description
Object description
British private served with 1st Bn Loyal Regt in Palestine, 12/1935-10/1936; served with 2nd Bn Loyal Regt in Shanghai, China, 11/1936-3/1938; NCO served with 2nd Bn Loyal Regt, 1st Malaya Bde, Malaya Command in Singapore, Malaya, 12/1941-2/1942; POW in Nagasaki, Japan, 4/1945-8/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Recollections of operations as private with 1st Bn Loyal Regt in Palestine, 12/1935-10/1936: reasons for enlistment in Loyal Regt in GB, 7/3/1934; posting to battalion; outpost duties; incident of accidentally killing donkey; 'inlying' patrols; relations between Arabs and Jews; convoy duties; incident when he shot insurgent with Lewis Gun; blowing up Arab houses; dawn searches; opinion of insurgents and nature of guerrilla warfare; treatment of Arab prisoners; attitude towards Jews and Arabs. Recollections of period as private with 2nd Bn Loyal Regt in Shanghai, China, 11/1936-3/1938: voyage aboard HMT Dilwara from Port Tewfik, Egypt to Shanghai, China, 10/1936-11/1936; initial impressions of Shanghai.
REEL 2 Continues: prevalence of venereal disease and deterrents; overcrowded conditions for Chinese civilians; outbreak of Sino-Japanese War, 7/1937; Imperial Japanese Air Force attacks on unit's quarters and his returning fire with Lewis Gun; Imperial Japanese Air Force attack on battalion outpost; marking of boundary of International Settlement; sight of retreating Chinese troops; presence of Chinese deserters; appearance of Chinese and Japanese troops; international presence in Shanghai; sympathy for Chinese; relations between different national troops in International Settlement; clash with Italian seamen; route marches; relations with Chinese and European civilians; recreational activities.
REEL 3 Continues: awareness of corruption in Shanghai Municipal Police; incidents of troops' buying themselves out of the army to take up civilian employment. Aspects of period as NCO with 2nd Bn Loyal Regt, 1st Malaya Bde, Malaya Command in Singapore, Malaya, 3/1938-12/1941: climate; bungalow accommodation; relations with Chinese population and Malays; jungle warfare training. Recollections of operations as NCO with 2nd Bn Loyal Regt, 1st Malaya Bde, Malaya Command in Singapore, Malaya, 12/1941-2/1942: Japanese bombing raid on Singapore, 7/12/1941; evacuation from barracks at Keppel Harbour; security role at Tanglin Barracks; air raid casualties; advance up Malayan Penisula, 12/1941; Japanese infiltration tactics and suspicion of Malay population; Japanese bombing attack on battalion on 'Black Friday, 13/12/1941; Japanese tank attack; Japanese method of attack.
REEL 4 Continues: refusal of sergeant to withdraw from position; reaction to orders to withdraw; how company became surrounded by Japanese; escape from Japanese encirclement; under Japanese machine gun fire on Muar River; sight of 'reptile'; use of sampan to escape; rescue by British minesweeper and offer by captain to man ship's Lewis Guns. Recollections of period as POW in Nagasaki Camp, Japan, 4/1945-8/1945: coal mining work; expectation of Allied invasion and Japanese execution of POWs; sight of atomic cloud, 9/8/1945; hearing news of Japanese surrender; US Army Air Force supply drops; journey into Nagasaki and sight of devastation; comparison between atomic bombing of Nagasaki and incendiary bombing of Kobe.
REEL 5 Continues: opinion that power of atomic bomb was exaggerated for political reasons; effect of bomb on tree bark; reaction of Japanese towards surrender; obtaining fresh food from Japanese civilians. Memories of General Gerald Templer in 1935.
