Description:This card was issued to Geoffrey Bennett of Rawnsley Road, Rawnsley, Hednesford who was a member of Stafford Area Local Volunteer Defence Corps, Cannock Group, during World War II. He was a colliery blacksmith by day and would have been 25 at the time. LDV duties would have to be performed in addition to the longer working hours of the time, sometimes at night. Coincidentally, when he moved to work on the construction of Lea Hall colliery at Rugeley as a blacksmith, his clocking-in number was also 21.
The Local Defence Volunteer Corps (LDV) was the forerunner of The Home Guard. It originated from a radio appeal on 14 May 1940 by Anthony Eden, the Secretary for War, calling on all men between 17 and 65 to volunteer. On 22 July 1940 the LDV was renamed the Home Guard. It stood down in 1944 and disbanded a year later - its work was done!