We Remember the Home Guard - Hardcover

"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)

'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.