STAFFS HOME GUARD WEBSITE - GENERAL INFORMATION ON THE HOME GUARD
HOME GUARD REENACTMENT GROUPS
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This
is a page of the
GENERAL INFORMATION ON THE HOME GUARD
section of www.staffshomeguard.co.uk.
Please go to Site
Map for complete site contents.
 Within the U.K. reenactment scene there are a number of groups in different parts of the country who specialise in recreating the activities of the Home Guard of 1940-1944. These groups pride themselves in reproducing, as authentically as they can, all aspects of that service, including uniform, equipment and activities. They are often to be seen by the general public at such events as 1940s weekends. Their aim - like that of this website - is to commemorate the contribution made by the original Home Guards who served their country with devotion, energy and skill for four-and-a-half long years.
These 21st century Home Guard units welcome any potential new member who has an interest in joining them in their hobby. Details of some of them are listed below including an introductory comment from each.
GLAMORGAN - LEICESTERSHIRE - YORKSHIRE - .....and OTHERS
GLAMORGAN, Bridgend, mid-Glamorgan
The Glamorgan Home Guard was formed at the end of 2007 and consists of some experienced re-enactors and some people new to the hobby.
We try to recreate all aspects of the Home Guard and try to stay within the early years 1940/41.
We meet  at the 1940 Swansea Bay Museum for regular training events and also travel further afield to events around the country. In addition to the contact details below you can get in touch with us via the Museum.
We also have a strong link with 'a Very Special Regiment', the Lovat Scout Group. We also have a member who is associated with 'UK Home Front', the premier 1940 Civilian Living History Group.
Membership is open to anyone who has a genuine interest in the British Home Front during WW2. Apart from a Home Guard section, we also have Navy, RAF and civilian members.
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LEICESTERSHIRE
 As the Home Guard and its veterans now pass into history, Leicestershire Home Guard Remembrance is a living history group that
aims, through displays and presentations, to act as a reminder and
tribute to the sacrifices the wartime generation made so that we can
live in freedom today.
Nowadays, the Home Guard has become synonymous with Dad's Army and is
rarely mentioned without reference to its satirical offspring. The
much-loved, classic BBC sitcom has become as much part of British
folklore as the organisation it mimicked. And not without reason. Many
Home Guard veterans recall similar amusing anecdotes and characters. But
the comparison ends there. Had the Nazi invaders reached
Leicestershire, it would have been no laughing matter. Indeed, it is
little known that 18 Leicestershire Home Guards made the ultimate
sacrifice whilst defending the county, dying in training or firearm
accidents.
We are a group of Home Guard enthusiasts with full correct uniform, kit,
equipment and (deactivated) weapons, from Home Guard pike to Northover
Projector. We are serious in our representation of the Home Guard, but
at the same time, we do this because we enjoy it. Our organisation is
relaxed: there is no hierarchical organisation, membership fees or parade
ground bull. We are not a skirmishing battlegroup as the Home Guard
never engaged the enemy in infantry battle, but mainly because we feel
we can get our message over to the public better via static displays.
If you wish to join then we will let you know which events we will be
displaying at and you just turn up. We mainly attend Leicestershire
county events as this is our representative area. All we ask is that you
assemble the correct uniform and kit (we can advise you on this,
although if you would like to know more about the Leicestershire Home
Guard's background and uniform detail read "To The Last Round: The
Leicestershire & Rutland Home Guard 1940-1945", Breedon Books, 2007,
ISBN 978 1 85983 559 3 -
we stock it). We can also advise the public and media on Home Guard
matters.
For further details, contact Austin J. Ruddy on 07812 038781 or email me (via the Contact Us link below).
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YORKSHIRE, Harrogate, North Yorkshire
We are called the 20th Century Re-visited - WR5 Harrogate Home Guard. We display period uniforms, equipment and weapons of the Home Guard units from WW2.
As the veterans of the Home Guard become fewer the public perception of the Home Guard in WW2 has been taken over by the antics and humour of the Dad's Army television shows and their exploits. Whilst some of this was gleaned from real life the grim wartime days of food rationing, 50 and 60 hour working weeks in reserved occupations followed by compulsory guard duties on a freezing cold night were a truer but less audience thrilling reality. We aim to give a broad picture of life in Home Front Britain and what the Home Guard were asked to achieve.
Over 1,700 Home Guards were actually killed on active service, a figure staggering to many. In the West Riding area this sadly included one former WW1 veteran who was awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry.
Based up in the North East we attend events at various times through the year, but also travel further afield!
For further information feel free to contact us by email using the link below.
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YORKSHIRE, Ingleton, North Yorkshire
The EL4 (East Lancashire Area 4) Home Guard Unit of today is based in Ingleton and takes part in living history displays, 1940's weekends, re-enactments and weekend camps. We are also members of the Military Vehicle Trust (MVT) South Cumbria and North Lancashire group. We also organise Operation Home Guard in Ingleton, a 1940's Weekend which is in the first week of July, next time being the 4th & 5th July 2009. We are currently working on the Brief Encounter weekend at Carnforth (where we are shown, above, under the famous clock). Members include Home Guard, RAF, Naval and civilian Re-enactors. Gracie Lands (1940's singer and DJ) is the chair person.
But we also need new members to join us. We are seeking anyone who has an interest in the Home Guard or the Home Front in general. Younger members will be especially welcome. If you would like to join us, please email us for infomation, using the Contact Us link below....
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YORKSHIRE, Pontefract
It's 8 years since the humble beginnings of Pontefract Home Guard Living History Group and it has grown as the interest in the Home Guard has grown and now commands a membership of 18, with
ATS, Civilian and 13  wearing
the Home Guard uniform
of the West Riding 48th Battalion. We look at the seriousness through the uncertainty and the comic through the improvisation, but never allow ourselves to trivialise, romanticise, fictionalise or glorify the war years on the Home Front.
A second impression is of the secret work of the Auxiliary Units and we are proud to claim to be the first group to portray these men in our way and are honoured to have a close relationship with the A.U. museum in Suffolk.
If you are interested in our activities, please get in touch with us via the staffshomeguard website using the Contact Us link below (please include Pontefract HG in the subject line).
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There are many other groups and individuals in various parts of the country recreating HG units which may or may not be local to their area. Here are the locations of some of them:
KENT, Chatham
LANARKSHIRE NORFOLK, King's Lynn and Sandringham
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, Pitsford and Brinkworth
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE, Bulwell and Basford
SHROPSHIRE, Ironbridge
WORCESTERSHIRE
YORKSHIRE, Doncaster
YORKSHIRE, Sheffield and
USA, Mass.
If you wish details of your group to be included on this page, please use this FEEDBACK link.
Many reenactors use the excellent WWIIReenacting Forum to discuss aspects of their activities.
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