Users' questions

What weapons did the Home Guard use?

What weapons did the Home Guard use?

The Home Guard had . 303 rifles, that was the standard equipment for everybody. They had the Sten guns, which was the small automatic weapons. They had what we called the cup discharger.

How much are ww2 badges worth?

Nowadays, Second World War stars can fetch as little as £5 to £10 because these medals are not named and it is difficult to link them to the recipient.

What medals were awarded to the Home Guard?

Members of the Home Guard resident in the UK, who had completed at least three years service. Recipients of the George Cross or George Medal, regardless of their occupation, provided the George Cross or George Medal was won for service in civil defence.

What did the Home Guard do during ww2?

The Home Guard was originally formed as the Local Defence Volunteers in 1940 and was responsible for guarding coastal areas and factories from invasion. It was disbanded in 1945. Most Home Guard records are still with the Ministry of Defence.

Did Home Guard ever fight?

Active military combat They are credited with shooting down numerous Luftwaffe aircraft and the V-1 flying bombs that followed them in the summer of 1944. The Home Guard’s first official kill was shot down on Tyneside in 1943. The Home Guard in Northern Ireland also took part in gun battles with the IRA.

How big was the Home Guard army?

1.7 million men
The Home Guard was at first a rag-tag militia, with scarce and often make-do uniforms and weaponry. Yet it evolved into a well-equipped and well-trained army of 1.7 million men.

How much is a VC medal worth?

A collection of medals from a soldier who won a Victoria Cross (VC) in 1891 has sold at auction for £420,000. Charles Grant, who retired to Devon, received the VC while a lieutenant during the Anglo-Manipur War.

How can I get my father’s ww2 medals?

You can purchase replicas or original named medals from a specialist medal company, or reputable medal dealer. You should write to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) Medal Office if you want to claim medals from WWII onwards.

What was the average age of the Home Guard?

Far from being the aged pensioners of Dad’s Army myth, most of the Home Guard were men in reserved occupations or teenagers awaiting call-up, with an average age of around 35 years. Even considering the youthful average age of the Home Guard, up to 40 per cent of the men had served in the First World War.

How many Home Guard died?

1,206 men
Over the course of the war 1,206 men of the Home Guard were killed on duty or died of wounds.

How big was the Home Guard in World War 2?

Over the course of the war, the Home Guard would gradually become a better equipped and better-trained army of 1.7 million men. The image of the Home Guard is commonly linked to the British TV show Dad’s Army.

Where did the Home Guard get their weapons?

Within a few months, the Home Guard had been provided with 20,000 weapons from the public. A company of Local Defence Volunteers (LDV) learning rifle drill at Buckhurst Hill, Essex, 1 July 1940. Eventually, the shortage of weapons was overcome by imports from America and Canada.

What was the name of the British Home Guard?

Britain’s Home Guard even had its own armoured vehicle… sort of. The Beaverette was first manufactured in late 1940 by the Standard Motor Co. on orders of the Minister of Aircraft Production, William Maxwell Aitken, formally known as Lord Beaverbrook (hence the machine’s name).

Are there any badges that are still in use?

The original Military Aviator Badge design can be seen in pictures of him in uniform. The following is a listing of obsolete U.S. military badges and insignia organized by branch of service. In 1915, the expert version of the badge was replaced with a new design, which lives on in today’s U.S. Marine Corps Expert Pistol Badge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5caniTkENU