![]() Its tactical functions would be “(a) warning (b) delaying the enemy (c) harassing the enemy.” The volunteers were to “serve as observation and combat patrols, which are designed to stalk the enemy and hold a defensive position as long as possible, thus forcing the enemy to check his advance.” Their task was to “delay and weary such forces, thus aiding their own regulars in their counterattack.” Part of the militia’s function was also to “carry on the struggle, if necessary, in areas temporarily overrun by the enemy.” The stated mission of the LDV was to deal with landings of German parachute troops. In order to volunteer, what you have to do is give your name at your local police station, and then, when we want you, we will let you know.” You will not be paid, but you will receive uniforms and will be armed. The name describes its duties in three words. The name of the new force which is now to be raised will be the Local Defense Volunteers. ![]() He said, “We want large numbers of such men in Great Britain who are British subjects, between the ages of 17 and 65, to come forward now and offer their services in order to make assurance doubly sure. So, on the following day, the handsome, urbane Eden broadcast a national radio appeal for men of all ages to volunteer in the defense of the homeland. A swiftly organized armed militia was the only answer, and Secretary for War Anthony Eden proposed it to the British Cabinet in London on May 13, 1940. ![]() But there was virtually no significant defense force available. It was just a matter of time.īritons scanned cloud-flecked skies for the first signs of German paratroops antiaircraft gun emplacements were hastily dug on golf courses and in parks concrete pillboxes were built on hillsides and at road junctions and highway and railway station signs were blacked out to confuse potential invaders. But in the bright spring of 1940 there was little to stop the Nazi juggernaut. The Spanish and Napoleon Bonaparte had attempted to invade England and had failed. In England, there were troops in the process of training and reequipping and also some coastal defense units, but if the expected 39 seasoned German panzer and infantry divisions landed, they would face only one fully trained Canadian division and a second partially trained division. Army units were away battling the Italians in East Africa and the Germans in Norway, and Royal Navy squadrons were strung out thinly in the Mediterranean, Atlantic, North Sea, and the Far East. Their innate stoicism veiled fear, for it was no secret that the British defenses were in a pitiful state. As Prime Minister Winston Churchill grimly told the House of Commons on May 13, “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears … and sweat.”Īcross the tiny island nation, people went about their business with characteristic calm and even good cheer, though all knew that with France fully under the German heel they were sure to be invaded. The dispirited French capitulated after a few desperate weeks, and Britain was left alone to face the Axis powers. Within a few days, the small British Expeditionary Force, mauled and leaving behind its heavy equipment after a fighting retreat, was evacuated miraculously from the fire-swept beaches of Dunkirk. The lightning “blitzkrieg” advance split the retreating French and British armies, and the outlook was bleak for Western freedom. As powerful, fast-moving German panzer and infantry columnsrampaged across Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, and into northern France early in May 1940, the British held their breath and watched apprehensively from across the narrow English Channel.
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