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Home Guard
paul mercer


Joined: 04 Jul 2006
Posts: 37
Location: Tavistock, Devon
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Gentlemen,
We have all read that at the beginning of WW2 Britain had its 'back against the wall' and the Home Guard was formed as a 'last ditch' defence force.
My question is this, until supplies of Lee Enfields were available some Home Guard outfits were going around with any sort of weapon, knives on broomhandles etc. As supplies of MH's are still plentiful so presumably were around in 1939 (discounting those just found in India) and MH ammunition was still being manufactured (up to the 1950's I believe) why were they not issused to the Home Guard? I would rather face a German paratrooper with a MH than with a carving knife on a stick!
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Kiwi Sapper


Joined: 05 Mar 2009
Posts: 125
Location: Middle Earth & Home of Narnia; (Auckland, New Zealand)
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The call for volunteers for the Local Defence Volunteers, as it was then called, went out on the 14 th May 1940. I am sure there is no need to remind members that during the month of May, the British Army was in full exit mode from France and loosing most of their equipment in the process.

I also have doubts as to the numbers of MH in storage and doubt that there were substantial stocks, I do believe most with have been converted to Martini Enfield 303 as mine was in 1895. It is my observation that the Brit's were very frugal with their arsenal and would never throw anything away. I believe that the obsolete MH's would have been shipped off to the colonies,(whcih is why we have such a good stock of them)

IF there were substantial stocks, I imagine that the War Office's first call was to re-equip it's soldiers for combat on it's home soil and as a fall back reserve, they would not willingly hand out any useful firearm to an untrained volunteer army until the Service's needs had been fully met. After all, it would be the regular forces which would confront Nazi invaders if they arrived at that moment, not the LDV's.

By the time the regular forces needs had been met, there were stocks of what was to have replaced the SMLE #1, the P 14 arriving in the country from the Good ol US of A. These were subsequently handed on to the then renamed Home Guard along with the Canadian Ross rifle. (The Ross was much despised by Canadian troops and swapped whenever possible for a "Smellie".) As both of these rifles were superior to the MH to issue MH's would have been a retrograde step and as time moved on, the HG became better equipped in all areas and took on the role of a Homeland Defender,

Here in Middle Earth, (New Zealand) we did not have access to an ongoing supply of rifles and MH's converted to ME were used by HG, along with their replacement, the Magazine Lee Enfield and later the "Smellie"

So concludes my boring little anecdote

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Home Guard
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