On English coast, mums with guns were ready for the Nazis
Not just Dad's Army, but Mum's Marauders too.
The Home Guard was a very different organisation from the bumbling and badly-led eccentrics of the Walmington-on-Sea unit [fictional location of BBC comedy series"Dad's Army"], one in which women played a surprisingly large part, according to a new study.
Women were so prominent in protecting Britain's shores against imminent invasion that they were required to sign papers showing they understood that they could be shot as guerrillas if the Germans captured them.
After 1940, no woman was allowed to wear uniform but, especially on the south coast, where the Germans were expected to arrive, they demanded to be allowed to bear arms against the invader.
Prof Penny Summerfield [of Manchester University], joint author of a new book [Contesting Home Defence; Men, Women and the Home Guard in the Second World War], has discovered that some were required to sign indemnity forms.
Read entire article at Telegraph
The Home Guard was a very different organisation from the bumbling and badly-led eccentrics of the Walmington-on-Sea unit [fictional location of BBC comedy series"Dad's Army"], one in which women played a surprisingly large part, according to a new study.
Women were so prominent in protecting Britain's shores against imminent invasion that they were required to sign papers showing they understood that they could be shot as guerrillas if the Germans captured them.
After 1940, no woman was allowed to wear uniform but, especially on the south coast, where the Germans were expected to arrive, they demanded to be allowed to bear arms against the invader.
Prof Penny Summerfield [of Manchester University], joint author of a new book [Contesting Home Defence; Men, Women and the Home Guard in the Second World War], has discovered that some were required to sign indemnity forms.