Washington Home Guard

The Local Defence Volunteers (LDV)- later The Home Guard- were formed days before the evacuation of Dunkirk in May 1940, where there was a fear of imminent invasion by the Germans. Their role was to frustrate the invaders as best they could, even for just a matter of hours. They were drawn from men ineligible for military service because they were too young or old (below 18 or between 42 and 65), or in a reserved occupation such as coal mining or shipbuilding. Throughout the country one and a half million men volunteered, including 80,000 in County Durham. The 23rd Durham Battalion was based in Washington, in platoons of 25 to 30 men in Springwell, Stone Cellars (Great Usworth), Washington, Washington Station and Fatfield.

Harraton men served in the Chester Le Street Battalion, the 2nd Durhams.

Separate from the regular Home Guard were Auxiliaries, specially trained, highly secret quasi-military units who would conduct irregular warfare if Britain was occupied. They were in patrols of  4 to 8 men. They were stood down in November 1944.

There are two excellent resources for finding out more about the Washington Battalion. Firstly the National Archives website records 1,383 men in the Washington Battalion and the Washington Auxiliary patrol of 8 men. Individual records can be downloaded from Durham Home Guard 1939-1945 - The National Archives.

And secondly a 1941 map, now in the Durham Record Office (EP/Wa 14/57), showing the deployment of the Home Guard in Washington. See the complete map below.  Amazingly this shows the headquarters and officers of the battalion and each platoon, other military installations and critical civilian facilities such as power stations, ARP posts (Air Raid Precautions) and doctors and nurses. Where known, telephone numbers were included

The first pdf below is of slides that sets out the story of the men of the Washington Home Guard:

- A summary of the Home Guard

- An example of a National Archive record showing what information is available for each man

- The names and addresses of the eight men in the Auxiliary Home Guard

- A series of map extracts showing the Battalion HQ and names of officers at Birtley Old Hall, and the HQs, officers and Observation Posts (OPs) in the area each platoon was responsible for, plus RAF Usworth Aerodrome

Note, they were not a 'Dad's Army'. Nearly 7 out of 10 were between 17 and 40 years of age in 1940, and just one 65 years old. The 21% below 17 signed  up when they reached the eligible age, plus one 11 year old dismissed a few days later when his age was revealed! Many were only registered for a few weeks or days before being conscripted into the regular forces.

The second pdf is a list of the 1,391 men with their dates of birth, that can be searched by right clicking in the document and opening the ‘find text’ box.

We are grateful for the photographs and documents from raggyspelk.co.uk, and Society members Billy Robson and Ernie Guy.