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INTRODUCTION:
Formed in 1982 by the Thatcher Government, The Home Service Force (HSF) was
intended purely as a Home Defence unit to be use to guard key points throughout the UK against
sabotage which was thought might come from the Spetznez
(Russian Special Forces) or any other source for that matter.
There were no shortage of volunteers following a brief advertising campaign and units were formed all
over the UK. The HSF was a limited commitment section of the Territorial Army/Reserves and its
members were personnel who had previously served in the armed forces. This military service could
have been with the Army, Navy or Air Force, MoD Police or as adult instructors in the Army, Navy or Air
Cadet Forces. Reserve forces of significant length of service were also eligible. This meant that there
wasn’t the usual raw recruit training, just refresher training to bring everyone up to scratch, for
example, some of the volunteers were used to the Lee Enfield 303 rifle and many a drill night was spent
getting to grips with the SLR and then later with the SA80.
These ex-service personnel brought with them a broad and varied military experience including seeing
action in most of the trouble spots around the world since the Korean War. The HSF developed into a
unique unit that became the subject of the expected mickey taking that inevitably ended up with the
question:
“who the hell are you lot.”?
After disbandment in 1993, many HSF units formed their own associations...
and so did 5 Coy 10 Para --- Read on. [Pegasus Forces Lodge]
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