In May 1940, when invasion seemed a real possibility, the Government called for the recruitment of Local Defence Volunteers in every town and village. When Winston Churchill raised the status of the force and renamed it the Home Guard in September 1940, it already had 1.5 million members. Recruitment peaked at 1.8 million in March 1943 and never fell below 1 million until the Home Guard was disbanded in December 1945. Factories, railways and other large concentrations of workers had their own units to defend their own buildings and workforce. This unpaid civilian army came under military law and discipline. From January 1942, the Ministry of Labour could direct men to enrol in areas where units were below strength.

These pictures come from an illustrated booklet 'The Home Guard of Britain', which was probably published by the Ministry of Information in early 1943.

Title	Home Guard, 1943
Maker	--
Production Date	1943
Format	Magazine
Copyright	--
Holding Institution	TUC Library Collections, London Metropolitan University
Related Objects	--