Defending the Nation

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Press ESC at any time to stop the presentation
The Home Guard and the Fire Service.
Protecting the people and preparing for an enemy
invasion
Defending the Nation
By Martin Williams
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The Home Guard
Please choose a photograph to view.
Aberdare
Griffithstown
On to study the Fire Service
Pontypool
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Are you surprised by the age of some of these
men?Explain your answer carefully.
Click here to enlarge picture
Aberdare Home Guard Rhondda Cynon Taff County
Borough Libraries W.W. Price Collection
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Another photograph of the Aberdare Home Guard
Aberdare Home Guard Rhondda Cynon Taff County
Borough Libraries W.W. Price Collection
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Aberdare Home Guard Rhondda Cynon Taff County
Borough Libraries W.W. Price Collection
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Griffithstown Home Guard, South Wales
Can you note any similarities between the
Griffithstown and Aberdare Home Guard Units?
Picture courtesy of Torfaen Museum Trust
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Look at the uniforms of the men of the Home
Guard. What do you notice and what does this tell
you about the resources available to the Home
Guard - especially during the early days of the
war?
March Past of the Home Guard at Pontypool Park
Picture courtesy of Torfaen Museum Trust
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Who do you think these people are and what are
they wearing?
Do you think that this type of training was
particularly necessary between the years 1939-45?
Photo taken from Picture Post, February 22nd,
1941, An Early Stage of Training.
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What do the following stand for? NFS - AFS -
Pictures taken with the kind permission of
Torfaen Museum Trust
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By the start of the war over 60,000 volunteers
had signed up for the Auxiliary Fire Service.
There were only 6,000 professional firemen and
these often resented the help of the auxiliary
force. Many men from the auxiliary fire service
were called up to fight during 1939-40 and so the
number of firemen in Britain began to dwindle.
However, during the Blitz it was recognised that
more auxiliaries were desperately needed. These
men were hastily trained and were forced to work
long hours in dangerous conditions. They soon won
the respect of professional firemen nationwide.
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A formal cap and safety helmet.
A fire fighters tunic with NFS badge and buttons.
Pictures with the kind permission of Torfaen
Museum Trust
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I was already in the Auxiliary Fire Service in
Cardiff when war broke out. When the war clouds
started gathering, they began to get volunteers
into the AFS. Then, when war came, the AFS men
became permanent firemen. I became a police
fireman and lived in the docks police station.
You have to understand that the National Fire
Service wasnt in existence then.
John Walsh quoted in Wales at War by Phil
Carradice(Gomer 2003)
Why do you think that so many men were asked to
become permanent firemen towards the end of
1939?
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We had no experience of fires, none at all
really, just some little chimney fires. All we
had on the machines were ordinary nozzles for
water, jets and stuff like that, not the
equipment theyve got today. Ive often said
that, at that time, all we had was a bit of
brains, a bit of guts. That was all.
Wyndham Scourfield quoted in Wales at War by Phil
Carradice(Gomer 2003)
Think about the types of fires and incidents that
firemen may be called out to deal with during the
Second World War. How brave must these firemen
(many of whom were volunteers) have been?
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So, what have we learnt about The Home Guard and
Fire Service?
1939 - 1945