Portal:Military history of Australia/Units/September 7

Members of the VDC in 1942 before being issued with uniforms

The Volunteer Defence Corps was an Australian militia force of World War II modelled on the British Home Guard. The VDC was established in July 1940 and was run by the government and the RSL. The VDC's leadership was mainly drawn from veterans of World War I and most VDC volunteers were men either too young or too old to serve in the regular military. The VDC was placed under the control of the Australian military in July 1941 and eventually reached a strength of almost 100,000 men across Australia. The VDC was disbanded after the war.