Worcestershire's contribution to the story of the First World War Home Guard. A movement that took its inspiration from traditional  Victorian visions of home defence, trying to come to terms with the new age of total warfare.  The Volunteer Training Corps, which formally became the Volunteer Force in 1916 (although VTC continued to be widely used)  was the inspiration for the Second World War Home Guard and its promotion of  guerrilla warfare, shaping some of the mistrust felt by the War Office towards the Home Guard in 1940.  

 

The VTC was restricted to men but it worked closely with the militant  Women's Volunteer Reserve, an equally neglected organisation  of the First World War.

 

This website is an introduction to current research (with Mick Wilks), due for publication in 2018.

 

Malcolm Atkin