Lord Halifax

Edward Frederick Lindley Wood (1881-1959), British Conservative politician. Elected as Conservative Member of Parliament in 1910. Served in the cabinet (a group of senior officials appointed by the Prime Minister to advise on policy) as president of the Board of Education (1922-24) and Minister of Agriculture (1924-25). Elevated to the peerage in 1924 and was Viceroy of India 1925-31. In 1935 was appointed War Secretary by PM Stanley Baldwin and also became leader of the House of Lords (second chamber of British government). In 1938, was appointed Foreign Secretary by Neville Chamberlain who had replaced Baldwin as PM in 1937.

While serving in the War Cabinet prior to 1939, Halifax supported Chamberlain's policy of appeasement, believing that the government should make peace overtures to Hitler through the Italians. He remained as Foreign Secretary for only a few months after Chamberlain was replaced as PM by Winston Churchill in May 1940. He served as British ambassador to the United States from December 1940 until May 1946.

Link: Lord Halifax


Hastings

The setting for Foyle's War, the town is on the south coast of England. 65.7 miles (105.7 km) south west of Greater London.

Link: Visit Hastings
Link: The War Years in Hastings
Link: Mrs Seymour's Hastings


Heil Hitler Salute

A Nazi salute, the words "Heil Hitler" being said with right hand and arm raised. A way of expressing loyalty to Adolph Hitler and solidarity with his cause. "Heil" is a noun (all nouns are capitalised in German). The word means "welfare": used as a salute in this way, it could be read as "hail Hitler" - hail to the leader.

Episode: The White Feather


Home Guard


On 14 May 1940, under the threat of invasion, the British Government called into being the Local Defence Volunteers (LDV). This was made up of men aged 17 to 65, who were too young, too old or too infirm to join the regular army, or who were in civilian work vital to the war effort and therefore exempt from call up. The intention was for this force to hamper the initial progress of the enemy on British shores to give time for the effective deployment of regular Army personnel. In the summer of 1940, the name Home Guard was officially adopted after Winston Churchill used the term in a BBC radio broadcast.

Recruitment exceeded expectations and within weeks the LDV had one and a half million members. In 1940/41, approximately 40% of volunteers were World War One veterans. Women were not allowed in combat units and so were not recruited to the Home Guard, but later in the war the formation of the Women's Home Guard Auxiliaries enabled them to assist in administration.

To begin with, training and equipment was hardly adequate. Up-to-date weapons were not readily available to the new force, so members usually had to use those that were to hand or improvised, eg shotguns, hunting rifles, knives, and pikes made by welding bayonets onto the end of gas pipes. The bayonets were surplus items obtained from the then neutral USA. In 1940, the USA also supplied a stock of old rifles and a limited amount of ammunition. Units salvaged items from downed aircraft and often devised their own defence methods and equipment. By late 1941, however, the Home Guard was much better trained and armed and had become an effective force.

The Home Guard was stood down on December 3, 1944 and was disbanded altogether on December 31, 1945.

Link: Britain's Home Guard (h2g2)
Link: A Home Guard Site
Link: The Home Guard: A Military and Political History


Hythe

The Hythe mentioned in Bad Blood could be one of two real towns. There is a Hythe (Kent) to the north-east of Hastings, near Folkestone and another along the coast to the south-west near Southampton in Hampshire.

Link: Hythe, Kent
Link: Hythe, Hampshire

Episode: Bad Blood