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To the Last Round: The Leicestershire and Rutland Home Guard 1940-1945
 
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To the Last Round: The Leicestershire and Rutland Home Guard 1940-1945 [Illustrated] (Hardcover)

by Austin J. Ruddy (Author), "Leicester Mercury" (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Hardcover: 221 pages
  • Publisher: Breedon Books Publishing Co Ltd; illustrated edition edition (1 May 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1859835597
  • ISBN-13: 978-1859835593
  • Product Dimensions: 26 x 20.2 x 2.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 579,167 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Product Description

During World War Two, up to 50,000 men and women served in the Leicestershire and Rutland Home Guard, ready to defend their families, friends and fellow citizens from a ruthless invader. Yet today their stories and sacrifices are practically forgotten - until now. Using a wide variety of sources, the author reveals the true story behind the Home Guard. Apart from their well-know infantry role, Home Guards manned anti-aircraft guns and rockets, formed bomb disposal squads and helped train Special Forces units. Women Auxiliaries and boy cadets also served in the force. Over 50 of the last Home Guards tell first hand of the many events, both serious and humorous, that occurred while they defended the Home Front. Also published for the first time are: details of secret defence schemes, showing how the two counties would have been defended to the last round; how three secret local resistance organisations would have carried on fighting after Nazi occupation; how the Leicestershire Home Guard helped capture downed German airmen and escaped prisoners of war, while their Rutland counterparts had less success; the stories behind the tragic deaths of 18 Leicestershire Home Guards; and, previously unseen dramatic photographs from the Leicester Mercury archives, together with rare documents and memorabilia, that give an insight into the Home Guard's uniforms, insignia and weaponry. "To the Last Round" is a moving and candid tribute to the Leicestershire and Rutland Home Guard and will provide a welcome addition to the subject at both local and national level.


About the Author

Austin J. Ruddy has studied and collected the social and military history of the Second World War for most of his life. He regularly appears on radio and television talking about the subject and writes for magazines, newspapers, journals and websites. He currently works in the Editorial department of the Leicester Mercury. This is his second book.

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Customer Reviews

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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
By Stephen Carvell (England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
"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
By B. C. Lowry (Great Britain) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
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
By C. E. Cartwright (Leicester, U.K.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
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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