Special events mark 70 years since founding of real 'Dad's Army'

4:47pm Friday 9th July 2010

By Sean Duggan

CELEBRATIONS will be held at Osterley Park to commemorate 70 years since the founding of the Home Guard, this weekend.

Events on Saturday and Sunday at the National Trust property near Isleworth will commemorate the founding of the real 'Dad's Army' during the Second World War.

In 1940, a group of artists, spies and war revolutionaries came together to set up the Home Guard, tasked with defending home, king and country from Operation Sea Lion – the planned Nazi invasion of Britain.

The stately 18th-Century surroundings of Osterley Park became the first training facility of the Home Guard, originally called the Local Defence Volunteers.

This weekend, Osterley Park will go back to the year 1940 as it celebrates the 70th anniversary of this historic training school.

Visitors will be able to step back in time and witness Osterley Park as an authentic Home Guard camp, recreated by the country’s leading wartime re-enactment groups.

The weekend will also reveal the start of the ‘Digging Dad’s Army’ Project – the very first archaeological dig of the original training school, known as Home Guard School No 1.

Specialist archaeologists will be investigating the old training site, looking for building foundations, as well as objects left behind by the school’s original staff and students.

Visitors will be able to enjoy tours of the excavation, study finds and on Sunday, assist the project’s geophysics team.

Project leader, Andy Brockman, is also looking for help with research from members of the public: He said: “Incredibly, there is still very little known about this element of the Second World War.

“We have little in the way of eye witness accounts for instance, and we’re really keen to hear from anyone who has stories, memorabilia or photographs.”

The original Home Guard training school was led by the left-wing writer and former Spanish Civil War commander, Tom Wintringham.

Trainees were taught the theory and practice of modern warfare, from resisting an enemy invasion to house-to-house fighting.

Training included knowledge of a range of Guerilla tactics, such as how to stab a sentry in the back and decapitate an enemy motor cyclist.

Knife fighting skills were demonstrated by a veteran of the Spanish Civil War, ‘Yank’ Levy, and ‘Mad’ Major Wilfred Vernon taught recruits how to mix homemade explosives.

Osterley Park was given to the National Trust straight after the war. Normal admission charges to the property and park apply, but events are free and run from 12pm to 5pm.