The news was devastating. Hitler’s panzers had broken through French defenses, and if France fell, Britain might be next.

So it was, on the evening of May 14, 1940, the call went out for volunteers to enroll in the ‘Local Defense Volunteers’. That name was soon to change, becoming the much-loved Home Guard.

The British government had expected 150,000 people to volunteer. By the end of May 400,000 had put their names down.

Packed with an unrivaled collection of photographs, this special publication is the story of the real Home Guard which is even more entertaining than its fictional counterpart.