During the initial stages of the war many volunteers answered the call to arms and offered themselves for military service. In Aston and Weston “Dads Army” was not confined to the Second World War. On the 29th January 1915 Lieut. Colonel Winterbottom presided over a meeting in the Aston Village Hall for the purpose of enrolling men willing to serve in the Home Guards. It was deemed important to have a body of disciplined men in case of invasion. They would be trained to prevent panic, to control food supplies and to guard strategic positions in the surrounding countryside. Once a committee had been formed, 18 men enrolled. They were commanded by Captain Rev. H. R. N. Ellison and his second in command Mr. A. E. Moss of Alderslade, Aston. The Rev. R. L. Farmer, Rector of Shardlow, offered the use of the Shardlow rifle range.The above history has been condensed from the History Group’s publicationA Centennial Commemoration of The Great War of 1914 – 1918 written by local historian Bob Read. Copies of the book are available through the Contact Us page on this website. Click here.