Description
Object description
His diary / journal for the period January 1941 – April 1945 (in four notebooks and loose folios) whilst serving as a Troop Commander with the 3rd Light Anti-Aircraft Battery, 1st LAA Regiment, Royal Artillery, recording the unit's preparations for mobilisation at its base in London and the journey up to Glasgow (disrupted by bad weather) in January 1941, supervising the shipment of vehicles and equipment at the docks before proceeding to Liverpool to join the troop transport ASCANIUS the following month, the voyage to Egypt via South Africa, arriving at Suez in April 1941, accommodation at the El Tahag Mobilisation Camp near Cairo before proceeding with his unit to Sidi Barrani in May and their first experience of desert warfare during the 'Battleaxe' offensive against Italian and German forces on the Libyan border in June 1941, his wounding during an attack on their position by German aircraft later that month, evacuation to and medical treatment at No 6 British General Hospital at El Tahag and convalescence at El Arish, a period of leave in Palestine, returning to his unit at the end of July, participation in the 'Crusader' offensive towards Tobruk in November 1941 and in the actions resulting from the German counter-attack in January – February 1942, the subsequent relief of his unit and its recuperation in camps at El Amiriya and Sidi Bishr near Alexandria, moving to Fayid in late March in preparation for a return to the war zone in April to relieve a unit at Mersa Matruh, moving up to the Tobruk sector in late May to counter a renewed German offensive, the fighting withdrawal to the El Alamein line and subsequent actions in that sector (Ruweisat Ridge) until early September 1942 when he was sent to Haifa on an officers' course, returning to Ruweisat at the end of that month for a protracted period of relative calm (training exercises, attendance at officers' courses etc), his unit's relief in May 1943 and transfer to Shallufa and Deversoir on the Suez Canal before being moved to Quassasin Camp in July in preparation for deployment to another theatre of war [gap in diary], the circumstances of his capture by the Germans on the Aegean island of Leros in November 1943 and his subsequent experiences as a prisoner of war, initially in Greece (POW transit camp at Athens) before being transported to Germany and held in Stalag VIIA (Moosburg) and Stalag IIIA (Luckenwalde), December 1943 – February 1944, experiencing at close quarters the heavy air raids on and around Berlin and hearing the stories told by captured RAF bomber crew brought into the Luckenwalde camp, then in Oflag VIIIF (Mährisch-Trübau) until May 1944 and the final move to Oflag 79 (Braunschweig / Brunswick – Querum), where he remained until the camp was liberated by American troops in April 1945, the circumstances of which are described in vivid detail, concluding with his repatriation to and reception in the UK; also his POW YMCA-issue 'Wartime Log', containing various writings, photographs and ephemera from captivity; small quantity of related miscellaneous documents and ephemera.
Content description
His diary / journal for the period January 1941 – April 1945 (in four notebooks and loose folios) whilst serving as a Troop Commander with the 3rd Light Anti-Aircraft Battery, 1st LAA Regiment, Royal Artillery, recording the unit's preparations for mobilisation at its base in London and the journey up to Glasgow (disrupted by bad weather) in January 1941, supervising the shipment of vehicles and equipment at the docks before proceeding to Liverpool to join the troop transport ASCANIUS the following month, the voyage to Egypt via South Africa, arriving at Suez in April 1941, accommodation at the El Tahag Mobilisation Camp near Cairo before proceeding with his unit to Sidi Barrani in May and their first experience of desert warfare during the 'Battleaxe' offensive against Italian and German forces on the Libyan border in June 1941, his wounding during an attack on their position by German aircraft later that month, evacuation to and medical treatment at No 6 British General Hospital at El Tahag and convalescence at El Arish, a period of leave in Palestine, returning to his unit at the end of July, participation in the 'Crusader' offensive towards Tobruk in November 1941 and in the actions resulting from the German counter-attack in January – February 1942, the subsequent relief of his unit and its recuperation in camps at El Amiriya and Sidi Bishr near Alexandria, moving to Fayid in late March in preparation for a return to the war zone in April to relieve a unit at Mersa Matruh, moving up to the Tobruk sector in late May to counter a renewed German offensive, the fighting withdrawal to the El Alamein line and subsequent actions in that sector (Ruweisat Ridge) until early September 1942 when he was sent to Haifa on an officers' course, returning to Ruweisat at the end of that month for a protracted period of relative calm (training exercises, attendance at officers' courses etc), his unit's relief in May 1943 and transfer to Shallufa and Deversoir on the Suez Canal before being moved to Quassasin Camp in July in preparation for deployment to another theatre of war [gap in diary], the circumstances of his capture by the Germans on the Aegean island of Leros in November 1943 and his subsequent experiences as a prisoner of war, initially in Greece (POW transit camp at Athens) before being transported to Germany and held in Stalag VIIA (Moosburg) and Stalag IIIA (Luckenwalde), December 1943 – February 1944, experiencing at close quarters the heavy air raids on and around Berlin and hearing the stories told by captured RAF bomber crew brought into the Luckenwalde camp, then in Oflag VIIIF (Mährisch-Trübau) until May 1944 and the final move to Oflag 79 (Braunschweig / Brunswick – Querum), where he remained until the camp was liberated by American troops in April 1945, the circumstances of which are described in vivid detail, concluding with his repatriation to and reception in the UK; also his POW YMCA-issue 'Wartime Log', containing various writings, photographs and ephemera from captivity; small quantity of related miscellaneous documents and ephemera.
History note
Cataloguer SWW