Captain Mainwaring often a sympathetic subtext to his own personal neuroses; it is apparent several times that he devotes his energies to his Home Guard unit for a sense of comradeship and purpose lacking in other parts of his life, such as his career and marriage. On one occasion when his men spurned a parade to play darts against the ARP he expressed bewilderment, saying coming to the platoon is "the highlight of my day". It is frequently implied that he is trapped in a loveless and unhappy marriage to Elizabeth, his unseen wife, who is domineering, neurotic and withholding of affection.
Captain Mainwaring manager and his status as Captain and commander of the local Home Guard volunteer unit. He became commander of his home guard unit by saying that he had served as a captain in the last British conflict, despite serving 'somewhere in the Orkneys' during the Great War and only being deployed to France in 1919, the year after the armistice was signed. He was later officially designated as the Captain by the GHQ, in the episode Room at the Bottom, after his brief reduction in rank. Despite his claims that he was born into a well-to-do family, it is revealed