Home Guard

Anthony Eden, Great Britain’s Secretary of State for War, spoke to the nation from the BBC Studios on the evening of May 14, 1940. Germany had invaded Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France by air and on the ground just four days before. Although Britain was not yet under direct assault, it seemed just a matter of time before German paratroopers would appear in the sky.

To help detect and combat the aerial invasion that seemed inevitable, Eden announced the creation of a new force called the “Local Defence Volunteers,” and explained: “This name describes its duties in three words.” Men between the ages of 17 and 65 who were not currently engaged in the armed services were invited to volunteer by reporting to their local police stations.

The first recruit arrived within four minutes of the end of Eden’s broadcast. A quarter of a million men volunteered within the first 24 hours. By the end of July, 1.5 million men had joined. (Women were not initially invited to volunteer).

In late June, Winston Churchill told Eden that the name “Local Defense Volunteers” seemed uninspiring. Churchill’s suggestion – Home Guard – stuck, and further inspired Britain.

Winston Churchill inspects the 1st American Squadron of the Home Guard, January 9, 1941 Source: :Wikimedia Commons
Note: Most Home Guard volunteers did not receive uniforms; neither were they necessarily armed. 

The horrific recent events in Ukraine have inspired many comparisons to the citizens and leaders of Great Britain in 1940. One natural impulse is to compare Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky with Winston Churchill.

When American reporter Richard Engel mentioned that comparison to Zelensky, the Ukrainian leader replied with a smile: “I think Churchill drank a little more than me.”

Several days before, when American resources reportedly offered Zelensky an evacuation from the war zone, he replied. “The fight is here. I need ammunition, not a ride.”

It’s hard to imagine that Churchill would not have smiled, tipped his cigar, and raised a toast to Zelensky’s bravery and authentic character.

I have not yet earned a sufficient quantity of “that guy” points to relevantly compare anyone to Winston Churchill. Fortunately, historian and acclaimed Churchill biographer Andrew Roberts, who happens to be the embodiment of that guy, is now regularly asked his thoughts on this comparison. He told one reporter that Zelensky’s speeches and actions are “straight out of the Churchillian playbook,” and mentioned to another that Zelensky “is channeling an authentic inner Churchill.”

Churchill certainly would have applauded the participation of teachers, writers, boxers, actors, dancers, so many parents, and other citizens in Ukraine’s version of the Home Guard. In comparison with Great Britain in 1940, Ukraine is under attack on the ground, and the citizens of Ukraine are engaged in offensive action against the Russian invaders.

Churchill addressed Parliament for the first time as Prime Minister on May 13, 1940. Most accounts of his speech end with this stirring passage:

"We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival."

But Churchill did not end there. After several sentences in which he extolled the British Empire, Churchill closed with:

“At this time I feel entitled to claim the aid of all, and I say, 'come then, let us go forward together with our united strength.'"

I’ve ended each recent day with a prayer for Volodymyr Zelensky and the heroic Ukrainian people. I cringe each morning when I open my browser, fearing the worst.

The spirit of the Home Guard lives on in the men and women from all walks of life who take up arms to defend Ukraine. They inspire the world. Let our united strength help lead them to victory.

Thanks for reading.