Monday, May 05, 2008

The Home Front

Enough of politics and elections for a while. Let’s go a little off message. In last night’s post I used a picture of the cast from the TV sitcom "Dad's Army" to try and illustrate my point that the Labour Party should not “panic” over the electoral defeats we suffered last week. In that photo was Corporal Jones (played by the great actor Clive Dunn) whose catch phrase was of course “Don’t Panic, don’t panic” (while he panicked like a good 'un).

Even though the programme did poke gentle fun at the real Dad's Army (the home defence force set up to save us from Nazi invasion during the second World War) I think that it was accepted that had the Germans actually invaded, the “Home Guard” (to give them their proper name) would have sacrificed their lives to defend their country against the Nazi invaders.

My father was actually a teenage member of the Home Guard in Edinburgh (a young Pike?). He was a bicycle messenger and remembered seeing German bombers attacking Leith Docks in daylight raids. My Father also always told the story that that it was while he was in the war time Army cadets, that he got his first pair ever of long trousers at age 13. The norm was for boys to wear shorts, winter and summer!

The picture above is of beautiful and peaceful Paignton in Devon. Last month we rented a cottage and spent a few days there. The last time we visited the area, I am ashamed to admit that we went on a “The Sun” Holiday (£9 I think) in a caravan park a few miles out of town.

This time we walked from Paignton to Torquay along the shore. Not the greatest of walks since you have to go along a busy road for much of the way. On route we stopped off at a very pretty headland called Corbyn Head, where there was a National War Memorial to the Home Guard. 1,206 of them were killed due to enemy action during the Second World War. A sobering figure. The memorial also recorded that on this very spot in 1944, that 5 Home guard soldiers were killed while on active service.

(I won’t go on about Nazis now being elected to the London Assembly.)

Main picture is from Roundham Head which also had coastal gun defences built on it during the Second World War. Of interest to me is that the construction of the famous Roundham Cliff gardens and paths was carried out by unemployed Welsh miners in the 1920’s, paid for by a Government work scheme during the Great Depression.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is intresting to note that the last time the Nazi's invaded part of Britain

The Channel Islands

It was left to the Communist Party lead by Norman Le Brocq, The Labour Party and the trade unions to organise any meaningful resistance

we all have a duty to fight the Nazi's in our capital

In 1940 they tried to bomb the London in submission

before that war the Mail and the Evening Standard were singing the praises of the Nazi's

somethings never change

Anonymous said...

Oh yes and who set up the Home Guard (Dads Army)

yes a communist Tom Wintringham a Spanish Civil War veteran

Anonymous said...

Labour are the Nazis.

Anonymous said...

Fuck Boris
Join the Resistance

John Gray said...

Hi Anons

Yes
Interesting
No
What ever turns you on I suppose.