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Home Guard

Di.Poppitt

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
This is a letter to my father in law on his commission into the Home Guard. We have his Sam Brown, Gun Holster and I think his stick. His orders were to guard Salford Bridge. He worked at MB Wild in Nechells and his platoon were his co workers.
 
Di, Lovely to see you have kept and treasured your fathers things, so many people just throw them away or sell them, not realizing that the up and coming generation of family would love something like that.
The Sam Brown was suppose to have been invented my a British chap who lost his arm in the Indian Mutiny about 1857 so he could draw his sword easily, but that has been disputed by a few people who are still arguing about it today.
I bet nearly everyone has some little treasure tucked away from the past and think that it is insignificant or of no interest like a ration or rent book or a piece of trench art.
I hope now that it makes people who see this go and have a good mooch (rummage or look) to see what they can find and maybe post it on the site like you have done.
And may I add Home Guard material is getting quite rare and fetching a few bob as people now see its worth
 
We could never part with Pop's things Cromwell, he was so proud to have been able to serve in the Home Guard. We also have the 'little book' mentioned in the letter. It is called 'Customs of the Service' War Edition. We also have Pop's Home Guard badges, with MB Wild on them. :)
 
This picture is of the despatch riders of the Piers Rd ARP Depot, Handsworth In October 1940
 
The Duke of Gloucester taking the salute of the Home Guard, Birmingham 1940
 
evening
we have a story in our family that my great grandad died after being gased somehow he died in 1923 so could this be an after effect and is there anyway of finding out if he was in the homeguard

thank you for any help
 
Hello Parker, the Home Guard were formed in WW2. Perhaps your granddad was gassed in WW1, and died of the after effects. If you post his name in the names section perhaps Cromwell will be able to help you.

Good luck. :)
 
Parker, As I told you at the start most of what you want to know is available at the Central Library in Birmingham so go along and you will be amazed at what you can find out, you can even search the papers to find out why your G.G was gassed. then with the additional info we can help you more. its easy.give it a try
 
to save opening another topic, can anyone tell me if there are any records of home guards birmingham on line,
my father worked on ammunition at the bsa, as he was not called up he joined the home guards, would love to find any info on brum h/guards
 
Home Guard memories

Di....

Interesting reminiscence about your father-in-law and thank you for it. The staffshomeguard website, which contains information on some Birmingham units, is always interested in hearing details of individual West Midlands Home Guards before memory of them is totally lost. If you would like a brief note of his service included in order to commemorate him, contact the site's webmaster at www.staffshomeguard.co.uk


Jake...

Finding details of individual members of the Home Guard isn't easy. There's a summary of the best possibilities in a posting in the staffshomeguard Guestbook in reply to someone who raised a similar question. Use this link to read it: https://www.staffshomeguard.co.uk/cgi-bin/guestbook/guestbook.cgi


Chris
 
Thank you ChrisM, I will contact the staffshomeguard website. It will be lovely to be able to commemorate my father in law.:)
 
Thanks for that, billc.

Di - the webmaster looks forward to hearing from you. (In case you have already tried to make contact there has been a recent problem in the site's Feedback system with messages being lost but this was resolved a.m. 18th June).

The snippets of information about Birmingham HG units are to be found in the Warwickshire section of the site - https://www.staffshomeguard.co.uk/DotherReminiscencesWarkssstaffshg.htm

Chris
 
I was looking thought some old photo's and found this photo of my grandfather Edmund Watson (bottom right) with the Perry Common A.R.P's
 
Perry Common ARP

Great picture, luckeybrum amd thanks for posting it.

A lot of interest in it. Look at the disparity of dress including headgear (there appears to be a 'Digger' amongst them on the extreme left or is it merely a tin hat at a rakish angle?); one man, in civvies, has an 'M' on his helmet rather than the universal 'W'; the Chief Warden with his distinctive white tin hat. Women as well as men. Look at the number of men sporting Great War ribbons. Are some of them carrying gas masks or are they first aid packs? The windows behind have had a thorough job done on them with anti-blast tape.

I hope someone on this forum can add names and perhaps location.

(Gentle reminder to Di.Poppit while I'm here - your father-in-law and the Home Guard....?!)

Chris
 
:) OK Chris, I will go back, I did have a problem with the site, and somehow missed your post here.
 
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