Britain's older home defenders would not have been militarily irrelevant. Many Territorial and Home Guard personnel were First World War veterans who knew their local ground and were defending time for their families to escape. An invader could defeat them with artillery and concentrated force, but doing so would consume time, ammunition, and troops. Dover Castle, the fortified ground around Box Hill, and military canals illustrate how geography and prepared positions could compound that delay. Their value lay in local knowledge, fortification, and the prospect of irregular resistance rather than in matching a modern field army on equal terms.
Notable Point · 1:07:35-1:10:30
How Britain's home defenders could delay invasion
A Second World War comparison explains how older local veterans could impose delay and casualties even against a stronger invading army.