Description
Object description
A well written ts memoir entitled 'Service with a Smile, A Record of Four Years' (204pp, written by June 1944), with details of being called up in October 1939 from the Army Officers Emergency Reserve, reporting as a Second Lieutenant to a Royal Engineers Officer Cadet Training Unit (OCTU) at Malt Barracks near Aldershot, details of training, a two month Military-Political course at Trinity College Cambridge (January 1940), posting to a course at Mytchett for Army Security Officers, reporting to GHQ British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in Arras, France, as a Field Security Officer, Intelligence Corps (April 1940), moving to Rennes, Brittany, in command of 32nd Field Security Section, details of the section, security checks for 2nd Base Ammunition Depot, RAOC, problems of security, false alarms, the German offensive (May 1940), refugees and wounded arriving, fears for his brother, Peter, with the Royal Sussex Regiment, the chaos of the later days, receiving orders to withdraw (16 June 1940), burning documents, being bombed by dive-bombers, moving to St Malo, destroying the vehicles, boarding a ship and sailing to Weymouth, his despondency on arrival, orders to join 45th (West Country) Division, based at Hawkhurst, Kent, messing with officers of the 7th Battalion Devonshire Regiment, duties to deal with enemy agents or saboteurs in case of invasion, seeing the Battle of Britain overhead, captured German airmen, investigating flashing lights, experiences of the Blitz while at home in London, the stoic attitude of friends and relatives, 45th Division moving to Doncaster (October 1940) then moving to Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire (Spring 1941), training, exercises, testing the lack of security of Chequers, the Prime Minister's home, by just walking in, moving to Chelmsford, Essex, posting to Corps Headquarters near Bishops Stortford (November 1941 – March 1942), selection for the post of SO2 I (Security) at General Headquarters (GHQ), British West Africa, with the rank of Major, sailing from Liverpool via Freetown, Sierra Leone, to Takoradi, Gold Coast (Ghana), in HMT HIGHLAND BRIGADE, (May 1942), the journey, a train journey to Accra, Ghana, and base at Achimota (May 1942 – April 1943), impressions of Africa, job guarding against German agents, the political situation and complexity of colonial administration, dangers of swimming, problems of VD amongst the troops, dealing with African soldiers, tensions between British West Africa and Vichy French colonies, posting to Dakar, French West Africa (Senegal) as British Army Liaison Officer (April – December 1943), the contrast between Accra and Dakar which had been under blockade for two years, a tour of Goreé with Commandant Moreau, the attitudes of people in French West Africa towards the war and their future, his opinions of the Governor-General, Pierre Boisson, Hadley's good relations with the French Army, his duties as a Liaison Officer, consulate officials, an attack of malaria, trips around Africa including Nigeria and Gambia, two long journeys through French Guinea once with a French General with whom he had many conversations, the second down the river Niger staying at Bamako and Gao, a visit to a German prisoner of war camp run by the French, a trip on the river Niger in a paddle steamer, returning to the UK (January – February 1944), and seeing the differences in England from when he left, with throughout details of friends, fellow officers and men, commanders, billets, leisure and social life, restaurants, theatre, cinema, and politics. The memoir often reads as a description of his thoughts about colonial Africa and he often gives his detailed observations, thoughts and opinions about Africans and the French, his liking and respect for French soldiers, the French Army's love of Petain despite their hatred of Germany, the French Navy's hatred of De Gaulle, his admiration for West African troops, the inevitability of British collapse in May 1940, the double barrelled names of senior officers, fifth column threats being overplayed, progress, the weakness of the League of Nations, and such topics as England's architecture being at risk from both the Luftwaffe and English planning laws, and his admiration for the National Trust. Together with a ts US report (4pp) entitled 'Inspection of German Concentration Camp for Political Prisoners Located at Buckenwald on the North Edge of Weimar' (16 April 1945).
Content description
A well written ts memoir entitled 'Service with a Smile, A Record of Four Years' (204pp, written by June 1944), with details of being called up in October 1939 from the Army Officers Emergency Reserve, reporting as a Second Lieutenant to a Royal Engineers Officer Cadet Training Unit (OCTU) at Malt Barracks near Aldershot, details of training, a two month Military-Political course at Trinity College Cambridge (January 1940), posting to a course at Mytchett for Army Security Officers, reporting to GHQ British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in Arras, France, as a Field Security Officer, Intelligence Corps (April 1940), moving to Rennes, Brittany, in command of 32nd Field Security Section, details of the section, security checks for 2nd Base Ammunition Depot, RAOC, problems of security, false alarms, the German offensive (May 1940), refugees and wounded arriving, fears for his brother, Peter, with the Royal Sussex Regiment, the chaos of the later days, receiving orders to withdraw (16 June 1940), burning documents, being bombed by dive-bombers, moving to St Malo, destroying the vehicles, boarding a ship and sailing to Weymouth, his despondency on arrival, orders to join 45th (West Country) Division, based at Hawkhurst, Kent, messing with officers of the 7th Battalion Devonshire Regiment, duties to deal with enemy agents or saboteurs in case of invasion, seeing the Battle of Britain overhead, captured German airmen, investigating flashing lights, experiences of the Blitz while at home in London, the stoic attitude of friends and relatives, 45th Division moving to Doncaster (October 1940) then moving to Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire (Spring 1941), training, exercises, testing the lack of security of Chequers, the Prime Minister's home, by just walking in, moving to Chelmsford, Essex, posting to Corps Headquarters near Bishops Stortford (November 1941 – March 1942), selection for the post of SO2 I (Security) at General Headquarters (GHQ), British West Africa, with the rank of Major, sailing from Liverpool via Freetown, Sierra Leone, to Takoradi, Gold Coast (Ghana), in HMT HIGHLAND BRIGADE, (May 1942), the journey, a train journey to Accra, Ghana, and base at Achimota (May 1942 – April 1943), impressions of Africa, job guarding against German agents, the political situation and complexity of colonial administration, dangers of swimming, problems of VD amongst the troops, dealing with African soldiers, tensions between British West Africa and Vichy French colonies, posting to Dakar, French West Africa (Senegal) as British Army Liaison Officer (April – December 1943), the contrast between Accra and Dakar which had been under blockade for two years, a tour of Goreé with Commandant Moreau, the attitudes of people in French West Africa towards the war and their future, his opinions of the Governor-General, Pierre Boisson, Hadley's good relations with the French Army, his duties as a Liaison Officer, consulate officials, an attack of malaria, trips around Africa including Nigeria and Gambia, two long journeys through French Guinea once with a French General with whom he had many conversations, the second down the river Niger staying at Bamako and Gao, a visit to a German prisoner of war camp run by the French, a trip on the river Niger in a paddle steamer, returning to the UK (January – February 1944), and seeing the differences in England from when he left, with throughout details of friends, fellow officers and men, commanders, billets, leisure and social life, restaurants, theatre, cinema, and politics. The memoir often reads as a description of his thoughts about colonial Africa and he often gives his detailed observations, thoughts and opinions about Africans and the French, his liking and respect for French soldiers, the French Army's love of Petain despite their hatred of Germany, the French Navy's hatred of De Gaulle, his admiration for West African troops, the inevitability of British collapse in May 1940, the double barrelled names of senior officers, fifth column threats being overplayed, progress, the weakness of the League of Nations, and such topics as England's architecture being at risk from both the Luftwaffe and English planning laws, and his admiration for the National Trust. Together with a ts US report (4pp) entitled 'Inspection of German Concentration Camp for Political Prisoners Located at Buckenwald on the North Edge of Weimar' (16 April 1945).
History note
Cataloguer SJO