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Home Guard

Thanks, Viv.

Colonel J. C. Pigott M.C. (late of the Coldstream Guards), with his distinctive height and unusual forage cap, is easily identified in many of the official photographs of that time when distinguished visitors visited the city -including de Gaulle, Montgomery, King Haakon and many others. He was the local Home Guard's Group commander.

Lt.-Col. A. C. Baker (late of the Royal Air Force), was the local Battalion Commander - 31st Warwickshire (Birmingham) Battalion whose membership consisted entirely of Birmingham City Transport employees.

31st32ndWarks004.jpg

Major Bowater was likely to be the Company Commander of the men being inspected. He later took over command of the other BCT Battalion, the 32nd, and was promoted Lt.-Col.

31st32ndWarks005.jpg

The entire history of these two battalions, written in 1945, can be seen online.

Chris
 
Here is a little mystery, on which I should greatly appreciate some expert opinion.

This is a picture of a Home Guard Company, almost certainly the 24th Warwickshire (Birmingham) Battalion. This Battalion may have consisted entirely of works units and, in that case, would have spread over a wider area than a normal, local unit. I suspect that its area of responsibility was Sparkhill/parts of Moseley/ Sparkbrook. Within the unit, and in the picture, served a young apprentice toolmaker named George Belcher. He lived in Hillfield Road, Sparkhill. Where he was working is unknown – BSA perhaps?

v850001w1000.jpg

The question is, where was the photograph taken? There is a remarkable structure in the background, which looks like some sort of radio aerial and stretches for hundreds of yards. And also there is a large gun. Here are enlarged views of the background.

v850001LHbackground.jpg

v850001w1000RHBackground.jpg

The radio aerial(?) and mature trees in the background make you think of Droitwich. But having looked at a 1938 map of the area there seem to be wide open spaces (perhaps there still are?) in the area of the Spark Brook and the River Cole.

Here is a 1938 map of the area to show what I mean. (With many of the factories helpfully marked, it must have been of great use of the Luftwaffe as it planned its targets).

24thWarks009w1000.jpg

Thanks for any opinions.

Chris
 
A further thought.

Could this group have been photographed on the edge of a heavy anti-aircraft battery? In which case they could have been the team which manned it. But, again, where?

Chris
 
A further thought.

Could this group have been photographed on the edge of a heavy anti-aircraft battery? In which case they could have been the team which manned it. But, again, where?

Chris
Maybe they are simply hop wires?
 
Chris
I'm not very knowledgeable about these things, but could the thin g in the background be ground laying radar as shown diagrammatically below? (from "Defence of Worcestershire. in WW2") tghere it states that the 20th AA Warwickshire Regiment of the Home Guard used it at Frankley

GL2 RADAR.jpg
 
I've looked at images on BFA which correspond to the map and there are open spaces which match the map but none seem to match the view in the photo. Looking at the tall mature trees behind the gun suggests to me a more rural area. There seem to be buildings in the distance as shown on the image below. The unusal suggested radio aerial seems to be covered by a net and is maybe not an aerial.
Untitled2.jpg
 
Oddly several members of the photograph appear to be wearing sunglasses. If they are, anyone any idea why?
I doubt if they are civilian glasses but may have been issued for some reason.:cool:


NoddK-D,the curious.
 
A further thought.

Could this group have been photographed on the edge of a heavy anti-aircraft battery? In which case they could have been the team which manned it. But, again, where?

Chris
The gun is a Bofors, Chris.(Light Ack Ack).
I like mikegee's idea of a radar installation.
 
Thanks for all the thoughts. Useful indeed! The background COULD of course be anything at all, including horticultural, but I am now firmly of the conclusion that Mike has it right - MkII Ground Laying Radar.

It appears that many AA batteries had this ground laying radar set-up. It had been established that the best way to get accurate readings of aircraft direction and altitude was to ensure that the area surrounding the detection equipment was flat. To achieve that, huge (130 yard diameter) octagonal ground mats were created covering an area of about 15,000 square yards; these were 2" mesh (chicken wire), they consumed 230 rolls of material (each 4' x 50 yards) and 650 miles of wire and they were elevated some feet from the ground by means of poles. They took a team of 50 men about four weeks to construct. There was transmitting equipment on the edge of the mat and a receiver stuck right in the middle of it. You can just see one of the latter in the middle of the photograph background.

There were hundreds of these at anti-aircraft batteries around the country. The technology was superseded before the end of the war but existing set-ups were kept in operation. Whilst the move of some Home Guards in 1942/43 from normal infantry duties to the manning of AA batteries was usually to the newer "Z" rocket batteries, many men also manned more conventional batteries, including both heavy and light guns. I am pretty sure that this is one of them, operated at least in part by members of the 24th Warwickshire Home Guard.

The question remains, where? A Home Guard is unlikely to have had a battery on his doorstep but is certain to have been directed to one located not too far away. The men worked on a shift pattern, with a large number of men on the roll, and they would have been regularly moved to and from the battery by lorry from assembly points near to their home.

Looking at where AA sites were in Birmingham, three or four (commutable) possibilities come to mind: Swanshurst Park, Yardley Wood; Oaklands and Glebe Farm, both Yardley area; and just possibly Olton Hall. Would all of these have accommodated mature trees in the background at that time?

No opinion on sunglasses, except - has to be unlikely and much more probably the quirk of a not very good print!

Thanks again for the ongoing interest.

Chris

(Sources: Wikipedia, Royal Artillery website etc.)
 
Back to that group photograph of a Home Guard unit on an anti-aircraft battery site (and thanks again for the help given by members here).

A member of the unit was George Belcher (below), an apprentice toolmaker who lived in Hillfield Road, Sparkhill. I have some information about that young man from his family and elsewhere and have published it on a website page, here: http://www.staffshomeguard.co.uk/DotherReminiscences177A24thWarks.htm (It's safe to click on).

This information includes high definition images of dozens of George's comrades, from Moseley and adjacent areas, and these are of sufficient quality to identify some of the local men who served.

Chris

24thWarksBelcher.jpg
 
Without asking anyone to spend too much time on this, I'm wondering if any of our wonderful family history experts could tell me whether there is any obvious family connection between this George Belcher (b.1923) who was living in 1939 at 76 Hillfield Road, Sparkhill and Thomas Belcher of 75 Lichfield Road, Aston who received injuries (from which he died on 7 November 1940) whilst on Home Guard duty in the city centre. The record of the latter's death seems to show no immediate family members, such as parents.

Thanks for any information.

Chris

Birmingham-Deathw300.jpg
 
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