist Tom Wintringham, who learned his military skills fighting Franco's troops in the Spanish Civil War, tried to reverse that process.
He intended the Home Guard to be a potential resistance like the French Maquis, which, if a collaborationist government in London gave in to the Nazis, would lead the struggle against the traitors. Meanwhile, Edith Summerskill, a Labour MP, founded the Women's Home Defence organisation, with no permission from Government.
"They armed themselves, either by asking for weapons from existing Home Guard units or, where there weren't enough, from the police," Prof Summerfield said.
"And Home Guard commanding officers did allow women in despite War Office instructions telling them not to."
Eventually, in 1943, the War Office relented, allowing women to join the Home Guard, but only to drive, cook or type.
This did not please many of them and all over the country women were surreptitiously taught how to shoot and took far more prominent roles.
telegraph.co.uk
We all know about the Home Guard - affectionately known as the "Dad's Army" - an army of almost two MILLION civilian soldiers, many of them too old to join the regular army, ready to defend Britain at home. In the event of a German invasion of Britain, they were to fight, as best they could, the Germans.
But what did the women do?
----------------------------------------------------
Mums with guns were ready for the Nazis
By Ben Fenton
16/04/2007
Photograph of Goodyear Home Guard Gun Crew, c.1943
Two million defend Britain from possible German invasion: As early as 1939, following the torpedoing of HMS Royal Oak at anchor in Scapa Flow, Scotland, Winston Churchill wrote a letter to his Chiefs of Staff asking, "What would happen if 20,000 enemy troops were to land on the east coast of England?"
The announcement of the subsequent creation of the Home Guard to defend Britain as best as possible in the event of a German invasion met with near-universal enthusiasm and over a quarter of a million men tried to sign up within the next 24 hours. The government had expected 150,000 men to volunteer in total, but by the end of the first month 750,000 men had volunteered. By the end of June 1940, there were nearly 1.5 million volunteers and the number never fell below a million for the rest of the organisation's existence although the peak was 1.8 million in March 1943.
***************************************
Not just Dad's Army, but Mum's Marauders too.
The Home Guard was a very different organisation from the bumbling and badly-led eccentrics of the Walmington-on-Sea unit (as depicted in the 1970s BBC comedy show "Dad's Army"), one in which women played a surprisingly large part, according to a new study.
Women were so prominent in protecting Britain's shores against imminent invasion that they were required to sign papers showing they understood that they could be shot as guerrillas if the Germans captured them.
After 1940, no woman was allowed to wear uniform but, especially on the south coast, where the Germans were expected to arrive, they demanded to be allowed to bear arms against the invader.
Prof Penny Summerfield, joint author of a new book, has discovered that some were required to sign indemnity forms.
"They had to make it clear that they understood that the Germans, if they captured armed defenders not in uniform, were entitled to shoot them.
"They either had to sign the paper or resign from the Home Guard," Prof Summerfield of Manchester University, said. "I don't think a single one resigned."
The female contribution has been seriously underplayed by the few previous histories of the Home Guard, but the new book shows how women played a vital support role after being denied their own armed organisation.
The Home Guard was formed to be an active defence unit rather than a guerrilla force, although some elements under the Communist Tom Wintringham, who learned his military skills fighting Franco's troops in the Spanish Civil War, tried to reverse that process.
He intended the Home Guard to be a potential resistance like the French Maquis, which, if a collaborationist government in London gave in to the Nazis, would lead the struggle against the traitors. Meanwhile, Edith Summerskill, a Labour MP, founded the Women's Home Defence organisation, with no permission from Government.
"They armed themselves, either by asking for weapons from existing Home Guard units or, where there weren't enough, from the police," Prof Summerfield said.
"And Home Guard commanding officers did allow women in despite War Office instructions telling them not to."
Eventually, in 1943, the War Office relented, allowing women to join the Home Guard, but only to drive, cook or type.
This did not please many of them and all over the country women were surreptitiously taught how to shoot and took far more prominent roles.
telegraph.co.uk
