We Remember the Home Guard

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Entertaining memories from the courageous men of the Home Guard, Britain's real life Dad's Army, with a foreword by Ian Lavender '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

Author Bio

Frank and Joan Shaw live in Hinckley, Leicestershire. They have four children and nine grandchildren. They were born and raised in Deal, Kent and this is where they spent the war. The idea of the We Remember series came when their granddaughter asked them about the Second World War for a school project. Frank and Joan decided more memories needed to be committed to paper, and they wrote to 700 local newspapers throughout the country asking just that. They were flooded with letters, which they then self-published as five hardback books, raising over e100,000 for the Royal British Legion. Ebury Press are excited to be republishing the series over 20 years later, starting with We Remember the Home Guard, with all royalties also going to the Legion.