On Patrol With Just A Stick!

Stacksteads Home Guard

On May 14, 1940, the Secretary of State for War, Anthony Eden, made a broadcast calling for men between 17 and 65 to enlist in a new force known as the Local Defence Volunteers. This initiative was established to address the threat of German parachutists. Within days of the broadcast, over 132 volunteers had come forward to sign enrolment forms, organizing themselves into four companies—A, B, C, and D—based on their occupations as railwaymen, colliers, or public utility employees.

The force was initially commanded by Mr. Harry Cropper of Holmes Villas, Burnley Road, who had previously served in the Great War with the Royal Engineers. They were first known as the 17th Battalion L.D.V. and later became the 17th Home Guard. In mid-August 1940, they were finally renamed the 32nd Lancs Home Guard.

At that time, the only weapons available to them were a collection of 12-bore shotguns lent by various sportsmen, along with a trickle of other arms. Initially, the ratio was one rifle to every ten men, which was later improved to one for every five men. During numerous air raid alerts, the men patrolled with only a stick and an L.D.V. armlet for quite some time.

Eventually, the battalion received two Browning machine guns, but most of the men were only familiar with the Lewis or Vickers guns. The machine guns arrived without instruction manuals, so they had to teach themselves how to use them until the manuals were delivered several months later. During the stand-down ceremony in 1944, Lieutenant Hoyle, who took command after Mr. Cropper stepped down due to ill health, recounted how he and Major Tattersall experimented with the first Northover Projector, an improvised anti-tank weapon they received.

Lieutenant Hoyle went to assess the impact of the shot, unaware of the hazardous contents of the projectile. Later that evening, he returned home and had been sitting in the house for some time when his wife noticed that his shoes and the carpet were smoking due to him inadvertently bringing home some phosphorus. He remarked that dealing with that situation had become a much more pressing concern than winning the war. Additionally, Lieutenant Hoyle related how the tailors in Bacup, as well as anyone capable of making alterations, were kept busy trying to fit middle-aged men into military uniforms designed for young men aged 18 to 25.