Papers which originally belonged to Major James Webster, commanding officer of two Ipswich Home Guard battalions, showed the level of extensive training provided to the Home Guard View 3 Images The real life 'Dad's Army' were very different from the show's depiction (Image: UKTV)
The Home Guard ‘Dad’s Army’ were not ‘old duffers and amateurs’ but highly skilled soldiers, new documents show.
The Home Guard, established in 1940, was made up of local volunteers who were ineligible for regular military service.
It was famously portrayed in the 1968-to-1977 sitcom ‘Dad’s Army’ as a “group of old, crumbly” unpaid soldiers who “couldn’t get anything right.”
But papers which originally belonged to Major James Webster, commanding officer of two Ipswich Home Guard batta