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Look, Duck and Vanish!

Ernest Hammond Fred Sharp Arthur Tolputt Dick Goodwin Ian Donald Roy Brice Arthur Pentecost Lt PA Mills Maj FA Belchamber Lt NV Sutton Sgt Charlie Menage Cpl Eddie Morecroft Move the mouse over the faces in the picture to reveal the names Home Guard Parade at Crabble
The Home Guard on parade at Crabble
The Local Defence Volunteer Force (LDV) were formed to provide a lookout and to act as a second line of defence in the event of an invasion.  Nicknamed "Look, Duck and Vanish", they were later re-named the "Home Guard" by Churchill.

This picture of the Dover Home Guard was taken at Crabble Athletic Ground, at the beginning of WW2.

Click on the faces to see who they are.  Some of them have identified themselves or their relatives and given us some information about what happened to them.

Can anyone identify the other faces in this photograph or tell us more about them? 

Back row

2nd from the left is Ernest John Hammond, aged about 16-17.  He went on to join the RAF and became a rear gunner in Lancasters.

2nd from the right, is Dick Goodwin.

 Back row, far right, is my uncle, Frederick Charles Sharp, aged about 15-16. He joined the Home Guard when he left school.  Shortly afterwards he joined the NAAFI, attached to the Navy, and at the age of 17 went on board ship.  However, he never got to go to sea, so on his 18th birthday he joined the RAF.  He was later to see service in the North African campaign and was awarded the Africa Star.  He is currently living in Folkestone.

Middle row

2nd from the left is Ian Donald.

3rd from the left is Roy Brice.

The tall chap in the centre is Arthur Pentecost.

2nd from the right is Arthur Tolputt.  His son, Keith, passed on this information, along with several others identified by his father, and says that Arthur is still living in Dover.

Front Row

3rd from the left is Lt. P. A. Mills.

4th from the left is Maj. F. A. Belchamber.

4th from the right is Lt. N. V. Sutton.

3rd from the right is Sgt. Charlie Menage.

2nd from the right is Cpl. Eddie Morecroft.

 

Who are the others?  Please contact webmaster<AT>eastkent.freeuk.com if you recognise anybody.

For more Home Guard pictures, click here

Another picture from the family collection, kindly loaned by Fred Sharp
Our thanks to Arthur Tolputt and others for supplying the information
Page last updated on 04 January 2007 at 08:24 PM