Archie to SAM: A Short Operational History of Ground-Based Air ...

ANTIAIRCRAFT DEFENSE THROUGH WORLD WAR II
well to enemy bombing.” 13 In all, about 68,000 women served
in British antiaircraft units during the war.
Another approach to the manpower shortage was to use the
Home Guard. These men were, for the most part, willing
enough but were over age or physically restricted. In addition,
they could only serve 48 hours every 28 days. The peak
strength of the Home Guard serving guns exceeded 145,000 in
January 1944. Beginning in October 1941, one weapon employed
by the Home Guard was the unguided rocket (fig. 6).
These proved to be visually impressive, but militarily ineffective.
14 Despite these measures to compensate for shortages
in manpower, the number of personnel assigned to antiaircraft
duties declined from 330,000 in 1941 to 264,000 in mid-1942.
Britain just did not have sufficient personnel for all its needs,
and the number of personnel available for antiaircraft duties
determined how many guns the British could deploy. 15
Figure 6. Rocket firings. In addition to guns, the British also employed
unguided rockets as antiaircraft weapons. The British deployed thousands
of rocket barrels at home; but while impressive when fired, they
registered few hits. (Reprinted from Imperial War Museum.)
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