JIMMY PERRY 1923—2016
Popular interest in the Home Guard (HG) was sparked afresh in 1968 with the debut of the long-running BBC comedy series. It was conceived by Jimmy Perry, who scripted the series with his writing partner David Croft. Although too young to be called up, Perry had volunteered for the HG in Watford, joining up in 1940. He served in what became the 10th Battalion of the Hertfordshire HG, and used some of his experiences with the battalion when creating characters and plots for the programme. So a colleague, an elderly veteran, became the basis for the aged Corporal Jones, while Perry partly based Private Pike on himself because his mother always insisted that he wear a scarf.
