Description
Object description
British NCO served with 2nd Bn Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regt, 10th Infantry Bde, 4th Infantry Div in France, 10/1939-6/1940
Content description
REEL 1 Aspects of enlistment, training and service as private and NCO with 2nd Bn Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regt in GB, 1935-1939: eyesight problem and handling of rifle; problems readjusting to civilian lifestyle; changed public attitude towards military on outbreak of Second World War, 3/9/1939; attitude to Germany; effects of mobilisation, 9/1939: deterioration in weapons quality; equipment supply; organisational changes; influx of reservists; organisational confusion. Recollections of period as NCO with 2nd Bn Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regt, 10th Infantry Bde, 4th Infantry Div in France, 10/1939-1/1940; journey to Cherbourg; state of morale.
REEL 2 Continues: minor accident on train; night at Noyon; bivouac at Carvin; construction of fortifications at Roubaix; adoption of French style reconnaissance patrols; use of assault boats on canals; weather conditions; keeping warm; construction of section posts; coping with cold weather conditions; Christmas leave in GB, 12/1939; secrecy and security; billet at Lille.
REEL 3 Continues: Recollections of period as NCO with 2nd Bn Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regt, 10th Infantry Bde, 4th Infantry Div in Maginot Line, Metz, France, 2/1940-3/1940: hostility of local civilians; outpost work on German frontier; opinion of 2nd Bn Hampshire Regt; opinion of badly chosen position; guarding the Ligne de Contacte; German reconnaissance patrol; German attack on 2nd Bn Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry; strength of Maginot Line.
REEL 4 Continues: carbon monoxide poisoning accidents; German patrol scare; inappropriate habits of peacetime soldiering; alertness of French artillery units; return to Roubaix. Aspects of period as NCO with 2nd Bn Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regt, 10th Infantry Bde, 4th Infantry Div in France, 3/1940-5/1940: exchange of NCOs with Territorial Army units; opinion of quality of conscripts; unit's marching prowess; leave in GB and return to Cherbourg, 5/1940.
REEL 5 Continues: difficulty in rejoining unit on return to Cherbourg, 5/1940: French refugees; formation of scratch battalion; sight of German Air Force Heinkel He III aircraft downed in aerial combat; pitiful state of refugees; Recollections of operations as NCO with 2nd Bn Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regt, 10th Infantry Bde, 4th Infantry Div in Belgium and France, 5/1940-6/1940: rejoining unit at Avelgem, Belgium; suspicion of Fifth Column activity; Universal Carrier accident; fortification of position at Risquons-Tout, Belgium; evidence of Fifth Column activity; scares at Risquons-Tout, Belgium.
REEL 6 Continues: skirmish with Germans at Risquons-Tout, Belgium; observation balloon; withdrawal to Wytschaete, Belgium; 'arrest' of stragglers; German mortaring of position; withdrawal from position; night of discomfort and fatigue; attitude towards destruction of equipment.
REEL 7 Continues; filing gap in line left by Belgian Army; deficiencies of British anti-aircraft fire. German Air Force attack at Oostduinkerke, Belgium; gas scare; plight of unmilked cattle; suspicions of Fifth Column activity; effect of high watertable on bomb explosions; mortaring of road by Germans; troops' exhaustion; embarkation order, 1/6/1940; attachment to 2nd Bn Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry.
REEL 8 Continues: shelling of La Panne, Belgium; drive to Dunkirk, France; French troops' failure to retain weapons; air attack on East Mole at Dunkirk, France, 1/6/1940; ship's problems on approaching East Mole, France, 1/6/1940; nature of crossing English Channel in destroyer; arrival in Dover, GB; train journey to Brecon, GB; nature of reception for British Expeditionary Force survivors in GB.