Description
Object description
British officer served with 2nd Light Car Patrol, Motor Machine Gun Corps in Egypt, 1917-1918; served with Light Armoured Motor Bde in Palestine and Syria, 1918-1919; served with 4th Bn Tank Corps in GB, 1920; served with 7th Armoured Car Coy, Tank Corps in India, 1921-1924; served with 4th Bn Royal Tank Corps in GB, 1924-1926; served with 5th Armoured Car Coy, Royal Tank Corps in Shanghai, China, 1927-1929; served with 4th Bn Royal Tank Corps in GB, 1929-1931; student with Staff College, Camberley, GB, 1934; served as staff officer with 1st Tank Bde in GB, 1936-1939; served as instructor with Senior Officers School, Sheerness and Tactical School, Bulford in GB, 1939-1940; served as tank advisor to General Archibald Wavell and commanding officer of 4th Armoured Bde in North Africa, 1941-1943; served as tank advisor to General Bernard Montgomery in North Africa and to 21st Army Group in North West Europe, 1943-1945
Content description
REEL 1 Recollections of operations as officer with 2nd Light Car Patrol, Motor Machine Gun Corps in Egypt, 1917-1918: background to joining unit from Royal Welsh Fusiliers in Egypt, 1/1917; reasons for transfer to unit; role of unit in Western Desert; mechanical problems in desert terrain; composition of car crews; logistical organisation of patrols; character of Model T Ford Patrol Car and Rolls-Royce Armoured Car; repair facilities; role of Duke of Westminster in development of unit.
REEL 2 Continues: description of typical patrol; use of Arab guides; mechanical problems encountered; modifications to vehicles; desert navigation and communications; story of rescue of crew of HMS Tara from Turkish captivity at Bir Hakeim, Libya, 1916. Recollections of operations as officer with Light Armoured Motor Bde in Palestine and Syria, 1918-1919: reconnaissance duties in Palestine; problems in removal of windscreens; method of advancing; nature of advance towards Aleppo, Syria, 1918.
REEL 3 Continues: capture of Aleppo, Syria; question of pace between mechanised units and cavalry; cavalry's attitude towards mechanised units; civil defence duties in Syria, 1919. Aspects of period as officer with 4th Bn Tank Corps at Wareham, GB, 1920: posting to unit at Wareham; character of unit and morale; training with Mark V Tank; question of proposed role of tank; driving course with Rolls-Royce Armoured Car. Aspects of period as officer with 7th Armoured Car Coy, Tanks Corps in India, 1921-1924: posting to Peshawar; mechanical problems encountered; patrol duties. Aspects of period as officer with 4th Bn Royal Tank Corps in GB, 1924-1927: training at Bovington and Catterick Camps; quality of corps officers.
REEL 4 Continues: training in infantry support role; advantages of Vicker Medium Tank Mark 1; memories of influence of General J F C Fuller on unit training; Major General George Lindsay's tactical concepts. Aspects of period as officer with 5th Armoured Car Coy, Royal Tank Corps in Shanghai, China, 1927-1929: posting to unit; voyage from GB to Shanghai; patrol duties in International Settlement; method of electrifying armoured cars; areas patrolled and accommodation. Aspects of period as officer with 4th Bn Royal Tank Corps in GB, 1929-1931: opinion of Basil Liddell-Hart.
REEL 5 Continues: opinion of Vickers Medium Tank and Morris-Martel Tankette; problems of seasickness in tanks; daily routine at Catterick Camp; training programme and mechanical ability of troops; organisation of unit and exercises; Colonel Percy Hobart's Tactical Exercises Without Troops; Basil Liddell-Hart's visits to unit; memories of Colonel Percy Hobart; infantry support role; opinion of J F C Fuller; character of tank communications; standard of recruits; gunnery training; duties as adjutant.
REEL 6 Continues: Aspects of period as staff officer with 1st Tank Bde in GB, 1936-1939: duties as staff captain during Salisbury Plain exercise; attitude of staff officers to tanks; memories of attending Staff College at Camberley, 1934 including quality of instructors; role as brigade-major from 1936; effect on morale of vehicle shortages; memories of Brigadier Percy Hobart, 1937; question of cavalry's attitude towards mechanisation, 1936-1937.
REEL 7 Continues: exercises with mechanised Territorial Army units; reaction to formation of Royal Armoured Corps, 1939. Aspects of period as instructor with Senior Officers School, Sheerness and Tactical School, Bulford in GB, 1939-1940: instructional duties at Senior Officers School, Sheerness; establishment of Tactical School at Bulford; character of syllabus at Tactical School. Aspects of operations as tank advisor to General Archibald Wavell and as commanding officer with 4th Armoured Bde in North Africa, 1941-1943: composition of brigade; opinion of Ordnance QF 2 Pounder Anti-tank Gun; question of political motive for Operation Battleaxe, 1941; role as tank advisor to General Archibald Wavell; opinion of Wavell. Aspects of period as tank advisor to General Bernard Montgomery and 21st Army Group in North Africa and North West Europe, 1943-1945: General Bernard Montgomery's method of working.
REEL 8 Continues: comparison between Generals Archibald Wavell's and Bernard Montgomery's use of tanks; duties as General Bernard Montgomery's tank advisor; deficiencies of Ordnance QF 2 Pounder Gun; reasons for lack of spare parts for tanks, 1940-1942; role as tank advisor to 21st Army Group; opinion of General George S Patton; General Bernard Montgomery's style of command; role commanding 4th Armoured Bde during first Battle of El Alamein and advance into Tunisia.