Wolverhampton and World War II

The Home Guard

In May 1940 the government asked for volunteers to form a force to help defend Britain against the increasing risk of an invasion. The force would be known as the Local Defence Volunteers. Within days over 250,000 volunteers had come forward nationally.

The roles of the LDV were:

• Observation and information
• Prevention of movement by the enemy (blocking roads   and stopping enemy use of vehicles, etc.)
• Guarding vulnerable locations and patrolling local areas.

In Wolverhampton over 1,700 volunteers registered in the first week. The force was put under the local command of Colonel WJ Beddows.

Extract from Express and Star, 22nd May 1940

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22nd Battalion, Wolverhampton Company South Staffs, Home Guard, 1945 (Y9/TWE/1)

Local companies including Boulton Paul, Goodyear Tyre & Rubber Company and John Thompson Engineering formed other LDV units. The 34th Company was responsible for the Bilston area: it had several bases including the factories of Joseph Sankey and Stewart's and Lloyds, two of the area's largest industrial firms.

At the same time aTettenhall group was also formed to cover the areas of the Tettenhall Police District: Seisdon, Orton, Penn, Tettenhall Wood, Wednesfield, Willenhall, Kingswood, Codsall, Oaken and Brewood.

Extract From Express and Star, 2nd July 1940

Initially the LDV's role was observation as they were not trained to fight. They were armed with only their own weapons : shotguns, sporting rifles and pistols of different sizes, even sticks. Patrols were carried out on foot or by bicycle. No uniforms were supplied - the volunteers wore an armband marked LDV.

In June 1940, the Commanding Officer of the Tettenhall LDV force, Captain Parkes, went to Walsall and collected a number of cases containing 850 rifles for the Wolverhampton, Brewood and Tettenhall groups. The rifles, from the United States, dated from the First World War and had been packed in grease for the last 21 years. According to The Record of the 24th Staffs. (Tettenhall) Battalion Home Guard (page 39), the grease was solid and it took ten days to get the rifles serviceable!

On 23rd July 1940 the LDV changed its name to the Home Guard. Official military training was introduced. A handbook, Rifle Training for War, was rushed into print. It went through five editions in a month.

Extract from Express and Star, 23rd July 1940

As well as defending its own area the Tettenhall troop provided a guard one night a week for several months to relieve members of Boulton Paul's own Home Guard company.

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Boulton Paul Home Guard, c.1943 (Y9/DOW/1)

As the war progressed, with still no invasion, there was time to improve the training and the weapons of the Home Guard. By 1943 it had become a well-armed and properly trained force, quite capable of holding its own against an enemy.

Some weapons - such as the Nuttall Flame Thrower - were not strictly standard military issue!

The Nuttall Flame Thrower, The Record of the 24th Staffs. (Tettenhall) Battalion Home Guard (page 95)

The Nuttall Flame Thrower vehicle (named after its designer) consisted of a forty-five gallon drum fitted to an Austin 7 car chassis towed behind a vehicle. The weapon was capable of throwing a flame seventy-five feet for three minutes!

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Goodyear Home Guard Gun Crew, c.1943 (Y9/GOO/1)

As Allied Forces began to have successes in Europe the risk of an invasion of Britain was significantly reduced. Consequently the Home Guard was "stood down" on 3rd December 1944.

Extract from Express and Star, 1st December 1944