Women's Home Guard In The Second World War
For the most part, people are very knowledgeable about the Second World War. They are well informed about the countries that were involved, what happened during the war, and the aftermath. However, when individuals are asked about the term“Home Guard,” a term that was vital to Britain’s defenese mechanism to second World War, they are often not familiar with it. Home Guard, established in May of 1940, refers to a defense organization created by the Britains during the war. More specifically, it was a military strategy that was used as a security for the British nation against any possible bombardment, invasion, and incursion. Authors Penny Summerfield and Corinna Peniston-Bird in their book, “Contesting Home Defence Men, Women, And The Home Guard In The Second World War,” explain the impact home defense had on the second World War as a security instrument for the British people. Summerfield and Peniston-Bird wrote this piece after
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listening to an oral history project on women’s experience during and after the Second World War. After a woman speaker discussed her experience as a Home Guard, these two authors decided to investigate the significance, the impact and the evolution of home defense. The first part of the book is titled Political Challenges, which is defined as a political concept of home defense, argues that Home Guard was a major military organisation in Britain. At the same time, it enhanced wartime controversy in the country. Home guard was created by Tom Wintringham, a British soldier, and journalist, who traveled to Spain and saw armed people in every crossroad and restaurants. He then became inspired and implemented home guard in Britain. The first chapter starts of by explaining the aim of Home Guard, which had a democratic symbol attached. Summerfield and Peniston-Bird stated, “To look out for and take action against columnists in the community” (p. 33). Basically, people that joined the Home Guard played to be soldiers and made sure that the community was safe from any criminal acts or threats. Unfortunately, not everyone could be involved in Home Guard. According to George VI, former King of the United Kingdom, stated, “The home Guard was supposed to have united men of every age and every calling in comradeship of arms” (p. 37). Home Guard excluded youths under the age of seventeen and men over sixty-five. They banded those men who seemed to be physically unfit, immigrants, and socialists. Important to mention, that those that were unable to serve the Home Guard felt embarrassed. Additionally, hostile men with serious criminal records and communist were rejected with no reason given. In a short period, Home Guard became politically affiliated, thus illustrating the gravity it had and its democratic involvement.
According to a broadcast that aired in May of 1940, women were asked to join the Home Guard alliance.
The increase of women participation led to the creation of the term “Women’s Home Defense” (WHD). Eventually, there was a debate on whether the membership of women in the Home Guard was beneficial. The government argued that they will be a shortage of resources and there would be a demand for women in other aspects of the war efforts, such as nursing and factories. Expanding the women role in the war was beneficial, although they could not occupy combatant roles. This chapter also argues that the Home Guard was constructed as a counter-invasion force, since it was viewed as specifically anti-fascist, which meant it could potentially become revolutionary. The Home Guard started drawing rigorous army training regime that involved monthly military exercises. Eventually, the government introduced conscription of the Home Guard to ensure that the supply of personnel was sufficient for the guard, defense, and training duties required of
it.
Moreover, part two is titled Representations, which explores the cultural impact of the Home Guard on mainstream culture. In this period of time, radio broadcasting and films were used as a way to inform and recruit for the war. Specifically broadcasts, which gives a better view of how people were communicating at that time during the war and the understanding of the process of recruitment. Many politicians saw Home Guard as the symbol of the British “unity and brotherhood that was propelled by surfing anger at the thought of invasion and was unfailing in its defence of the light of freedom” (p. 104). There was also a strong current of humour concerning the Home Guard in the popular culture of the War. For instance, the idea of the Home Guard in Britain was to be “the first line of defence” (p. 114). They were responsible to inform the population about what to do incase of an invasion. Writer Joseph Lee and his drawings of cartoons in newspaper demonstrate a sergeant instructing three Home Guard members outside the bell tower, which is where they rang the bell if they were an invasion. Cartoons that were published in the newspaper was a way to communicate with the population. In this case, people learned from this image that whenever the bells rang from the church, there was an invasion occuring. Eventually, there were shows that demonstrated the experience of Home Guard. A successful show was “Dad’s Army,” which was produced by Perry Crofts in 1968. The purpose of this show was to illustrate how the British people became “united behind a successful war effort” by joining Home Guard (p. 187). This show was beneficial because it gave the audience a better understanding of Home Guard achievement throughout the war.
Furthermore, part three titled Personal Testimony focuses on the evolution race and class had on Britain thanks to the Home Guard. Through the use of personal memories, testimonies from sixty-nine men and thirty-two women were accounted for. Many men argued that Home Guard was a way for them to be prepared for war once they become eigthteen. On the other hand, those that were able to serve the Home Guard explained that it was “a most worthwhile experience” (p. 210). They created friendship and worked as a team to protect their country. A splendid example is the story of Ray Atkins, who joined the Home Guard and created vulnerable memories. He stated, “Being involved with the Home Guard gave me a lot of respect and confidence while appreciating the friendship created and having more trust in other people” (p. 210). There was also significant testimonies that prove the evolution of women through their participation in Home Guard. By 1943, there was a massive recruitment of women and involvement in feminine activities.Essentially, humor and irony were used to support the force as a way to reveal loyalty, courage, and commitment to the members. At first, the popular culture represented Home Guard as an “all-male association” (p. 275). Due to the increase of femininity in the wartime, women started taking task effectively, such as taking novel roles.
Throughout the book, these two authors use significant evidence to support the gravity of Home Guard. Each chapter contains images to give the readers a visual representation of the meaning of each chapter. For instance, the book has images of women being trained to be in the Home Guard. Having these image helps the reader get a mental picture of the training itself while adding credibility to the authors.Nevertheless, this book is very limited since it only focuses on Britain. Although chapter one talks about how Home Guard as an idea from Spain, it fails to mention the success it created there. Having information of Home Guard in other countries will add credibility to the authors and further enhance their research. Overall, this book has essential data and analysis. Summerfield and Peniston-Bird did a great job in containing beneficial data that shows the benefit Home Guard had in Britain. The creation of Home Guard did not only secure the country, but it allowed people to come together as a union and protect each other from their allies, specifically Germany. They did a fine job with background information. It is also a book that helps the reader comprehend the history of Britain and their point of view during the war. Lastly, the book’s purpose was to inform the history of home guard and it was accomplished by describing the changing of meaning and the impact it created in their cultures, such as films, novels, and broadcast.
listening to an oral history project on women’s experience during and after the Second World War. After a woman speaker discussed her experience as a Home Guard, these two authors decided to investigate the significance, the impact and the evolution of home defense. The first part of the book is titled Political Challenges, which is defined as a political concept of home defense, argues that Home Guard was a major military organisation in Britain. At the same time, it enhanced wartime controversy in the country. Home guard was created by Tom Wintringham, a British soldier, and journalist, who traveled to Spain and saw armed people in every crossroad and restaurants. He then became inspired and implemented home guard in Britain. The first chapter starts of by explaining the aim of Home Guard, which had a democratic symbol attached. Summerfield and Peniston-Bird stated, “To look out for and take action against columnists in the community” (p. 33). Basically, people that joined the Home Guard played to be soldiers and made sure that the community was safe from any criminal acts or threats. Unfortunately, not everyone could be involved in Home Guard. According to George VI, former King of the United Kingdom, stated, “The home Guard was supposed to have united men of every age and every calling in comradeship of arms” (p. 37). Home Guard excluded youths under the age of seventeen and men over sixty-five. They banded those men who seemed to be physically unfit, immigrants, and socialists. Important to mention, that those that were unable to serve the Home Guard felt embarrassed. Additionally, hostile men with serious criminal records and communist were rejected with no reason given. In a short period, Home Guard became politically affiliated, thus illustrating the gravity it had and its democratic involvement.
According to a broadcast that aired in May of 1940, women were asked to join the Home Guard alliance.
The increase of women participation led to the creation of the term “Women’s Home Defense” (WHD). Eventually, there was a debate on whether the membership of women in the Home Guard was beneficial. The government argued that they will be a shortage of resources and there would be a demand for women in other aspects of the war efforts, such as nursing and factories. Expanding the women role in the war was beneficial, although they could not occupy combatant roles. This chapter also argues that the Home Guard was constructed as a counter-invasion force, since it was viewed as specifically anti-fascist, which meant it could potentially become revolutionary. The Home Guard started drawing rigorous army training regime that involved monthly military exercises. Eventually, the government introduced conscription of the Home Guard to ensure that the supply of personnel was sufficient for the guard, defense, and training duties required of
it.
Moreover, part two is titled Representations, which explores the cultural impact of the Home Guard on mainstream culture. In this period of time, radio broadcasting and films were used as a way to inform and recruit for the war. Specifically broadcasts, which gives a better view of how people were communicating at that time during the war and the understanding of the process of recruitment. Many politicians saw Home Guard as the symbol of the British “unity and brotherhood that was propelled by surfing anger at the thought of invasion and was unfailing in its defence of the light of freedom” (p. 104). There was also a strong current of humour concerning the Home Guard in the popular culture of the War. For instance, the idea of the Home Guard in Britain was to be “the first line of defence” (p. 114). They were responsible to inform the population about what to do incase of an invasion. Writer Joseph Lee and his drawings of cartoons in newspaper demonstrate a sergeant instructing three Home Guard members outside the bell tower, which is where they rang the bell if they were an invasion. Cartoons that were published in the newspaper was a way to communicate with the population. In this case, people learned from this image that whenever the bells rang from the church, there was an invasion occuring. Eventually, there were shows that demonstrated the experience of Home Guard. A successful show was “Dad’s Army,” which was produced by Perry Crofts in 1968. The purpose of this show was to illustrate how the British people became “united behind a successful war effort” by joining Home Guard (p. 187). This show was beneficial because it gave the audience a better understanding of Home Guard achievement throughout the war.
Furthermore, part three titled Personal Testimony focuses on the evolution race and class had on Britain thanks to the Home Guard. Through the use of personal memories, testimonies from sixty-nine men and thirty-two women were accounted for. Many men argued that Home Guard was a way for them to be prepared for war once they become eigthteen. On the other hand, those that were able to serve the Home Guard explained that it was “a most worthwhile experience” (p. 210). They created friendship and worked as a team to protect their country. A splendid example is the story of Ray Atkins, who joined the Home Guard and created vulnerable memories. He stated, “Being involved with the Home Guard gave me a lot of respect and confidence while appreciating the friendship created and having more trust in other people” (p. 210). There was also significant testimonies that prove the evolution of women through their participation in Home Guard. By 1943, there was a massive recruitment of women and involvement in feminine activities.Essentially, humor and irony were used to support the force as a way to reveal loyalty, courage, and commitment to the members. At first, the popular culture represented Home Guard as an “all-male association” (p. 275). Due to the increase of femininity in the wartime, women started taking task effectively, such as taking novel roles.
Throughout the book, these two authors use significant evidence to support the gravity of Home Guard. Each chapter contains images to give the readers a visual representation of the meaning of each chapter. For instance, the book has images of women being trained to be in the Home Guard. Having these image helps the reader get a mental picture of the training itself while adding credibility to the authors.Nevertheless, this book is very limited since it only focuses on Britain. Although chapter one talks about how Home Guard as an idea from Spain, it fails to mention the success it created there. Having information of Home Guard in other countries will add credibility to the authors and further enhance their research. Overall, this book has essential data and analysis. Summerfield and Peniston-Bird did a great job in containing beneficial data that shows the benefit Home Guard had in Britain. The creation of Home Guard did not only secure the country, but it allowed people to come together as a union and protect each other from their allies, specifically Germany. They did a fine job with background information. It is also a book that helps the reader comprehend the history of Britain and their point of view during the war. Lastly, the book’s purpose was to inform the history of home guard and it was accomplished by describing the changing of meaning and the impact it created in their cultures, such as films, novels, and broadcast.