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Home Guard Page 1

The 29th can look back with pride to the fact that their co-operation with their comrades in the Civil Defence services was complete, and that the assistance agreed upon in 1940, was adopted as the official policy in 1944. The members of the Battalion had made up their minds years before, that it was their duty to defend their homes from any kind of attack, whether from paratroops or bombs. Such a record was not achieved without sacrifice or casualties, some of which, unfortunately, were fatal. Fancy soldering was impossible. The Battalion was a hard-working, front-line, operational unit with a job of work to do, and it got on with it, although it meant that even during ‘normal’ the average man was on full night duty every sixth night, and the Officers and N.C.O’s. a good deal more. In 1943, when the Home Guard became responsible for the defence of the Country, Battalion H.Q. became Defence H.Q. for the Area, and had to issue orders to Regular Units and operate 24 hours a day. It placed a great responsibility on the Home Guard Duty Officers and the attached Regular Officers and N.C.O’s., but it as an experience that will never be forgotten or regretted. It will be better to let a member of another Battalion do summing up.

“The 29th were not able to win distinction in any one branch,” he said, “but they won something better – they gained a reputation of being an extremely able, tough, and efficient crowd, who could always be relied upon to have a crack at anything. They were a mixed lot; duke or dustman came all the same to them, but what always struck the visitor was the atmosphere of a ‘Happy Ship.’ It was obvious that they were more than a collection of companies. With them only one thing mattered – The battalion. “Good Luck to them all. They were all busy men in their civil jobs, but did a grand job of work for the Home Guard. Had I not been a member of my own Battalion there was only one I would wished to transfer to –the 29th (Gosport) Home Guard Battalion, Hampshire Regiment.”

An Appreciation From The Regular Army By Lt.-Col. J.H. Constable R.A.

As an old Regular Army officer of 30 years’ service, I feel it an honour to have been associated with the 29th (Gosport) Battalion Home Guard. For some time I was in charge of the Regular Army Establishment in Gosport, and for Defence purposes, was in command of a Sub-Sector. This Sub-Sector was, in conjunction with other Sub-Sectors, part of the Gosport sector, and consequently I had the pleasure of serving under a Home Guard Officer. May I say now, that at no time did it strike me as strange or out of place that I should take my orders from a non-professional soldier. I knew that the major burden of defence of this vital place depended on the Home Guard.

I knew also that the Home Guard had brought to bear on the problem that immensely valuable asset “local knowledge,” plus an amazing keenness. At all times I have been filled with admiration, not only for the work put in, work done willingly in addition to the normal day, but also for the military knowledge displayed. To anyone like myself who attended various conferences on Defence, one of the noticeable features was the grasp of military necessities, and the power of organisation to fit in the material at hand to the best advantage. How many Divisions has the Home Guard saved the Regular army? It is certainly not too much to say that without the Home Guard it would not have been possible to send such a large force abroad.

We of the Regular Army are citizens of the British Empire just as you are. We have always acted as an insurance against aggressors and have, perhaps in the past rather neglected our duties as citizens. The soldier has for several years now been taught that it is essential for him to learn how to be a good citizen when he leaves the Army, and I trust we will see the benefit of this in years to come.

The civilian has on his part learnt that he cannot leave defence entirely to a small Professional Army and so it has, I believe, at last been realised that, in addition to his civilian occupation, it is his duty to learn the art of bearing arms in emergencies to defend his country, and also that if we are to influence the world for good we must never again be weak. I believe that one of the greatest things we of our generation can do is to pass on the lessons to our children and grand-children. It has been has been proved, time after time in this War, that the British way of life is worth fighting for, that it would be a tragedy for the world, and not only for ourselves, if it was destroyed. We can surely, with a clear conscience, tell our children that we have struggled to maintain, and where necessary, improve, our national heritage, and have endeavoured by example of sacrifice to bring benefits to other nations. But we will also have to tell them that their duty is. As ours has been, to work, and if necessary fight, for these blessings and not only to sit back and grasp the opportunities others have made.