"Colonel Stirrup pump" by Reginald Mount, 1942

Catalogue ref: INF 3/1425

Experimental drawing for ‘Stirrup Pump', a retired Colonel. The retired Colonel is reminiscent of the type of ex-soldier, too old for regular service, who joined the Local Defence Volunteers (LDV), later to be known as the ‘Home Guard', expected to fight well-armed German forces with a few old rifles and basic equipment. Stirrup pumps and sand-buckets were the main form of defence against incendiary fire-bombs regularly dropped by the Nazis over British cities – see accompanying illustration in INF 3/1426.