Home Guard

oh, and 5 bb's in my pocket

At the "The Eagle has Landed" game I did send a couple of bods off on a perimeter patrol of the camp with ten rounds a-piece. They looked rather alarmed (meh, the rest of the camp had NO ammunition, all the weapons were in the armoury) but it did ensure when they spotted trouble they came back and told me rather than have a pointless fire-fight all of their own!

Don't forget the belt is actually optional... and I did say that none might be preferable to having a 37 pat one! Plus anyway you wouldn't wear it on the outside of a greatcoat unless you had full webbing.

Yes, mother

I suppose I'm just used to wearing a belt, but you're right of course ...........................

re the greatcoat, are the '50's pattern ones acceptable (not just for this but for other events) ?

What about the HG cap badge that I pic'd - does that look authentic ? (Took me all of yesterday afternoon to make that ! )

oh, and 5 bb's in my pocket

At the "The Eagle has Landed" game I did send a couple of bods off on a perimeter patrol of the camp with ten rounds a-piece. They looked rather alarmed (meh, the rest of the camp had NO ammunition, all the weapons were in the armoury) but it did ensure when they spotted trouble they came back and told me rather than have a pointless fire-fight all of their own!

Have tried it before but it wasn't until the gun jammed that we realised we had been firing tic-tacs ................... guns were in mint condition after though !!

I'll get me (great) coat ........................

re the greatcoat, are the '50's pattern ones acceptable (not just for this but for other events) ?

Yes of course. Mine is an adapted French one.

What about the HG cap badge that I pic'd - does that look authentic ? (Took me all of yesterday afternoon to make that ! )

I thought that was the women's brooch badge?

Yeah HG would wear the badge of their parent regular army unit... in this case Argyl and Sutherland Highlanders... or nothing at all if they'd not managed to get one!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ARGYLL-AND-SUTHER ... _586wt_905

I think Joker is living up to his name....

What about the HG cap badge that I pic'd - does that look authentic ? (Took me all of yesterday afternoon to make that ! )

I thought that was the women's brooch badge?

The womans / auxiliary was just 'HG' surrounded by stylised laurel leaves. There were various other badges for 'war workers' etc, and seemingly a lot of 1950's Home Guard designs, with KC and QC's ??

This was a 'spare' EIIR insignia, that I cut the crown and letters down on. The left hand of the H is the l/h of the E, the l/h of the R is now the r/h of the H, and the G is a 'spare' Police 'C' epp letter inverted. Whole is glued together and onto thick metal foil, and then copper/bronze painted. Not a direct copy as such but hopefully 'period' looking ??

(NB : I have way too much time on my hands this week !! )

So are you going to be a women's home guard auxiliary then?

Gah, we are back on the nuns theme again. (And this is 1941 not 1943. Still, a battle between the WHGA and jerry nuns does sound appealing, especially if there is mud involved. Oh, and no blokes dressed up as women either, must be R/S)

So are you going to be a women's home guard auxiliary then?

I was just trying to make something that looked 'period' rather than spending out on 'one-off' items

I think Chommers has hit on a plan though - cue the Muskrat voice again !!

lol... did I not also say you didn't need a cap badge, lol

lol... did I not also say you didn't need a cap badge, lol

Like I said, I'm a self-confessed 'gear whore' - this is my front door key >

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**Off-Topic Warning**

Yeah HG would wear the badge of their parent regular army unit...

I know of a particular little story (that's actually 100% true) about Home Guard cap badges;
With the first mass-production of cap badges for the Cambridgeshire Regiment near the beginning of the war (to supply all those new recruits, etc...), the first batch were made miss-spelt "Cambridgshire"; missing out an "e". The regular army units dismissed them and refused to use them, - so they were given to the Cambridgeshire Home Guard to use!

Now there's a rare one for all those cap-badge collectors to find and own!

Yeah... I bet... nice story.

Funnily enough, one just passed-by on eBay for £9.99. No-one bid!
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/380287465318

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/British-World-War ... 017wt_1026

Has anyone tried/used these ^ - are they any good, or are there better (reasonably priced and easy to get hold of) alternatives ?

If I went with a 'tin hat' instead of a tam (thinking of future event usage), I'd probably cover it in hessian (as I have some) and/or a net, so surface finish is not too vital. Also as they seem to be on offer, if they were too flexible, I'd considered sticking two together ..................... thoughts, please gents ?

If I do make it to the game (which I am very much planning to do!), I will be bringing along two newly restored spare MkII helmets (painted in Service Brown - with 56cm/57cm liners) for people to use!

If you are thinking of future usage then probably the 14 or 24 quids (if you have to stick two together) might be better spent or put towards the real thing. After all, you can re-sell the real thing, you will probably give or chuck away those plastic ones. Are they kids size?

As McVickers shows, players are VERY generous and you may not have to buy one anyway.

Also, if you are thinking of future use don't get a tam, a forage cap will get more use.

I've got one of those plastic tommy pots, brought 3 and went halves with a mate and flogged the spare. With a helmet net from a distance and scratched goggles they look fine
If I did Brit as my main loadout I'd have a genuine, and as stated, loaners for the game are the cheapest option, but it's not that bad. A bit of foam on the inside helps keep it on straight, there is no liner.

I have one as well... they're solid enough, have no liner... have the right shape and are reasonable colour...

I've never used the one I have... If someone wants it I'll bring it.