Page seven of the Western Mail & South Wales News, Cardiff, Friday 21st of May 1940

Disgrifiad

Image © Trinity Mirror. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.

The third column of page 7 of this issue of the Western Mail has an article stating that thousands have volunteered for the Local Defence Volunteers. It advises how they can gain rifle practice while awaiting instructions, and gives contact details for local Rifle Clubs.

"The Home Guard was set up in May 1940 as Britain's 'last line of defence' against German invasion. Members of this 'Dad's Army' were usually men above or below the age of conscription and those unfit or ineligible for front line military service.
On 14 May 1940, Secretary of State for War Anthony Eden made a broadcast calling for men between the ages of 17 and 65 to enrol in a new force, the Local Defence Volunteers (LDV). By July, nearly 1.5 million men had enrolled and the name of this people's army was changed to the more inspiring Home Guard.
The Home Guard was at first a rag-tag militia, with scarce and often make-do uniforms and weaponry. Yet it evolved into a well-equipped and well-trained army of 1.7 million men. Men of the Home Guard were not only readied for invasion, but also performed other roles including bomb disposal and manning anti-aircraft and coastal artillery. Over the course of the war 1,206 men of the Home Guard were killed on duty or died of wounds.
With the Allied armies advancing towards Germany and the threat of invasion or raids over, the Home Guard was stood down on 3 December 1944."
(http://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-real-dads-army, accessed 5/3/17)