Recent Recap & Update

Right, lets try and keep these recaps a little more regular! If I forget to post one at least every two weeks - someone remind me. But at least it hasn’t been as long since I posted the last one! 

While we’ve covered a fair bit of ground ranging from drill submachine guns, unusual pocket pistols, spy guns and finished up a series on the ACR rifles I am aware that I’m not posting as often as I would like. While my aim is to always get something to you guys everyday, I haven’t been able to keep that up recently.

This is because I am gearing up for a research trip over to the US next month. I’m going to be at the Cody Firearms Museum for just over a week researching into Winchester’s role during World War One. It’s very exciting! I’m also hoping/planning to get lots of research done for both HF and TAB. I’ll hopefully be able to share some photos and give updates and snippets as I research too. 

So with the trip coming up and not knowing if I’ll be able to post regularly while travelling I have been busy writing content to post while I’m away. So as you can imagine it’s been a hectic couple of weeks. Depending on length posts usually take a couple of hours to research and then a couple to write up and I’ve got some pretty exciting stuff queued up, including posts on prototype Colts, the Reising submachine guns and some of John Browning’s guns too. So keep an eye out for those in the coming weeks! 

Thank you as always for following, reading and supporting Historical Firearms. If you enjoy my content please consider supporting Historical Firearms through Patreon - even just $1 a month is unbelievably helpful at the moment!  You can also help spread the word about HF and the content I cover by sharing links with friends and sharing on social media, don’t forget you can also follow HF on facebook! 

Thanks for reading guys. ~ Matt

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Home Service Force

The Home Service Force (HSF) is a little known volunteer defence force, similar to the Home Guard established during the Second World War, formed from British military veterans during the 1980s. The first HSF units were stood up in September 1982, these trial units proved popular and the force was rapidly expanded. 

Established in during a phase of a deterioration in relations between the Soviet Union and the West, the HSF was intended to defend key points and installations against potential enemy sabotage or special forces raids in the event of war with the Communist Bloc. 

The force expanded in 1985 with dozens of regional units being established, each attached to an associated parent battalion or regiment for logistic and administration purposes. (A full list of these can be found here.) By the late 1980s the HSF had reached 5,000 strong. HSF units were frequently based at local Territorial Army (TA) Centres, which themselves were affiliated to parent units.

The men enlisted for a four year period and trained for two drill nights per month and eight weekends per year with additional training exercises with regular units. In these exercises the HSF units regularly excelled. To join the HSF applicants required a minimum of two years service in any branch of the British military, including Cadet Forces instructors. The initial age limit was 50 but this was later raised to 60. As a result many members of the HSF were seasoned veterans of numerous conflicts including Korea, Malaya, Kenya, Aden, Northern Ireland and the Falklands. 

The HSF platoons were equiped much as a regular British Army platoon of the day was with L1A1 SLRs, L4 Bren guns and L7 GPMGs. Later some were also issued with new L85A1s. The HSF platoons did not have their own regimental insignia and wore the caps and badges of their affiliated regular parent unit. It was not until the HSF was disbanded that they were later granted a unit crest, a dagger through the letters ‘HSF’, for the Home Service Force Association.

After a decade and the end of the Cold War, the decision was taken to disband the Home Service Force in 1992, with the last units standing down in 1993. 

Sources:

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