We Remember the Home Guard

Nov 30, 2024 2:27 AM

Author:Frank Shaw,Joan Shaw

'I remember standing on top of our local glen with a block of wood, expecting thousands of Germans coming down from the sky. What was I going to do with the block of wood? I never knew.' Leonard Jackson

On 22 June 1940 France surrendered to Germany and the invasion of Britain seemed a very real possibility.

The Home Guard was formed to defend our villages and towns. Members came from reserved occupations, those who had failed their medicals, the elderly and the young, with miners and farmers training alongside former majors. Their weapons and ammunition were negligible at first, but slowly these amateur soldiers began to produce professional results.

In this unique book of reminiscenses about life on the home front, we see these men as they practise with pitchforks and fall into ditches after a pint or two of ale on the job. But we also see them learning how to fire grenades after a day studying engineering and undertaking night watches after exhausting factory shifts - knowing they could be the last stop between the enemy and their families and homes.

Reviews

Endearing, inspiring and sometimes amazing stories from men in their teens to their seventies

—— Ian Lavender, from the Foreword

Of all the books I have read this year, these are the most moving and memorable; more "people" stories than war stories, in countless voices and moods, of a richness and strength which makes fiction seem meagre

—— Shaun Usher , Daily Mail

A wonderful tribute to the Home Guard

—— Sir Harry Seacombe

Possibly the most important book to appear in years both on the origins of the First World War ... Ferguson can confidently claim to have inherited A. J. P. Taylor's mantle

—— Paul Kennedy , New York Review of Books

At one massive stroke, Niall Ferguson has transformed the intellectual landscape

—— Economist

Caddick-Adams is a pre-eminent military historian ... an extremely readable book that gives a balanced and honest view of the two men. Well worth a read - probably one to put on your summer holiday reading list or your Christmas present list.

—— AARSE – British Army Forum

A new study by Peter Caddick-Adams ... succeeds in contextualising these two commanders and in analysing the contributions each made to the art of military leadership. The use of the comparative method enables us to see not only how different these two men were, but also how difficult it remains to define what successful military leadership is all about

—— The Tablet

Very entertaining and stylistic writer

—— James Holland, History Today

Monty and Rommel: Parallel Lives, is an utterly absorbing and entertaining book devoted to two of the most charismatic and strategically important military leaders of the Second World War .... It is certainly a must for anyone with a modicum of interest in the military and contemporary history

—— The Networker

A first-class work of scholarly and entertaining history

—— Andrew Roberts

A wonderful mine of information for fans of either general ... [Caddick-Adams] is a military historian of great industry who shows an impressive grasp of his materials ... The author's central purpose is achieved with impressive and cumulative success as his book progresses

—— New Republic

This biography is one of a kind … tactical talents, personalities and military careers are rivetingly compared and evaluated

—— Express

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