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The Real Dad’s Army - Amazing Pictures Of Britain’s Home Guard

  • <p>Home Guard members still dressed in their ‘civvies’ practice hand grenade throwing in 1940. (Popperfoto/Getty Images)</p>
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    Practice Shot

    Home Guard members still dressed in their ‘civvies’ practice hand grenade throwing in 1940. (Popperfoto/Getty Images)

  • <p>Volunteers in the Home Guard were armed with an array of weaponry during World War II, with varying degrees of sophistication. (Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)</p>
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    Armed To The Hilt

    Volunteers in the Home Guard were armed with an array of weaponry during World War II, with varying degrees of sophistication. (Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

  • <p>Home Guard members in their uniforms parade through London in 1944. (Popperfoto/Getty Images)</p>
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    On Parade

    Home Guard members in their uniforms parade through London in 1944. (Popperfoto/Getty Images)

  • <p>Home Guard volunteers practise their camouflage skills during an exercise in 1943. (Popperfoto/Getty Images)</p>
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    Military Exercise

    Home Guard volunteers practise their camouflage skills during an exercise in 1943. (Popperfoto/Getty Images)

  • <p>A Sergeant of the Dorking Home Guard in Surrey, England gives his gun a final polish before leaving home to go on parade in 1940. (Lt. Len Puttnam/ IWM via Getty Images)</p>
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    Spick And Span

    A Sergeant of the Dorking Home Guard in Surrey, England gives his gun a final polish before leaving home to go on parade in 1940. (Lt. Len Puttnam/ IWM via Getty Images)

  • <p>An aircraft spotter stands on the roof of a building in London with St Paul’s Cathedral in the background, circa 1941. (Popperfoto/Getty Images)</p>
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    Line Of Defence

    An aircraft spotter stands on the roof of a building in London with St Paul’s Cathedral in the background, circa 1941. (Popperfoto/Getty Images)

  • <p>A poster encourages people to do their bit and join the Home Guard. (The National Archives/SSPL/Getty Images)</p>
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    Joining Up

    A poster encourages people to do their bit and join the Home Guard. (The National Archives/SSPL/Getty Images)

  • <p>Members of the Doncaster Home Guard swim across a river during an assault exercise in 1942, with two men dressed in camouflage net veils. (Lt. O'Brien/ IWM via Getty Images)</p>
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    Ready For The Fight

    Members of the Doncaster Home Guard swim across a river during an assault exercise in 1942, with two men dressed in camouflage net veils. (Lt. O'Brien/ IWM via Getty Images)

  • <p>A Picture Post cover features a member of the British Home Guard in camouflage at the organisation’s training centre at Osterley Park, near London, in 1940. (Zoltan Glass/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)</p>
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    Headline News

    A Picture Post cover features a member of the British Home Guard in camouflage at the organisation’s training centre at Osterley Park, near London, in 1940. (Zoltan Glass/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

  • <p>A new recruit has his rifle inspected at a training camp in 1940. (Popperfoto/Getty Images)</p>
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    Inspection

    A new recruit has his rifle inspected at a training camp in 1940. (Popperfoto/Getty Images)

  • <p>General Sir Harold Franklyn, Commander in Chief of Home Forces during World War Two, sits at his desk in 1944. (Popperfoto/Getty Images)</p>
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    In Charge

    General Sir Harold Franklyn, Commander in Chief of Home Forces during World War Two, sits at his desk in 1944. (Popperfoto/Getty Images)

  • <p>A certificate of recognition of the contributions of Percy Bunclark, who served in the Home Guard for five years during World War Two, signed by King George VI, dated 31st December 1944. (Popperfoto/Getty Images)</p>
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    Sign of recognition

    A certificate of recognition of the contributions of Percy Bunclark, who served in the Home Guard for five years during World War Two, signed by King George VI, dated 31st December 1944. (Popperfoto/Getty Images)

<p>Home Guard members still dressed in their ‘civvies’ practice hand grenade throwing in 1940. (Popperfoto/Getty Images)</p>
<p>Volunteers in the Home Guard were armed with an array of weaponry during World War II, with varying degrees of sophistication. (Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)</p>
<p>Home Guard members in their uniforms parade through London in 1944. (Popperfoto/Getty Images)</p>
<p>Home Guard volunteers practise their camouflage skills during an exercise in 1943. (Popperfoto/Getty Images)</p>
<p>A Sergeant of the Dorking Home Guard in Surrey, England gives his gun a final polish before leaving home to go on parade in 1940. (Lt. Len Puttnam/ IWM via Getty Images)</p>
<p>An aircraft spotter stands on the roof of a building in London with St Paul’s Cathedral in the background, circa 1941. (Popperfoto/Getty Images)</p>
<p>A poster encourages people to do their bit and join the Home Guard. (The National Archives/SSPL/Getty Images)</p>
<p>Members of the Doncaster Home Guard swim across a river during an assault exercise in 1942, with two men dressed in camouflage net veils. (Lt. O'Brien/ IWM via Getty Images)</p>
<p>A Picture Post cover features a member of the British Home Guard in camouflage at the organisation’s training centre at Osterley Park, near London, in 1940. (Zoltan Glass/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)</p>
<p>A new recruit has his rifle inspected at a training camp in 1940. (Popperfoto/Getty Images)</p>
<p>General Sir Harold Franklyn, Commander in Chief of Home Forces during World War Two, sits at his desk in 1944. (Popperfoto/Getty Images)</p>
<p>A certificate of recognition of the contributions of Percy Bunclark, who served in the Home Guard for five years during World War Two, signed by King George VI, dated 31st December 1944. (Popperfoto/Getty Images)</p>
Matilda Long

During World War II Britain’s Home Guard - immortalised by the much-loved TV comedy Dad’s Army - were tasked with acting as the last line of defence for their homeland in the event of a Nazi invasion. While the latest big-screen incarnation of the ‘60s sitcom documents the misadventures of the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard volunteers, back in real life the operation had a surprisingly aggressive role. The force, made up of 1.5 million volunteers who were ineligible for military service, were equipped with machine guns and rifles and trained at a military camp in London. Despite their discipline the age of the members - most were too old or too young to be soldiers - cemented their reputation as a rag-tag bunch of have-a-ago heroes.