Topic: Could the Royal Navy alone prevent any German invasion of Britain during 1940?

BritinAfrica · July 30th, 2009

Before my dad joined the army at 17, he was a member of the Home Guard. He was issued a BAR along with 10 magazines, my grandad was issued a Lee Enfield and 50 rounds as were a couple of my uncles before they were called up. Thousands of homes, towns and villages in the UK during this period were armed and ready to fight if they had to.

There is a brilliant story I heard regarding a police amnesty for unlicenced firearms in UK during the late 1960's. A little old lady phoned the local cop shop and asked the police to collect a gun that her husband (who had recently died) was issued during the war.

The police asked her to bring the gun in, "I cant" she replied, "Its too heavy."

A police car was dispatched to the house, the policeman walked into the front room and nearly fell over in fright. Sat in the room with its barrel pointing down the street with an excellent arc of fire was a pristine Vickers Machine gun, complete with water can and a belt of ammunition fed into the gun.

The husband was a member of the Home Guard and was issued the Vickers for the defence of his street in the event of an invasion.

The lady was asked why her husband didnt hand it back after the war ended, she replied, "He tried to, but no one was interested as there was no paper work anywhere for the gun."

There was a lot of commotion, and radio calls, and visits to the house by many senior police officers, where it was finally decided that perhaps a phone call to nearest army unit might help.

The local army unit stated that the Vickers hadnt been issued since 1966 and that present day soldiers had never seen one, let alone know how to unload it. During the conversation an elderly civilian who was sweeping the floors in the office overheard what was being said, stated "I was a Vickers gunner during the war. I'll unload the old girl for you."

The civilian was bundled into a Land Rover and taken to the house. he walked into the room where the gun was sitting and apparently his eyes lit up, running his hands over the gun saying, "She's a beauty."

The gun was unloaded and removed from its tripod, from what I hear the gun ended up in a museum as "one of the finest examples still in perfect working condition."

July 30th, 2009
BritinAfrica Tribuni Angusticlavii	Before my dad joined the army at 17, he was a member of the Home Guard. He was issued a BAR along with 10 magazines, my grandad was issued a Lee Enfield and 50 rounds as were a couple of my uncles before they were called up. Thousands of homes, towns and villages in the UK during this period were armed and ready to fight if they had to. There is a brilliant story I heard regarding a police amnesty for unlicenced firearms in UK during the late 1960's. A little old lady phoned the local cop shop and asked the police to collect a gun that her husband (who had recently died) was issued during the war. The police asked her to bring the gun in, "I cant" she replied, "Its too heavy." A police car was dispatched to the house, the policeman walked into the front room and nearly fell over in fright. Sat in the room with its barrel pointing down the street with an excellent arc of fire was a pristine Vickers Machine gun, complete with water can and a belt of ammunition fed into the gun. The husband was a member of the Home Guard and was issued the Vickers for the defence of his street in the event of an invasion. The lady was asked why her husband didnt hand it back after the war ended, she replied, "He tried to, but no one was interested as there was no paper work anywhere for the gun." There was a lot of commotion, and radio calls, and visits to the house by many senior police officers, where it was finally decided that perhaps a phone call to nearest army unit might help. The local army unit stated that the Vickers hadnt been issued since 1966 and that present day soldiers had never seen one, let alone know how to unload it. During the conversation an elderly civilian who was sweeping the floors in the office overheard what was being said, stated "I was a Vickers gunner during the war. I'll unload the old girl for you." The civilian was bundled into a Land Rover and taken to the house. he walked into the room where the gun was sitting and apparently his eyes lit up, running his hands over the gun saying, "She's a beauty." The gun was unloaded and removed from its tripod, from what I hear the gun ended up in a museum as "one of the finest examples still in perfect working condition." __________________ Adversus solem ne loquitor Last edited by BritinAfrica; July 30th, 2009 at 08:26..