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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
To the Last Round by Austin J. Ruddy, 8 Dec 2007
"To the Last Round" provides a first class detailed record of the Leicestershire and Rutland Home Guard. In addition to covering the military roles and social aspects of the Home Guard, there are excellent chapters on Home Guard weapons and military defences including examples of military structures from the 1940 to 1945 era that still survive in Leicestershire.
Numerous photographs from the era, maps and examples of Home Guard documents considerably enhance the book.
I thoroughly recommend this book to all who have an interest in military history and is an excellent addition to Austin's first book "British Anti-Invasion Defences 1940-1945".
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
To The Last Round, 28 Aug 2007
The author has done a magnificent job in describing in great detail, and with magnificent photographs and reproduced documents, the life not just of the battalions of the Leicester and Rutland Home Guard, but also of the men who served often under very arduous conditions. The seriousness of the endeavour is brought home and the book will, I hope, help to put the TV image of 'Dad's Army' firmly back in the world to which it belongs- entertainment!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding!, 12 Jul 2007
This book is a thoroughly exciting and much anticipated contribution to Leicestershire and Rutland's wartime history: an outstanding publication that does not fail to deliver.
'To the Last Round' provides a detailed, chronological account of all Home Guard activities and events that took place, during the war; it also includes a chapter on the identified physical remains of various defences that were/are situated throughout both counties (i.e. pillboxes, spigot mortars, anti tank defences, etc...), supported by good quality maps and diagrams.
However, this book goes much further. Due to the combined academic and journalistic experiences of the author, he goes on to include interviewed accounts from the very veterans who served in the various Home Guard units, themselves. As a result, invaluable stories and accounts of the training and military exercises, are revealed in detail for, in most cases, the first time. He also lists all the known units which were set up in response to the 'call to arms'.
One feature in this book really captured my imagination, and is still very much a mystery today is the existence of the Home Guard 'Specialist Units'. For the first time, the author reveals the existence of secret 'Post-Invasion' resistance organisations based in Leicestershire, specialised in guerrilla training and sabotage tactics, secretly labelled as 'Shock Sections', possibly not too dissimilar from the better known wartime 'Auxiliary Units'. This book uncovers a tantalising glimpse into a secret wartime fact where even now, few know of or even dare talk about. - Truly fascinating -
This book will prove to be a true and lasting testament to the trials and efforts of the Home Guard, who chose to potentially sacrifice themselves for the defence of our homes and county, in the face of a highly trained, professional German fighting machine.
This book is full of previously unpublished high quality photographs from numerous sources, retrieved throughout the region as well as the local newspaper archives. A benchmark publication to a high standard of academic quality, much removed from the overdone picture-book style, that is all to often printed by publishers. Full of detailed references and sources, this is an excellent example of a job well done!
Essential reading for anyone interested in the wartime history of both Leicestershire and Rutland, and for anyone interested in the workings of the Home Guard, during the Second World War.
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