General Ironside wanted supplies in every village and on every roadblock. A leaflet was produced in June outlining the method of manufacture and Royal Engineers travelled the country providing further training. These were distributed to both the Home Guard and the army in 1940. The quickest solution to produce an anti-tank weapon on a large scale was to use petrol bombs (‘Molotov cocktails’) as used successfully in the Spanish Civil War and Finnish Winter War. When rifles began to arrive, some men followed the advice of Tom Wintringham and filed down the tip of the rounds to make 'dum-dum' bullets that would cause horrific injuries. Many Home Guard supplemented official supplies by making their own, using melted candle wax to bind together normal shot. One million rounds of ‘lethal shot’ for shotguns, illegal under international law, were distributed in June 1940 (four million by the end of January 1941). Some of these weapons might seem of minimal value but there was a chilling side to the home-made arsenal. Farmers’ shotguns, museum exhibits, First World War souvenirs and even kitchen knives tied to broom handles were all employed. Frustrated local units therefore armed themselves with whatever was available and the ‘broomstick army’ legend was born. The government had enough problems trying to re-arm the army after the withdrawal from Dunkirk and could not immediately meet the expectations of a whole new force. Such reasoning was of little comfort to those without firearms. The government had not intended that this would be a fighting force with a need to arm every man, and also assumed that thirty per cent of the Home Guard might not be able to muster immediately upon ‘Action Stations’ due to their occupation or other responsibilities. Within two months there were over one million volunteers - all demanding a fighting role. The overwhelming response to Eden’s broadcast on the evening of forced a rapid re-assessment of how the volunteers might best be used and consequently how they needed to be equipped. The government were expecting to raise around 500,000 men for the new LDV - on the basis of their experience with the 350,000 strong VTC in the First World War. Any truth in the myth of the 'Broomstick Army' refers to a very narrow time span in the early days of the organisation. At first a cause of frustration, the paucity of weapons eventually became a source of pride for veterans, symbolising their determination in the face of seeming impossible odds. The idea of the 'Broomstick Army' is an enduring image of the LDV / Home Guard.
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