Description
Object description
British NCO served with 174th Coy, Pioneer Corps in Northern Ireland, 1940-1942; NCO and officer served as cameraman with Army Film and Photographic Unit in GB, 1942-1944; officer served as cameraman served with No 5 Army Film and Photographic Unit in North West Europe, 6/1944-5/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Brixton, London, GB, 1918-1939: education; employment; family; living conditions; story of family home being destroyed by German Air Force parachute mine, 1943; education including discipline, prefect duties and examinations; interest in photography; wages and cost of living; recreational activities; visits to cinema.
REEL 2 Continues: problem understanding accents; interest in international situation; attitude towards Spanish Civil War; political beliefs; employment with refrigeration company including types and cost of refrigerators. Aspects of enlistment in British Army, 1939: registering for military service, 1938; initial attempt to enlist, 1939; call-up for military service, 12/1939; medical examination and problem with eyesight; reasons for volunteering for military service. Aspects of period as NCO with 174th Coy Pioneer Corps in Northern Ireland, 1940-1942: training; duties at ammunition depot in Belfast; transfer to Royal Engineers; relations with Irish civilians; regradeding as A1 with glasses; attitude to military life and discipline; attitude to serving with Pioneer Corps; presence of conscientious objectors in Pioneer Corps.
REEL 3 Continues: opinion of conscientious objectors. Recollections of period as NCO and officer with Army Film and Photographic Unit in GB, 1942-1944: transfer to Army Film and Photographic Unit; interview and tests; posting to Headquarters, Army Film and Photographic Unit, Pinewood Studios; duties as sergeant; training as cameraman; opinion of training and living conditions; daily routine; discipline and question of saluting officers; opinion of officers.
REEL 4 Continues: description of DeVry Standard 35mm Cine Camera; writing and shooting film as training exercise; availability of film stock; relations with Royal Air Force and Crown Film Units; six weeks basic training with Irish Guards; commissioning and training at No 165 Officer Cadet Training Unit, 1943; duties as officer; organisation of sections; memories of Major Hugh Stewart; making film 'Rough Weather Landing' about commando exercise; memories of Leslie Evans; preparations for landings in Normandy, France.
REEL 5 Continues: filming amphibious training exercise with United States Rangers, 1944; opinion of American military personnel. Recollections of operations as officer with No 5 Army Film and Photographic Unit in Normandy, France, 6/1944-8/1944: landing in Normandy, France, 9/6/1944-10/6/1944; transportation of equipment; organisation of still and cine cameramen; repairs to equipment; section personnel; organisation of NCO cameramen; casualties; memories of war artist Albert Richards; attachment to British I Corps, First Canadian Army; filming operations during breakout from Normandy bridgehead and in Le Havre. Recollections of operations as officer with No 5 Army Film and Photographic Unit in North West Europe, 9/1944-5/1945: type of camera used; problem of filming battle scenes; attitude to use of reconstructions; relations with military; dope sheets; question of standards of filming.
REEL 6 Continues: completion of dope sheets; relations with NCOs and officers; use of special security pass in Netherlands; organisation of No 5 Army Film and Photographic Unit; filming secondary operations during Operation Market Garden in Netherlands, 9/1944; entering Hamburg, Germany, 5/1945. Aspects of period as officer with Army Film and Photographic Unit and War Officet Public Relations Unit in Germany and Austria, 1945-1946: story of German civilians being forced to watch film about concentration camps; memories of Lieutenant-Colonel Hugh Stewart; opinion of Crown Film Unit; posting to War Office Public Relations Unit in Vienna, Austria and nature of duties; story of photographer John Cotter and forcible repatriation of White Russian prisoners of war; daily life and problem of food shortages in in Vienna, Austria; promotion to captain; return to GB to take part in Victory Parade, 5/1946; demobilisation in Guildford, GB, 1946.
REEL 7 Continues: duties at tactical headquarters, 1944-1945; opinion of Lieutenant-Colonel Hugh Stewart; duties with War Office Public Relations Unit in Brussels, Belgium, 1945; relations with Belgian civilians; story of cameraman Max Collins; story relating to German Army officer in Hamburg, Germany; attitude to danger and filming battle scenes; military awards given to cameramen.