Description
Object description
164 ms and ts letters (several incomplete) written to his widowed mother, Mrs Irene M Hampton, in Camberley, by Private, later Lieutenant, then Captain, Kenneth Brian Hampton (1926-2016), starting with his basic training with No 5 Platoon, 'B' Company, 29th Training Battalion, North Frith Barracks, Blackdown, Near Aldershot (September 1944), saying how he had got there and how he was settling in, partial letters from time near Wrotham, Kent (late 1944), and while an Officer Cadet at 10 Platoon, 'B' Company, 164th OCTU, Barmouth, Merioneth, Gwynedd (February 1945), and while serving as a Russian interpreter with the Control Commission for German (British Element) (CCG (BE)), principally as a Translator with the Allied Control Authority (ACA), in Berlin, starting while at Control Office Depot and Training Centre, Bletchley Park (n.d. but c. August 1946) while waiting to be sent to the CCG, the centre, civilians and military stationed there, the authorities not expecting them, a note to his mother written just before moving to join the Pool of Interpreters CCG, Bünde, Germany, being written on the back of welcome instructions for COD and TC Bletchley (September 1946), apologising to his mother for slipping away without telling her he was off, the journey to Germany via ship and train, seeing the damage to towns on the way, meeting Brigadier Johnston, the head of the CCG interpreters, a posting to Hamburg called off, needing to learn German, the danger from Volkswagen cars driven recklessly, the local landscape, being accidentally locked in his room by his German batman, tired of waiting for posting, trips to other local towns, moving on detachment to take over as an interpreter based with 'T' Force working with the Reparations, Deliveries and Restitutions (RDR) division of the CCG at the Krupp factory in Essen, aiding the Russians in taking machinery (2 October 1946), details of the car journey on autobahns, taking Russians to see a German technicolour film in Wuppertal, a trip into Dusseldorf, moving to Berlin in late October, discussing the importance of cars in the British Zone in West Germany, and especially in the British sector in West Berlin, the open but visible 'frontiers' of the different Allied sectors in Berlin, his daily routine of interpreting in conference, working in Lancaster House, the HQ Interpreters Group, and at ACA, time at the 400 Club (Officers' mess), the initial friendly social atmosphere between the British, French, Americans, and Russians, noticing that he sometimes closes his eyes to the problems of the local population in his British 'shell', trips to a YMCA club outside Berlin, accidentally straying into the Russian zone while on a walk (November 1946), luckily being able to speak to a Russian Colonel who helped them back, a trip to the Sanssouci Palace, Potsdam, quieter period as the Americans take over the chairmanship of the ACA for the month of December 1946, thinking of transferring to the Kommandatura, cold weather putting buses out of action, Christmas celebrations at the 400 Club and in the American sector, secondment on secretarial work at the Allied Kommandatura for January 1947 when the British take over the ACA, frustration that he wasn't using his Russian, having nasal polyps removed in 29 BGH in Hannover (late January), home leave in February, bringing his wireless, gramophone and records from the UK, celebrating his 21st birthday (March 1947), visits to the British Forces Berlin, Forces Study centre library, busy period during the Russian chairmanship of the ACA (March 1947), the boat race (April 1947), Easter leave and the difficulties of arranging a place to stay, the journey to Bad Harzburg, sending cheap cigarettes home (May 1947), CCG civilian staff supposed to no longer wearing khaki but still doing so, gardening, spending time with Ann Murray a civilian who worked for Building Industries Branch, CCG, time at the Blue and White club, trips to the yacht club and learning to sail boats with a German guide, trying to arrange leave with Ann, heatwave in Berlin (June 1947), home leave in June, his dislike of Army transport organisation and the irritations of his journey to and from Berlin, Russian control of the ACA coinciding with the hot weather (July 1947), sadness that welfare concerts are now to be paid for, the difficulties in arrangements for a holiday in Prague, Czechoslovakia (August 1947), going to a military tattoo in Berlin, Ann working away and on leave in England (September 1947), details of his holiday in Prague with a colleague and a Czech friend, the train journey through the Russian zone, the contrast in signs of war, his first flight in a plane to Karlovy Vary (Carlstadt), passing a certificate meaning he can sail boats by himself, regattas, Ann returning to Berlin having found a teaching job in England and resigning from CCG, sending last duty free parcels (October 1947), moving from messing at the 400 Club to the smaller community of No 125 Mess in Kranz Allee, his new accommodation, plans for returning to Cambridge University when he leaves the Army, taking German lessons, more leave in Bad Harzburg (November 1947), thinking of staying on with the CCG for an extra three months to take him up to starting Cambridge in July, skipping the withdrawal of military personnel by March 1948, trying to obtain a promotion to Captain with his frustrations at only being a Lieutenant while those round him are promoted due to seniority and contemporaries who failed the Russian course are now Captains in their own Regiments, succeeding in his promotion, Christmas parties, home leave (January 1948), his thoughts on marriage and feelings towards Ann (February 1948), problems in Czechoslovakia as the Communists seized power, talking of the futility of quadripartite government in Berlin and the pettiness between the French and Russian delegations, the death of his Grandfather, a quieter birthday (March 1948), taking up squash, messes, including No 125 mess, being closed down as Army personnel are withdrawn, moving to the usefully located No 18 mess in the Grunewald area, quiet at work due to cancellations of quadripartite meetings, having to pay for all letters home (April 1948), the tighter regulations since the Russians walked out of the Allied Control Council, his belief that the Soviets wanted to make it difficult for Allied travel, the shutting down of rail access, the US setting up their own checkpoints, a British passenger aircraft and a soviet fighter colliding over Berlin leading to increased tension, social life continuing, twisting his ankle, secondment to the Allied Liaison and Protocol Section in the ACA building, liaising with other Military Missions particularly from the Dominions, Colonel Pope and his opposite number in Lancaster House being demobbed, his decision to leave Berlin in June rather than wait until September when he starts again at Cambridge, where the letters end, with throughout details of his food, accommodation, entertainments, his and his mother's joint love of classical music with many comments on records bought from HMV and concerts he attended, particularly the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and the Staatsoper in the Russian sector, seeing operas, cinema, old friends from Camberley and the Russian course, the reduction in Army personnel in the CCG as they are taken over by civilians, his friends Charles Wallace and Peter Lowell, parcels sent by his mother, explaining how Germany was split into zones and Berlin into sectors, and how they all worked, transport, discussion of life at home, metro journeys home after the Staatsoper in the Russian sector, trying to listen to 'modern stuff', temperature, Shakespeare play readings, no work during the various national holidays, Blue and White Club, yacht club, and a Country Club at Gatow. Together with: Loose diary pages torn from a week to view diary (24pp, September - December 1946) covering his leaving Bletchley, the journey across the Channel and to Bünde, social life, leave in Bad Pyrmont, posting to Essen to be an interpreter, working with T Force, seeing factories with Russian officers, tensions between Russians and Germans, trips to Heisingen, duties, moving to Berlin, settling in after initial confusion, attending conferences at the ACA, clubs and messes, films and concerts; Loose diary pages (2pp), written in October 1946 but on pages for January, describing his first encounter with Russian soldiers while with No 3 Reparations Team at Burbeck, his first impressions of them, their character and behaviour; three humorous postcards he got while at No 7 War Office Selection Board, Winchester, 10-13 December 1944, with cartoon sketches; four Valentine picture postcards of views of Barmouth, Merionethshire, with ms annotations by Hampton on the picture showing what buildings were used for by the military while he was at 164 Infantry OCTU Barmouth (February 23 – June 22 1945); a letter from the Regimental Association of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry to congratulate Hampton on passing out of 164th OCTU as best cadet and awarding him a regimental Sam Browne Belt as reward (1p, 19 June 1945); Order of Service, Passing Out Service, 'B' Company 164 OCTU, Barmouth (4pp, 22 June 1945); a photo id certificate [in Russian] for passing through the Russian zone from Berlin to Prague (1p, 15 August 1947); a Release Certificate for Emergency Commissioned Officers – Regular Army (July 1948); a letter of thanks from the Army Council for his service and granting him the honorary rank of Captain (July 1948); a testimonial from his commanding officer, Brigadier M A B Johnston DSO MC, Director, Interpreters Group (1p, 9 September 1948); a testimonial from J C Yates, Officer in command in the Translators' Bureau of the ACA (1p, October 1948); 17 photographs including a group photograph of 'B' Company, 164 OCTU, Barmouth, signed on the reverse by the cadets (mid 1945), three official photographs of Hampton and other British Officers in Berlin, various photos of him in uniform at leisure and official functions, and picture postcards of sights in Berlin, and Lom, Norway; a curriculum vitae (3pp, 1986); "A Tribute: Kenneth Hampton 1926-2916" written by his cousin, Dee Bixley, and read at his funeral (2pp, 2016). Also included are 10 ms and ts letters and accounts (20pp, 1946), by Ann Murray (later Ann Hampton) to friends and family, possibly drafts or transcriptions of extracts, in which she describes her time at Bad Oeynhausen and Bad Pyrmont while working with Control Commission Germany (British Element), Building Industries Branch, Trade and Industries Division, Main HQ Minden, BAOR, with descriptions of how depressing it was, descriptions of the train journey through the Ruhr and seeing the endless rubble, her views of the Army types and civilians, the separation between their enclave and the Germans, the alcohol supply, her not missing England, the great Officer's Mess at the 21 Club, and entertainment, boredom and frustration that no one is doing their job properly and few care, good people are worn down to drunkenness, and her feeling that "CCG is rotten from top to toe", before getting a job in the Building Industries Branch, HQ Military Government, British Troops Berlin, 831 HQ CCG, and preparations for Christmas and home leave, accompanied by two photographs of Ann, one cut from an official document.
Content description
164 ms and ts letters (several incomplete) written to his widowed mother, Mrs Irene M Hampton, in Camberley, by Private, later Lieutenant, then Captain, Kenneth Brian Hampton (1926-2016), starting with his basic training with No 5 Platoon, 'B' Company, 29th Training Battalion, North Frith Barracks, Blackdown, Near Aldershot (September 1944), saying how he had got there and how he was settling in, partial letters from time near Wrotham, Kent (late 1944), and while an Officer Cadet at 10 Platoon, 'B' Company, 164th OCTU, Barmouth, Merioneth, Gwynedd (February 1945), and while serving as a Russian interpreter with the Control Commission for German (British Element) (CCG (BE)), principally as a Translator with the Allied Control Authority (ACA), in Berlin, starting while at Control Office Depot and Training Centre, Bletchley Park (n.d. but c. August 1946) while waiting to be sent to the CCG, the centre, civilians and military stationed there, the authorities not expecting them, a note to his mother written just before moving to join the Pool of Interpreters CCG, Bünde, Germany, being written on the back of welcome instructions for COD and TC Bletchley (September 1946), apologising to his mother for slipping away without telling her he was off, the journey to Germany via ship and train, seeing the damage to towns on the way, meeting Brigadier Johnston, the head of the CCG interpreters, a posting to Hamburg called off, needing to learn German, the danger from Volkswagen cars driven recklessly, the local landscape, being accidentally locked in his room by his German batman, tired of waiting for posting, trips to other local towns, moving on detachment to take over as an interpreter based with 'T' Force working with the Reparations, Deliveries and Restitutions (RDR) division of the CCG at the Krupp factory in Essen, aiding the Russians in taking machinery (2 October 1946), details of the car journey on autobahns, taking Russians to see a German technicolour film in Wuppertal, a trip into Dusseldorf, moving to Berlin in late October, discussing the importance of cars in the British Zone in West Germany, and especially in the British sector in West Berlin, the open but visible 'frontiers' of the different Allied sectors in Berlin, his daily routine of interpreting in conference, working in Lancaster House, the HQ Interpreters Group, and at ACA, time at the 400 Club (Officers' mess), the initial friendly social atmosphere between the British, French, Americans, and Russians, noticing that he sometimes closes his eyes to the problems of the local population in his British 'shell', trips to a YMCA club outside Berlin, accidentally straying into the Russian zone while on a walk (November 1946), luckily being able to speak to a Russian Colonel who helped them back, a trip to the Sanssouci Palace, Potsdam, quieter period as the Americans take over the chairmanship of the ACA for the month of December 1946, thinking of transferring to the Kommandatura, cold weather putting buses out of action, Christmas celebrations at the 400 Club and in the American sector, secondment on secretarial work at the Allied Kommandatura for January 1947 when the British take over the ACA, frustration that he wasn't using his Russian, having nasal polyps removed in 29 BGH in Hannover (late January), home leave in February, bringing his wireless, gramophone and records from the UK, celebrating his 21st birthday (March 1947), visits to the British Forces Berlin, Forces Study centre library, busy period during the Russian chairmanship of the ACA (March 1947), the boat race (April 1947), Easter leave and the difficulties of arranging a place to stay, the journey to Bad Harzburg, sending cheap cigarettes home (May 1947), CCG civilian staff supposed to no longer wearing khaki but still doing so, gardening, spending time with Ann Murray a civilian who worked for Building Industries Branch, CCG, time at the Blue and White club, trips to the yacht club and learning to sail boats with a German guide, trying to arrange leave with Ann, heatwave in Berlin (June 1947), home leave in June, his dislike of Army transport organisation and the irritations of his journey to and from Berlin, Russian control of the ACA coinciding with the hot weather (July 1947), sadness that welfare concerts are now to be paid for, the difficulties in arrangements for a holiday in Prague, Czechoslovakia (August 1947), going to a military tattoo in Berlin, Ann working away and on leave in England (September 1947), details of his holiday in Prague with a colleague and a Czech friend, the train journey through the Russian zone, the contrast in signs of war, his first flight in a plane to Karlovy Vary (Carlstadt), passing a certificate meaning he can sail boats by himself, regattas, Ann returning to Berlin having found a teaching job in England and resigning from CCG, sending last duty free parcels (October 1947), moving from messing at the 400 Club to the smaller community of No 125 Mess in Kranz Allee, his new accommodation, plans for returning to Cambridge University when he leaves the Army, taking German lessons, more leave in Bad Harzburg (November 1947), thinking of staying on with the CCG for an extra three months to take him up to starting Cambridge in July, skipping the withdrawal of military personnel by March 1948, trying to obtain a promotion to Captain with his frustrations at only being a Lieutenant while those round him are promoted due to seniority and contemporaries who failed the Russian course are now Captains in their own Regiments, succeeding in his promotion, Christmas parties, home leave (January 1948), his thoughts on marriage and feelings towards Ann (February 1948), problems in Czechoslovakia as the Communists seized power, talking of the futility of quadripartite government in Berlin and the pettiness between the French and Russian delegations, the death of his Grandfather, a quieter birthday (March 1948), taking up squash, messes, including No 125 mess, being closed down as Army personnel are withdrawn, moving to the usefully located No 18 mess in the Grunewald area, quiet at work due to cancellations of quadripartite meetings, having to pay for all letters home (April 1948), the tighter regulations since the Russians walked out of the Allied Control Council, his belief that the Soviets wanted to make it difficult for Allied travel, the shutting down of rail access, the US setting up their own checkpoints, a British passenger aircraft and a soviet fighter colliding over Berlin leading to increased tension, social life continuing, twisting his ankle, secondment to the Allied Liaison and Protocol Section in the ACA building, liaising with other Military Missions particularly from the Dominions, Colonel Pope and his opposite number in Lancaster House being demobbed, his decision to leave Berlin in June rather than wait until September when he starts again at Cambridge, where the letters end, with throughout details of his food, accommodation, entertainments, his and his mother's joint love of classical music with many comments on records bought from HMV and concerts he attended, particularly the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and the Staatsoper in the Russian sector, seeing operas, cinema, old friends from Camberley and the Russian course, the reduction in Army personnel in the CCG as they are taken over by civilians, his friends Charles Wallace and Peter Lowell, parcels sent by his mother, explaining how Germany was split into zones and Berlin into sectors, and how they all worked, transport, discussion of life at home, metro journeys home after the Staatsoper in the Russian sector, trying to listen to 'modern stuff', temperature, Shakespeare play readings, no work during the various national holidays, Blue and White Club, yacht club, and a Country Club at Gatow. Together with: Loose diary pages torn from a week to view diary (24pp, September - December 1946) covering his leaving Bletchley, the journey across the Channel and to Bünde, social life, leave in Bad Pyrmont, posting to Essen to be an interpreter, working with T Force, seeing factories with Russian officers, tensions between Russians and Germans, trips to Heisingen, duties, moving to Berlin, settling in after initial confusion, attending conferences at the ACA, clubs and messes, films and concerts; Loose diary pages (2pp), written in October 1946 but on pages for January, describing his first encounter with Russian soldiers while with No 3 Reparations Team at Burbeck, his first impressions of them, their character and behaviour; three humorous postcards he got while at No 7 War Office Selection Board, Winchester, 10-13 December 1944, with cartoon sketches; four Valentine picture postcards of views of Barmouth, Merionethshire, with ms annotations by Hampton on the picture showing what buildings were used for by the military while he was at 164 Infantry OCTU Barmouth (February 23 – June 22 1945); a letter from the Regimental Association of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry to congratulate Hampton on passing out of 164th OCTU as best cadet and awarding him a regimental Sam Browne Belt as reward (1p, 19 June 1945); Order of Service, Passing Out Service, 'B' Company 164 OCTU, Barmouth (4pp, 22 June 1945); a photo id certificate [in Russian] for passing through the Russian zone from Berlin to Prague (1p, 15 August 1947); a Release Certificate for Emergency Commissioned Officers – Regular Army (July 1948); a letter of thanks from the Army Council for his service and granting him the honorary rank of Captain (July 1948); a testimonial from his commanding officer, Brigadier M A B Johnston DSO MC, Director, Interpreters Group (1p, 9 September 1948); a testimonial from J C Yates, Officer in command in the Translators' Bureau of the ACA (1p, October 1948); 17 photographs including a group photograph of 'B' Company, 164 OCTU, Barmouth, signed on the reverse by the cadets (mid 1945), three official photographs of Hampton and other British Officers in Berlin, various photos of him in uniform at leisure and official functions, and picture postcards of sights in Berlin, and Lom, Norway; a curriculum vitae (3pp, 1986); "A Tribute: Kenneth Hampton 1926-2916" written by his cousin, Dee Bixley, and read at his funeral (2pp, 2016). Also included are 10 ms and ts letters and accounts (20pp, 1946), by Ann Murray (later Ann Hampton) to friends and family, possibly drafts or transcriptions of extracts, in which she describes her time at Bad Oeynhausen and Bad Pyrmont while working with Control Commission Germany (British Element), Building Industries Branch, Trade and Industries Division, Main HQ Minden, BAOR, with descriptions of how depressing it was, descriptions of the train journey through the Ruhr and seeing the endless rubble, her views of the Army types and civilians, the separation between their enclave and the Germans, the alcohol supply, her not missing England, the great Officer's Mess at the 21 Club, and entertainment, boredom and frustration that no one is doing their job properly and few care, good people are worn down to drunkenness, and her feeling that "CCG is rotten from top to toe", before getting a job in the Building Industries Branch, HQ Military Government, British Troops Berlin, 831 HQ CCG, and preparations for Christmas and home leave, accompanied by two photographs of Ann, one cut from an official document.
History note
Cataloguer SJO