Mrs. Perigo

I know the Home Guard, it was funny marching up and down 'cos they only had these stick things over the shoulder - there wasn't enough guns for the soldiers never mind the Home Guard. We weren't prepared you know.

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Harry Beazley

The drill halls were commandeered for...how to use a rifle, how to throw a bomb, how to take a rifle to pieces and put it back together. Old sweats were called back to train for rifle shooting. I know the first time I fired a rifle, gosh, it was like someone giving you a clout around the...you know, the re-coil, and also there was half of us didn't even know what to look for regarding the sights. You had five 'up the spout', I do remember that, that's bullets, you had five at a time. I don't know what sort of rifles they were, I've not the faintest idea...but I didn't do a lot of that because I was drafted into the intelligence department to learn Morse code and the radio.

World War I victory celebration, the Dedication of the Cenotaph in Earl Shilton

I can remember three old sweats, one was 72 - I was 32 - and he'd fought in the First World War because he'd had his toes froze off in the Dardenelles. From what he told us that was a real disaster - it was so cold. Mind you, there you were, you had a rifle and you were squinting along it and you knew you weren't going to hit...and I'm thinking of old Jack, he got glasses on and he ambled up and put a rifle to his shoulder and the target was there - you used to hit a bell so when you hit it you'd know - and he'd had a cough and he'd got a cigarette on and he'd bring it to his shoulder and wham! you'd hear the bell go straight away. He could do it left or right, it was marvellous.