AS clouds of war in Europe began to rain destruction on the British Expeditionary Force the British Government began a hastily conceived plan to create what would become the biggest all-volunteer army in history.

On the evening of May 14, 1940, just four days since the Nazi invasion of the Low Countries, War Secretary Anthony Eden made a wireless appeal for ‘men aged 17 or over who wished to do something for their country’ to volunteer for a new force to be called the ‘Local Defence Volunteers’.

These men would be uniformed, armed but unpaid.

The answer to this call to arms was incredible.

Across the nation in only 24 hours some 250,000 men signed up, seriously exceeding the Government’s estimates.

The perceived and widely feared threat to Britain was that of the enemy’s airborne forces.

Stories of the Nazi airborne assaults on Holland and Belgium caused a palpable fear here in Britain and eyes were ever turned towards the skies.

To counter this threat the LDV was to carry out patrols to deny the enemy their landing grounds.

Initially the LDV was poorly equipped.

Uniforms consisted of nothing more than a white armband with the letters LDV stamped on them.

Weapons were ‘donated’ firearms, shotguns, air-rifles and all manner of primitive protection such as axes, pitchforks, clubs and so forth.

How these men would have fared against highly trained and determined German soldiers is a question that has intrigued historians for decades.

Equipping the LDV was a logistical nightmare for the government.

As May drew to a close there were more than 750,000 volunteers and the Government had only anticipated that 200,000 men in total would sign up.

Priority was given to the areas deemed most likely to be at risk of invasion and so uniforms and equipment were hurriedly pushed out to the south coast where sea-borne invasion was anticipated.

Bicester would be a key player in the overall disposition of LDV units across Oxfordshire and HQ was quickly established, utilizing a small space in the Air Raid Protection (ARP) building.

Later in the war HQ would be established in the Lodge at Garth.

As uniforms and equipment became available and an effective command and control system was established, in addition to watching the skies the LDV would also be detailed to guard strategic targets such as the telephone exchange, electricity, water and gas supplies, rail and road links.

More importantly however, would be that Bicester was designated an anti-tank island with all that that entailed.

Pillboxes and tank traps would be constructed in quick time, many of which can still be seen across the county.

On July 23, 1940, less than six weeks since its formation and due to low morale, Winston Churchill intervened and insisted that the LDV be renamed the Home Guard.

Uniforms and equipment were now arriving on a fairly regular basis and by November 1940 Bicester battalion was in possession of 750 rifles, five Vickers guns, 29 Lewis guns and 60 BARs (Browning automatic rifles).

The force would go on to defend Bicester throughout the war.