The Home Guard (initially Local Defence Volunteers) was an armed citizen militia supporting the army during WW2.
Operational from 1940 to 1944, the Home Guard had 1.5 million local volunteers otherwise ineligible for military service, such as those who were too young or too old to join the regular armed forced (regular military service was restricted to those aged 18 to 41) and those in special reserved occupations. Excluding those already in the armed services, the civilian police or civil defence, approximately one in five men were volunteers and all ready as a back-up force in the event of an invasion by Nazi Germany.
The Home Guard were to try to slow down the advance of the enemy even by a few hours to give the regular troops time to regroup. They were also to defend key communication points and factories in rear areas against possible capture by paratroops. A key purpose was to maintain control of the civilian population in the event of an invasion, to forestall panic and to prevent communication routes from being blocked by refugees to free the regular forces to fight the Germans. The Home Guard continued to man roadblocks and guard the coastal areas of the United Kingdom and other important places such as airfields, factories and explosives stores until late 1944, when they were stood down. They were finally disbanded on 31 December 1945, eight months after Germany’s surrender.
Men aged 17 to 65 years could join, although the age limits were not strictly enforced. One platoon had a fourteen year old and three men in their eighties enrolled in it. Service was unpaid but gave a chance for older or inexperienced soldiers to support the war effort.
As such it seems possibly not the most likely theme to make a hit comedy show just a few decades after the war but it gave us one of the most loved British comedy shows ever in the shape of Dad’s Army.
I wrote about Dad’s Army a surprisingly long time ago in Don’t Panic! Don’t Panic! New Dad’s Army film but are remakes worth the risk? and wasn’t planning to resist it until a few days ago with the sad death of its last surviving main cast member, Ian Lavender.
One can’t go that many days in Britain without coming across Dad’s Army and one particular joke out of the thousands of great ones in the show. People still go round calling others “You stupid boy”! and I myself when out and about in London and come up with an improvised and often unexplored tour route seconds before meeting someone say to myself “Do you think that’s wise Sir”? which as anyone who has seen Dad’s Army will know the answer is generally not at all in any way.
Despite living to the rather decent age of 77 and being actively working to his last years, Ian Lavender will always be remembered for playing Pike in Dad’s Army and for one scene in particular which may well be the most celebrated funny line on television. One that the actor tried so hard not to ruin by laughing that he bit the inside of his cheek so hard that it bled.
The set-up to this great gag is that the Home Guard has captured a U-Boat crew and Captain Mainwaring doesn’t see eye to eye with the U-Boat captain leading to his name being put on the list which doesn’t sound very good at all when Nazis are involved.
Mention should be made of actor Philip Madoc who despite a very full and long career never tired of people wanting to talk about this scene and his role as the U-Boat captain. In fact decades after the show originally aired, Philip was on an adventure holiday crossing Mongolia and upon meeting a stranger in the middle of nowhere was simply asked if he was indeed the legendary U-Boat Captain with his list.
(For a historic strangers in the desert post try https://stephenliddell.co.uk/2016/08/27/alexander-kinglake-the-tale-of-a-very-english-shyness/
Thank-you for all the great laughs including several this week on the news reports.
Stephen Liddell 