Description
Object description
Ts transcription (30pp) of a memoir, written in the early 1990s, covering his service as a teenager with the Auxiliary Fire Service in north London during the Blitz (1939 - 1942), his training as a despatch rider in the Royal Armoured Corps and posting to the 1st Derbyshire Yeomanry in Scotland (April - October 1942), their voyage on the overcrowded troopship NEA HELLAS from the United Kingdom to Algiers (October - November 1942), their service, as the armoured car regiment of the 6th Armoured Division, during the North African campaign and his transfer to become a jeep driver (November 1942 - May 1943), the Regiment's conversion in North Africa into a tank regiment and his retraining as a tank driver (June 1943 - February 1944), their crossing to Italy and service in the final stages of the Battle of Monte Cassino, the advance north beyond Florence, across the River Po and into Austria by the end of the war (February 1944 - May 1945), the Regiment's deployment with the occupation forces in the Klagenfurt area and their later move back into Italy and reconversion back to armoured cars (May - December 1945), their transfer to Egypt and then Tripolitania (early 1946) and his return home, via Malta, on leave and for demobilisation. The narrative contains interesting references to the absence of defeatist talk during the Blitz, the harsh routine of daily life on active service in both North Africa and Italy, the particular dangers faced by a tank driver and his aspirations, as a young man who set himself high standards, for the post-war period.
Content description
Ts transcription (30pp) of a memoir, written in the early 1990s, covering his service as a teenager with the Auxiliary Fire Service in north London during the Blitz (1939 - 1942), his training as a despatch rider in the Royal Armoured Corps and posting to the 1st Derbyshire Yeomanry in Scotland (April - October 1942), their voyage on the overcrowded troopship NEA HELLAS from the United Kingdom to Algiers (October - November 1942), their service, as the armoured car regiment of the 6th Armoured Division, during the North African campaign and his transfer to become a jeep driver (November 1942 - May 1943), the Regiment's conversion in North Africa into a tank regiment and his retraining as a tank driver (June 1943 - February 1944), their crossing to Italy and service in the final stages of the Battle of Monte Cassino, the advance north beyond Florence, across the River Po and into Austria by the end of the war (February 1944 - May 1945), the Regiment's deployment with the occupation forces in the Klagenfurt area and their later move back into Italy and reconversion back to armoured cars (May - December 1945), their transfer to Egypt and then Tripolitania (early 1946) and his return home, via Malta, on leave and for demobilisation. The narrative contains interesting references to the absence of defeatist talk during the Blitz, the harsh routine of daily life on active service in both North Africa and Italy, the particular dangers faced by a tank driver and his aspirations, as a young man who set himself high standards, for the post-war period.
History note
Cataloguer RWAS
History note
Catalogue date 2000-07-06